Re: did you know

Does this mean Mars was once colonized by bats and dry cleaners? Guess if you had a lot of bats around you'd want a few dry cleaners.
On Aug 5, 2008, at 8:11 AM, Johnson, Cyndi D Civ USAF AFMC 95 CG/SCSRT wrote: 


Speaking of perchlorate:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/08/04/nasa.mars/index.html

Cyndi


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-gardenchat@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On
Behalf Of Theresa G.
Sent: Monday, August 04, 2008 10:30 PM
To: gardenchat@hort.net
Subject: Re: [CHAT] did you know

Isn't perchlorate also the chemical they use in dry cleaning?
Theresa

Melody wrote:

Unfortunately it seems that the research you are reporting on has

omitted the

one drawback to South American bat guano...it contains high levels of

an

extremely toxic chemical called perchlorate.  Interestingly enough,
perchlorate is also a common ingredient in ammunition manufacturing as 
well as

in rocket fuel used by the military and was also used as a storage

medium for

the spent byproducts of nuclear weapons manufacturing (i.e. uranium

and

plutonium). One of the  largest world exporters of bat guano at the

turn of

the 19th century was Chile and Chilean bat guano is the only place in

nature

where perchlorate occurs naturally.  All over the US there are

groundwater and

deep level aquifers polluted by this substance that takes over a

century to

break down into harmless nitrogen, oxygen, and carbons.  And once the
groundwater becomes polluted, it can leach into the soil above and

around it.

Many of you may remember that our groundwater here in Hills, IA (pop.

679) is
contaminated with perchlorate. EPA still has not nailed down a source 
other

than possibly the fireworks displays we do once a year (yeah, that's

what they

say but hydrogeologist friends of mine on the West Coast dispute this

claim,

stating that the declining levels of perchlorate in our water/soil

indicate a

rate of decay that would point to a contamination far earlier than

when these

displays started.)  Another very likely source of conamination could

possibly
be Chilean bat guano as American farmers were heavy users of this as a 
fertilizer well into the early half of the 1900's.  Because of the

heavy use

of perchlorate by the military, much of the information about

perchlorate is

difficult to track down unless you know where to look.


Blessings in Christ's mercy,

Melody

"I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station,

through which

God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in." ~George

Washington

Carver


-----Original Message-----
From: "Kitty" [kmrsy@comcast.net]
Date: 08/02/2008 08:41 PM
To: gardenchat@hort.net
Subject: Re: [CHAT] did you know





What prompted this research?


I needed to order some more natural amendments and I usually get them

from

Nitron. While perusing Nitron's list, I came across Bat Guano, which

gave me

a laugh because...
While at work a couple of weeks ago 2 women I don't know came up from
another office to see our Chief Deputy and the woman at the desk

behind me.

When they finished talking shop one mentioned her bat houses and

started

telling them all about bat guava. I just had to interupt her and

correct

guava to guano, guava being a fruit. They were all amazed and not

quite

believing that anyone would collect it or that it had valuable

properties,

so of course I explained that I use cricket crap for my bulbs. That

really

had them going!

Kitty
neIN, Zone 5
----- Original Message -----
From: "james singer" <islandjim1@comcast.net>;
To: <gardenchat@hort.net>;
Sent: Saturday, August 02, 2008 6:30 PM
Subject: Re: [CHAT] did you know




Interesting. What prompted this research? When I was 9 or 10, guano
imports from South America were still a big deal. I remember learning 
about it in probably the 4th grade.


On Aug 2, 2008, at 12:02 PM, Kitty wrote:



The history of Bat Guano and American Expansion

Stemming from the Incan language (Quichua) for "bird droppings",

guano

is thought to have been used for centuries in both South American

and

Pacific Islander civilizations. The Incas discovered that bat

rookeries

established on nearby island chains contained vast amounts of this
excellent soil fertilizer, which were easily accessible and provided 
amazing results when used on corn and bean crops. Spanish explorers

took

both the word and the practice back with them to Europe. Guano soon
became a valuable commodity, rivaling only gold in its value as an
import of the new world.

Later, American farmers eagerly took to using Bat Guano as well,

with

Congress going so far as establishing the Guano Island Act in 1856.

This

act secured future guano supplies by allowing ocean islands to be
claimed as territories in the name of harvesting guano.

Incidentally,

many currently owned American Territories were established in this
manner such as Johnson Atoll and the famous Midway Island, which

served

as an important forward base of operations during World War II.
It wasn't until after the invention of gunpowder that early chemists 
discovered that components of bat guano also lent itself to the
production of powerful explosives. Guano harvesting was increased as 
the

military found a new use for the unorthodox fertilizer. Bat guano
operations began to spring up all across the world, from the remote
corners of New Zealand to the depths of the Grand Canyon, and they

have

continued in production ever since.

Today, Bat guano is still in use as both a fertilizer and a

component of

some ammunitions. Bat guano has even been taken into space aboard

the
Mercury and Gemini space capsules, and was used as the propellant to 
deploy the radio transmission antennas after splashdown. Bat guano

may
have originally been a discovery of the ancients, but its usefulness 
for

modern society can still be seen today.

I bet Cathy knew all this.

Kitty
neIN, Zone 5


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Island Jim
Willamette Valley
44.99 N 123.04 W
Elevation 148'
Hardiness Zone 8/9
Heat Zone 5
Sunset Zone 6
Minimum 0 F [-15 C]
Maximum 86 F [30 C]

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Island Jim
Willamette Valley
44.99 N 123.04 W
Elevation 148'
Hardiness Zone 8/9
Heat Zone 5
Sunset Zone 6
Minimum 0 F [-15 C]
Maximum 86 F [30 C]

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