—Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, luly i, 1978
36
Air
NEWARK, Del. --
Scientists at the Delaware
Agricultural Experiment
Station are part of a regional
attack on a global problem:
the devastating effects of air
pollution on crops.
According to Dr. Donald J.
Fieldhouse, an Experiment
Station researcher from the
University of Delaware’s
Department of Plant
Science, the main source of
pollution in the Northeast is
the automobile. Ultraviolet
light from the sun changes
the exhaust fumes from
cam, as well as from certain
factories, into ozone. In
small quantities, Fieldhouse
says, ozone is beneficial; it is
actually used to purify air.
The substance has a sweet,
clean smell. However, when
ozone is present in quantities
large enough to be detected
by the human nose, it’s
actually harmful to health.
According to Dr.
Fieldhouse, whose specialty
is air pollution, ozone
becomes dangerous when it
is present in the air at the
level of five parts per hun
dred million. It can be
smelled by humans at 10
parts per hundred million.
On a still summer day in
rural Delaware, the ozone
count is frequently 15 parts
per hundred million. Closer
to cities and in Southern
California, the count is
routinely much higher.
Ozone breaks down
membranes, Fieldhouse
explains, not only in the
noses and throats of humans
and animals, but also in the
cells of plants. Plants, of
course, include food crops -
one of the Experiment
Station’s particular areas of
study.
Air pollution research at
Grange plans youth camp
HARRISBURG - The
Pennsylvania State Grange
will be holding the 26th
annual State Grange youth
camp at Camp Kanesatake
from July 14 to 16.
Doug Bonsall, chairman of
the State Grange youth
committee, expects ap
proximately 150 people to
attend this outing in Hun
tingdon County.
Highlights of the program
mclude the selection and
coronation of the State
Grange youth pnnce and
princess.
Selection of royalty is
based on the results of a
written test on Grange issues
and ritual.
The two winners of this
contest will reign for one
year before representing
Pennsylvania at the
FARMERS AgCREDIT
corp. q
9 East Main Street. Utitz. PA 717-626-4721
pollution's effects on plants studied
.
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Watermelons grown in these huge growth chambers thrive better if the air is
charcoal-filtered against ozone. The project is part of Delaware Agricultural
Experiment Station’s contribution to regional air pollution research.
Delaware was designed to
tind out which crops are
most hurt by ozone, hi one
phase of the study, ozone
susceptible and resistant
.varieties of potato and
watermelon were compared
in terms of yield and amount
of ozone damage.
In a second phase,
watermelons were grown in
huge, open-to-the-sky growth
chambers - cylindrical tanks
without lids. For ex
perimental purposes, some
of the chambers contained
charcoal filters, others did
not. Since charcoal ef
fectively filters out ozone,
the experiment demon
strated that the plants in the
filtered air thrived better
National Convention in
Lancaster next year.
The 1978 National Grange
youth prince and princess
are both from Pennsylvania.
They are John Keith, of
Entriken, and Anna May
Snyder of Camp Hill.
Barbecue set
LEWISBERRY - The
annual chicken barbecue of
Valley Grange, No. 1360, will
be held Saturday, July 8,
from 4 to 8 p.m. at the
Grange Hall on Market
Street.
The event is open to the
public, according to David
M. Scott, master of Valley
Grange. William K. Traver
is chairman of the barbecue
committee.
because the effects of ozone
were minimized. This of
fered further proof that
ozone was the damaging
factor on the control plants.
Other findings thus far
include the fact that ozone is
especially damaging to
plants with mature leaves,
and to plants which have
been well-watered. Injury is
lessened if plants have been
well-fertilized with nitrogen.
Ozone damage is evidenced
by white flecking or black
spots on leaves, depending
upon the crop.
In the third phase of the
study, beginning this year,
research will involve growth
tests with a promising ex
perimental chemical. Ex
periment Station resear
chers and E. I. du Pont de
Nemours and Co. scientists
have been collaborating for
four years on a chemical
which has already been
shown to eliminate ozone
damage. The remaining
question is economic: how
much better yield would
farmers reap if they were to
add the chemical to their
arsenal of agricultural
chemicals? The significance
of yield differences
demonstrated in Ex
jvf:
\ V, S,
periment Station research
will help the Du Pont
Company determine
whether it would be
profitable to make the
chemical commercially
available.
Delaware research is one
part of a larger effort, the
Northeast Regional Air
Pollution Project chaired by
University of Delaware
Department of Plant Science
Chairperson, Dr, Charles R.
Curtis. Scientists from other
states in the region as well as
Canada are conducting
research on various other
aspects of the vast air
pollution problem. For
example, Penn State
scientists are examining the
effects of ozone on the food
quality of alfalfa, potatoes,
and soybeans.
Even though the air
pollution project is
nominally limited to the
Northeast Region, in actual
fact some of the par
ticipating states are as far
away as Wisconsin and
California. This is not as
strange as it may seem,
Curtis explains, smce air
pollution can travel hun
dreds of miles m the upper
atmosphere. Even though
the problem is especially
severe in the industrialized,
heavily populated Nor
theast, practically no farm
anywhere in the country is so
remote as to be completely
immune to the problem.
The regional effort has
been progressing for almost
ten years. Base-line air
quality data was established
for the region during the first
five years through a regional
monitoring network. The
second five years were used
to expand knowledge of, and
quantify, the negative im
pact of pollutants on the
growth and productivity of
many kinds of plants.
Over these ten years the
problem has been clearly
defined, but the project is far
from over. The next five
years will be devoted to
acquiring new knowledge
and methods to reduce the
influence of air pollution on
plant productivity. The new
data will help develop
needed solutions to the air
pollution problem.
In the face of ever
deteriorating air quality, the
scientists involved in the
Northeast Regional Air
Pollution Project will be
challenged to find new
chemicals and pollution
resistant plants to continue
to feed the world’s
population.