The Plowboy Interview
Allan Richards' interview with R. Buckminster Fuller, a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, designer, architect, cartographer and creator of such principles as synergetics, tensegrity and ephemeralization. Fuller talks about his philosophy on which he based his now-famous World Game.
COPYRIGHT 1971 BY HAL SMITH
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In the late fall of 1970, Bruce McDuffie—a
chemistry professor at the State UniversityofNew York at Binghamton threw a large flap
into the fishing industry with his discovery of .75 parts
per millionofmercury in cansoftuna taken from supermarket shelves. This
level of mercury—an element that can cause
blindness, crippling and death when eaten ill minute
quantities —exceeds, by 50%, the limits supposedly
allowed by the Food and Drug Administration
and—quitenaturally—made
headlines all over the world.
Professor McDuffie's announcement, shortly
thereafter, of finding even higher concentrationsofmercury in swordfish rattled the FDA, the
public and the fishing fleet even further and the two
reports—confirmed by the FDA—caused the
withdrawalofhundredsofthousands of dollars of tuna and swordfish from the
market.
High levels of mercury have since been found in many
other seafoods—both fresh and salt water—and
the problem promises to be with us for years. Hal Smith
recently asked Professor McDuffie to comment on his
findings, the dangers of eating tuna and the future of
the fishing industry.
PLOWBOY: Why is mercury pollution
dangerous?
MCDUFFIE: Mercury is a toxic element not
known to be necessary for life. In fact, it can be
lethal. Mercury has long been used in scientific
experiments to kill bacteria, interfere with certain
types of enzymes and that sort of thing. It can be a very
toxic substance in the body.
PLOWBOY: Short of causing death, what
damage can it do?
MCDUFFIE: Well that depends on the type
of mercury. There are several different forms of mercury
in the environment. One is the element itself: the vapor
from the metal. This vapor can be inhaled and absorbed
and then it does about the same as inorganic mercury,
mercury salts.
There are also organic forms of the element. One type
that has been used a lot as a fungicide is phenyl
mercury. The body absorbs this organic form of mercury
pretty completely . . . but once in the body it acts more
like inorganic mercury methylmercury—the most
dangerous form.
Methylmercury is formed in lake bottoms and has been used
to treat seeds. Once it gets into food, this substance is
almost completely absorbed by the body. Once absorbed,
methylmercury has the ability to penetrate the central
nervous system, the brain. It tends to be more
concentrated in the brain than other parts of the body
and it tends to do irreversible damage. So the most
dangerous form of mercury pollution for man is
methylmercury.
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