Published: Saturday, May 18, 2020
What if you had the solution to cleaning up oil spills that can be deadly in the ocean right on your head? Matter of Trust is a non profit organization founded by Lisa and Patrice Gatier. Human hair is said to be an effective natural tool for cleaning up oil spills.
Phillip McCrory is an Alabama hairdresser. He noticed that oil stuck to the fur of the otter rescued from an Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. McCrory tested his theory in his backyard by stuffing hair from his own salon into his wife’s pants and dumping it in a kiddie-pool.
The results were astonishing – the hair was able to adsorb oil molecules, creating a film which remained in place, and acted as a natural tool for oil spill cleanup unlike anything else seen before. McCrory then met with the Gautiers who brought the idea to life even more.
Three years later, an oil tanker sank on the Galapagos Islands. The new Matter of Trust hair mats removed the oil from water. Hair mats are extremely cost-effective as only 1.1 pounds of human hair is needed to make a mat two feet square and one inch thick. Oil-skimming robotics are another method of oil cleanup, but they require more power.
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The small mat can absorb approximately 1.5 gallons, which makes the mats an excellent natural tool for cleaning up oil spills. We’d be foolish not to use them. It doesn’t just stop with human hair. The team from Matter of Trust has also discovered that fibers such as fleece, pet hair and even dryer lint are effective in absorbing and retaining oil.
Source: BGR