Would you ever have thought that your hair could help to recover polluted waters? Next time you go to the hairdresser, think about this: hair is lipophilic and therefore has qualities that allow it to absorb hydrocarbons and oils adhere to its surface. The scaly appearance of hair under the microscope is caused by keratin, which makes it absorbent.
Two years ago, NASA warned that the oil contamination of Lake Maracaibo (a semi-enclosed bay that fuses with the Caribbean Sea) is visible from space. Now, thousands of people are donating their hair in Venezuela as an initiative of the Sirena Project to absorb the oil from the lake.
The Sirena Project is a non-profit initiative. They collect hair from barbershops and hairdressers — and even dogs are donating. Collected hair is placed in tubes with nets and it is estimated that, for each kilo of hair, between 5 and 8 liters of oil can be absorbed.
The Sirena Project’s cylinders float on the water and, over time, absorb the contaminating oil. The materials in the device are not pollutants and they act as sponges to remove oil from the water.
In the past, NASA has conducted experiments with human hair to prove that it can absorb oils from water. The idea came from Philip McCrory, a hairdresser in Alabama, and NASA decided to replicate a test showing that the oil accumulates in layers on the surface of the hair.
Meanwhile, the University of Technology Sydney found that hair is better at absorbing oil than cotton by-products and recycled cellulose. The greatest variation in the absorption of human hair oil is associated with the non-homogeneous nature of the hair.
“Sorbent booms are considered a ‘first line of defense’ technology used for containing and minimizing the impacts of crude oil spills,” says the research. “Hair sorbent was also observed to be less naturally buoyant than other materials, potentially due to low surface tension or increased porosity.”
This is not the first-time hair has been used to remove oil. In 2022, civil organizations in Peru collected hair after a spill that was considered one of the worst ecological disasters in the area. As in Venezuela, the population’s response went viral.
In the Philippines, donated hair also helped contain a spill in Palawan and Mindoro, among the country’s most popular tourist destinations. The spill that occurred in 2023 endangered the marine ecosystem and threatened coastal life groups.
Selene Estrach, founder of the Sirena project, was inspired by these ventures, especially the work of the non-profit organization Matter of Trust, which in the past has also used hair after oil spills.
Estrach and her team also plan to create hair devices to clean up the shoreline. Other research they are conducting is related to ways to safely dispose of the collected oil. They expect that everything collected can be reused in one form or another.
The government has done little to recover this and other coastal areas of Venezuela with ecosystems threatened over and over again by accidental oil spills. Apparently, they were more concerned with increasing production over the years than with maintenance.
The water is not the only thing that’s been compromised; many species inhabit this area, which have diminished or disappeared due to contamination. This also affects fishermen and nearby communities. The current state of the lake makes clean-up actions imperative.
Oil spills are more common than people think and require an early response. They are generally caused by operational failures, corrosion of pipelines and unsafe conditions that become very harmful to flora and fauna, especially marine species, and generate risks for humans who consume seafood and fish from the area. Some of the most affected species are algae, coral reefs, mollusks, those living in the shallow part of the sea (such as whales and dolphins) and sea birds.
Recovery depends on the type of ecosystem. With large spills, restoration can take between 10 and 20 years, but on the seabed, in coastal areas or when it penetrates the sand and mud, the process of decomposition and recovery will take longer. Measures that facilitate early absorption will be of great help to reduce the impact on the species that inhabit these areas.
Images from NASA