newscripts LANL
S NI F F E R BE ES, A I R BO R NE PSYC H OT RO P I C DRUG S
nitric oxide, and nicotine (U.S. patent application 20120264353).
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talian researchers have used more common analysis techniques—gas chromatography and mass spectrometry—to look for PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES in the air of eight Italian cities. Scientists commonly believe that airborne nicotine, caffeine, cocaine, and cannabinoids are at such low concentrations that they do not pose health risks, but studying the compounds could provide clues to drug abuse prevalence, says Angelo Cecinato, a scientist at the National Research Council of Italy’s Institute of Atmo-
VIDEO ONLINE WWW.CEN-ONLIN E .ORG
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reflect the high percentage of university students living in the cities, the researchers say. The team also picked up variations in drug concentration for different areas of Rome, possibly indicating areas of high consumption. But relying on airborne drug concentrations as a robust measure of use, the authors say, requires better understanding of sources, phase partitioning, reactivity, and transport.
JYLLIAN KEMSLEY wrote this week’s column. Please send comments and suggestions to
[email protected].
View an LANL video of how bees are trained to sniff out drugs at C&EN Online, http://cenm.ag/beesinbox. NOV E M BE R 5, 20 12
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hat’s an inexpenspheric Pollution Research, sive and reliable and colleagues (Environ. way to detect Pollut., DOI: 10.1016/j. volatile compounds such envpol.2012.07.033). as explosives at parts-perCecinato’s team looked billion levels? Honeybees. to see what it could find in Yes, that’s right: Those the air of Bologna, Florence, black-and-yellow insects Milan, Naples, Palermo, with the fuzzy torsos can do Rome, Turin, and Verona. The more than just seek out necresearchers sampled the air Bees in a box: Powerful tar. As part of the Stealthy over the course of a year, chemical detectors. Insect Sensor Project, starting in May 2010. They researchers at Los Alamos found the highest concentraNational Laboratory (LANL) have TRAINED tions of all four substances in Turin, which BEES to stick out their tongues when their also has the most polluted air overall and antennae detect certain chemicals. a population density of more than 7,000 The scientists gently tape the bees into people per km2. Palermo, in contrast, had small holders and then simultaneously exthe lowest amounts of airborne drugs and pose them to the vapor of a compound, such has the least polluted air overall with a as TNT, and a cotton swab soaked in sugar population density roughly half that of Turin. water. A bee quickly learns to extend its The data further revealed seasonal tongue—technically, a tubular feeding tube patterns for some of the compounds. Air called a proboscis—to get the sugar water. concentrations of caffeine and cannabinoids Once trained, a trio of bees is placed in a noticeably peak in the winter months, while box equipped with a video camera. Held near concentrations of nicotine and cocaine are a car or person carrying the explosive they’ve more constant. A relatively high concentrabeen trained to detect, the bees will stick out tion of cannabinoids compared with other their proboscises and get caught on camera. pollution in Bologna and Florence might Training can be completed in hours, making the bees much faster and less expensive to train than dogs. LANL has successfully demonstrated the “bees in a box” technology with explosives, narcotics, and the earlystage infection of grape crops with mildew. A recent patent application for the technology, which is available for licensing, also describes a memory-enhancing cocktail that can be added to the sugar water to improve how long the bees retain their Aloft: Caffeine and cannabinoids peak training. The cocktail compounds include in Roman air in the winter. caffeine, cyclic adenosine monophosphate,
