Comparative Analysis of Hair and Cotton as an

Absorbent in Cleaning up an Oil Spill

Submitted in partial fulfillment

Of the requirements in
Chemistry I
Biology I

Angel Kim Israel

Jobert C. Mabansag
Mart Ryan B. Robles
Christopher P. Bantay
Franc Oenn L. Hermitanio
Student Researchers

Mrs. Mary Ann E. Garcia

Project Adviser

Pasay City South High School

Villamor Air Base, Piccio Garden, Pasay City

September 2018
 Acknowledgement

The researchers would like to thank God for the success of this project, by his
grace the researchers are able to finish this project on time and without any harms
occurred. The researchers would like to thank their family for giving their full support
and encouragement.
The researchers would like to thank Mrs. Mary Ann E. Garcia for instructing
us on editing our research and explaining how will the researchers conduct the
research. The researchers would like to thank also Ms. Catherine Gonzales for
giving some advice on our topic. For all the science teachers thank you for giving us
opportunity.
Thank you Pasay City South High School for providing us the materials that
we need. From the hair we gathered we want to thank Paujan salon for giving us the
hair for free.
The success of this project is not only for the researchers but also to the
people who give strength, motivation, encouragement and support to finish this
project.
 Table of Contents

Title page I
Acknowledgement II
Table of contents III
Abstract IV
Chapter I – Introduction 1
-Background of the Study 2
-Statement of the Problem 3
Chapter II – Review of Related Literature 3
Chapter III – Methodology 7
-Research Design
-Materials
-Procedures
-Data Collection
-Statistical Analysis Tool
Chapter IV – Results
-Discussion
Chapter V – Conclusion
-Recommendations
Bibliography
Appendix
ABSTRACT

The researchers saw that the pollution of the sea by the waste of many
factories causes fish kill and destruction of the coral reefs where our source of food
lives. Then we think that why not we use simple material to reduce the pollution of
the sea. Our product aims to help our environment especially the marine life, it is
because we want to reduce the shortage of our daily needs. One of the major
sources of food that we take comes from the sea. Many people will benefit from this
project… Not only for us, people but also the marine life to continue their
reproduction for the thousands of years.

If this project will innovate, we think that we will not throw away the useless
hair from the salon and barbershop in fact we will recycle it to make our ocean
pollution free from the oil spill. The problem statement is could human hair can be
used as a cheap alternative to clean up oil spills? In absorbing oil spills which is
more effective, cotton or human hair? By this question we want to know which is
more effective in terms of absorbency of the oil spill.

Methods on doing this project is first prepare two containers for the
experiment with water and lubricating oil on it. The water serves as the sea and the
lubricating oil is the oil spill. Then put the hair on the first container (Set A). Then put
the cotton on the second container (Set B). Wait after 5 minutes and see what will
happen. Now after doing the methodology you will know the difference of the two,
the absorbency of cotton and hair in absorbing up an oil spill at the sea.
After the experiment we observed that the hair absorbs more oil than the
cotton, therefore the results are the hair was good on absorbing the oil than the
cotton. It is because the cotton is the best absorbent in water so it sips water more
rather than oil unlike in hair the hair is not really absorbent in water so it doesn’t
absorb water and the oil voluntary coats the hair so as we observe when we put the
hair in the solution of lubricant oil and water, the oil coats up the hair fast.
We conclude this research because we all know that our country are
surrounded by sea water, many factories are built near the ocean which they can
make a big mess like polluting the ocean by their waste for example a used oil that
can kill many sea creatures living at the sea so that by researching about this topic
we gather an idea that can change the future someday.
 Chapter I – Introduction

