{"id":548238,"date":"2010-04-30T17:48:48","date_gmt":"2010-04-30T21:48:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/green.yahoo.com\/blog\/guest_bloggers\/37\/dawn-dishwashing-liquid-used-to-clean-animals-affected-by-oil-spill.html"},"modified":"2010-07-19T20:15:54","modified_gmt":"2010-07-20T00:15:54","slug":"dawn-dishwashing-liquid-used-to-clean-animals-affected-by-oil-spill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/548238","title":{"rendered":"Dawn dishwashing liquid used to clean animals affected by oil spill"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
As one the
\nworst oil spills in American history<\/a> continues to wreak havoc in the U.S.
\n Gulf Coast, local birds and animals are finding themselves muddied in
\ntoxic sludge. Surprisingly, volunteers and rescue crews are using a
\ncommon household ingredient to clean up the oil-coated
\n wildlife<\/a> — Dawn dishwashing liquid.\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
The \u201ctough on grease\u201d dish detergent, commonly found at kitchen
\nsinks across America, is used by animal rescue and rehabilitation teams
\nto help gently remove oil from feathers, fur, and skin of oil-soaked
\ncritters.\u00a0Proctor & Gamble, which owns Dawn, has donated thousands
\nof bottles to wildlife conservation programs over the past 30 years,
\ncleansing more than 75,000 animals.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
The International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC), a California-based
\nnonprofit group, treated 1,084 birds in a 2007 San Francisco oil spill<\/a>.
\nAccording to the group\u2019s website, it recommends cleaning birds with
\nDawn dishwashing liquid because of the cleanser’s ability to remove most oils and its
\neffectiveness at low concentrations as well as the fact that it is
\nnon-irritating to the skin and eyes and easily rinsed from bird
\nfeathers.\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
“We discovered that Dawn is an effective way to clean and
\nrehab animals,” explained Jay Holcomb, the executive director of the
\nIBRRC. “[It’s] strong enough to remove the oil quickly, but mild on
\ntheir skin and feathers.”<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
A bird covered in oil tries to preen itself. While that may seem
\nlike a good thing, it actually leads to the bird ingesting the oil. As
\nwell, over-eager volunteers often attempt to quickly rub the oil off,
\nwhich can also be more dangerous than helpful.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
The trick to removing oil is to force it to be suspended in water,
\nso it can be rinsed away. That’s not an easy task, since oil and water
\nare notoriously hard to mix, and in Dawn’s case, it achieves this feat
\nusing a group of chemicals known as “surfactants,” a term that’s short
\nfor “surface active agent.” <\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
Surfactants reduce the surface tension of
\nwater and can weaken the barrier that automatically forms between oil
\nand water, allowing them to unnaturally mix. Dawn specifically uses
\nanionic surfactants — such as alkyl dimethyl amine oxide, found in Dawn
\n Power Dissolver — which means the detergent’s molecules don’t convert
\nto ions in water. Combined with other ingredients like viscosity
\nadjusters, buffering agents, and processing aids, this allows the soap to
\n wash away oil without leaving behind a residue.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\n
According to a November 14, 2007, article on Slate, specially
\ntrained workers clean the birds in a solution of 1 percent dishwashing
\nsoap and warm water. The water temperature should match the bird\u2019s
\ninternal temperature of about 103 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit. “Up to 15
\ntubs can be used for a single animal; washing a bird the size of\u00a0a pelican<\/a> might
\n take 300 gallons of water,” wrote Morgan Smith.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
As
\n part of the\u00a0Minnie Driver<\/a>-headed Everyday
\n Wildlife Champions<\/a> campaign, consumers who use Dawn can help
\nrescue\/rehab efforts directly. Next time you\u2019re at the store, look for
\na\u00a0special-edition
\n bottle of Dawn<\/a> (it’ll have a cute animal image on the bottle). Take
\n it home and head to the donation
\nactivation page<\/a> at the Dawn website. <\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
Once you plug in the special
\ncode on the bottle, $1 dollar will be donated to wildlife
\n groups<\/a> like the Marine Mammal Center<\/a> <\/span>and
\nthe
\nInternational Bird Rescue Research Center<\/a>. Dawn\u2019s\u00a0goal<\/a>\u00a0is
\n to raise $500,000.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
For those wishing to help scrub the animals in
\nperson, the National
\n Audubon Society<\/a> and the Tri-State Bird Rescue and
\n Research<\/a>, among others, are coordinating volunteer efforts.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/embed><\/p>\n

Story written and researched by Benyamin Cohen, Matt Hickman,
\nRussell McLendon, and Steve Pollak at Mother Nature Network<\/a>.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

More from Mother Nature Network<\/strong><\/p>\n