The researchers search about what is the biggest problem in our community.
So after searching, the researchers saw that one of the biggest problems in our
community is the lack of food. Food is the main source of our energy. Foods that
come from the harvesting of plants and foods that comes from the sea. Many
fishermen are having a problem in fishing sometimes they’ve got bulk of fish but
most of the time many fisherman here in the Philippines got exactly what they need
for their family, they don’t have some extra catch for them to sell to have an extra
income. So what is the reason behind the lack of resources at the sea?
The researchers search about that and after searching on Google they got
this problems “destruction of the coral reefs where the fishes lives and lack of fishes
being killed because of many factories and cargo ships spilling their waste at the
sea”. One of their wastes is the oil that contaminates the water and affecting the
marine lives. Therefore what did the researchers do?
The researchers create this research because they want to do something to
the community. The researchers did a comparative analysis of cotton and hair in
absorbing oil spills it is to observe the two on which is more absorbent? This
research was done to help the community or the nation to lessen the effects of the oil
spills at the sea.
This research is all about how the oil spill at the sea being absorbed by the
hair and cotton. This research aims to help the community and the world by reducing
the waste of people specifically hair and this research aims to know what is the
another way to reduce the oil spill at the sea.
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Our planet is already modernized which as you can see lot of things are
being sustained by power sources like electricity and some other sources that can
make an energy specially oils. Oils can only be seen in the specific part of the world
like Middle East and deserted places. However, other places like here in Philippines
are lack of oil that provides energy to make the things function. So here in
Philippines we need to import oils from other country that have oils. So ships that
carry oils travels from their country into our country. But some incidents might
happen like ship wrecks and a spill of oils.
In some cases, our planet, Earth, has large reserves of oil and gas trapped
deep beneath its surface. Occasionally, these reserves develop cracks and some of
the oil or gas seep out. An oil spill happens when liquid petroleum is released into
the environment by vehicle, vessel or pipeline. It happens on a large scale and is
mostly seen in water bodies. It happens due to human negligence and is a major
form of pollution. The source of the spill is many. Crude oil can be released by
tankers on land. Oil is not infinite it can be exhausted in the future.

This investigation was conducted to determine which is more absorbent

between hair and cotton in terms of cleaning up an oil spill and to replicate the
effects of an oil spill and apply an effective system. The Guimaras oil spill occured in
the Panay Gulf on August 11, 2016 when the oil tanker M/T Solar 1 sank off the
coast of Guimaras and Negros islands here in the Philippines, causing what is
considered as the worst oil spill in the Philippines. The aspects look into were the
problems and propose solutions to problems.

Therefore, the researchers are conducting some research on how we are

going to treat the water bodies from the harmful oils that spills into it. The
researchers want to depollute the bodies of water as fast as the oil touches the
water, but there are two materials that can absorb oil, the cotton and hair. So we
researchers are going to find out which is more absorbent among the two, either the
cotton or the hair.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
-Generally, this investigatory project aims to find out which is more
absorbent between hair and cotton in terms of cleaning up an oil spill and to replicate
the effects of an oil spill and apply an effective system to clean it up. Specifically, it
aims to answer the following questions:

 Could human hair can be used as a cheap alternative to clean up oil

spills?
 In absorbing oil spills, which is more effective Cotton or Human hair?

Chapter II – Review of Related Literature

Many factories and oil ship wrecks releases oil in our oceans and seas. We
young researchers search how to remove oil that pollutes our ocean and seas. We
young researchers found out that cotton is one of the materials that absorbs oils.

“I prefer unmercerized cotton’s absorbency and it’s relatively faster drying

time”- (Liz Gipson, 2017), but we know that the hair also removes oil in our bodily
water. So, we compare the two material about what is the best remover in terms of
oil spill.

We all knew that COTTON is the best absorbent in terms of liquid but could
cotton absorb oil some researchers figure out that hair is one of the absorbents in
oils so we young researchers search about what is the best absorbent in terms of oil,
is it cotton? Or it is hair.

Fisheries, wildlife and ecosystems could suffer for decades for having
pollution of the sea by the waste of many factories. Now help for cleaning up such
disasters comes from a crop people have grown for thousands of years: cotton, but
this material is a lot different from the hair that can also absorbs oil in polluted water.

Cotton in its natural form has a waxy coating. As such, it will “absorb oil and
repel water,” explains Seshadri Ramkumar. He’s a materials scientist at Texas Tech
University in Lubbock. Just throwing a huge wad of cotton onto a spill isn’t enough.
Offcuts of human hair could be used to help clean up environmental disasters such
as oil spills it could mean we use a cheap and natural product to clean up oil, instead
of the synthetic or expensive products currently used.

There's recently been a lot of media attention around marine plastic pollution
and whether particular types of dispersants are actually doing more harm than good
trying to clean up oil sites. We young researchers are trying to find out which is more
efficient in absorbing of oil spill in polluted water
 "Cotton and wool can work very well because they are adsorbent obviously,
but they are also quite valued in making textiles and clothing, so there's already
another, more useful demand for them," (Pagnucco, 2017)

How could human hair be used to clean up oil spills more efficient than
cotton?
“Hair has good adsorbing ability for oils”. (Vijay Kumar Thakur, Manju Kumari
Thakur, Michael R. Kessler, 2017) According to author the hair is good in absorbing
an oil it includes also the oil spill at the sea.

There's no value in it once you've cut it off your head, its waste. The hair
could be reused a number of times if you've ever washed your hair we'll know that it
gets oily again soon enough. Hair can also be reused several times without a
significant decrease in its ability to adsorb oil.

We young researchers knew that it’s really important that we need start to find
more sustainable ways of dealing with our waste. It’s important because if we
continue on the path we’re on, our waste will continue growing and it can be prone to
more accidents, oil can spill into rivers, bays, and the ocean.

Human hair is a very efficient oil adsorbent. It gathers oil from scalp, the face,
and places where oil produced. Hair "clings to" to the many tiny scales of each
strand of hair instead of soaking up as what absorbents do. This is the reason why
people shampoo to remove oil where dirt has also gathered. Each strand of hair has
a great amount of surface area. It is not really soaking up the oil but the oil is coating
the outside of the hair strand.

Among the different approaches to clean up oil spills, hair is the most
environment-friendly. Therefore, if you have long hair, operates a hair salon, or
knows somebody who has a lot of hair, it’s time to contribute them to environmental
organizations helping out to clean the oil leak-affected areas.

We young researchers considering waste is only going to become more of an

issue in the future that’s why we gathered information about hair as clean-up of
dangerous oils, as well as limiting waste.

“Cotton is able to absorb up to 27 times its weight in liquid water, according to

Cotton Inc. Cotton's absorbency is also useful in what is known as “recreational
performance apparel". “Classification of fibres: Fibre Property Cotton Absorbs water
quickly Flax Strong fibre and durable Silk-cotton Fluffy”. As this book said and
obviously of what we use everyday Cotton absorbs water, but can cotton absorb oil?
Yes, “Cotton is good at absorbing oil, too. One important use for it is helping clean
up oil spills that pollute water.” (Lusted, 2016) as the book says the cotton can also
absorb oils that pollutes water.
 Can hair absorb oil? no its not, Technically the oil does coat the hair. The hair
does not completely absorb the oil; thus, the oil coats the hair by latching onto cracks
and holes in the hair shaft. “Since almost all of the hair care industry is directed
towards the removal of natural oil from hair, it is obvious that hair has an affinity for
oil and grease. Such an affinity can be turned to useful ends by using hair to remove
oil from polluted water” (Wainwright, 2012). Therefore, hair as an oil removal in
polluted water is already tested and proved.

We young researchers make a statement “Which is more useful in terms of oil

removal in polluted water, is it cotton? Or is it hair?” We need to find out what
material will work the best and we need to find out what material could be helpful.
We tested out both materials in a same solution of Lubricant oil and water and leave
both solution with the materials in 5 minutes.

In Cotton, we tested it out with the solution of lubricant oil and water then we
left it in 5 minutes we came up with the slightly clear water but almost 30% of
lubricant oil left. In Hair, we left it with the same solution then leave it in 5 x and we
came up with the clear water and almost 10% lubricant oil left.

So why does the hair remove more oil in such time? It is because the the oil
coats the hair faster than the cotton absorbs oil in water.

“The two potential oil spills (29,000 bbl. and 30,000 bbl.) assumed to occur
under the cumulative case are also sources of mortality to sea otters (perhaps as
many as 2,000 lost), harbor seals (perhaps as many as 200-300 lost), northern ... of
harbor seals, sea otters, and other nonendangered marine mammals are not
expected to be affected by the latter sources.” (1997 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS
(Outer Continental Shelf)) Oil and Gas) as the book says many marine animals lost
their environment because of oil spill also many animals die because of it. Therefore,
the purpose of our research is to evaluate that is good and costless in terms of
removing oil spills in our ocean and seas.

The hair is the result of our comparison. The hair can remove the oil in our
bodily water also the hair is costless. As we people always cut our hair and throw it
why not use it as an oil spill remover moreover it can be one of the agents for us
people to depollute our bodily water, because lot of bodies of water are affected by
water pollution.

This research can help many projects like when other researchers want to
develop a filtration system which is the water that they want to filter is polluted that
comes from the sea. So that it will be easier for them to make a clean water because
they can add a hair for their filtration system to make the water free from oil.
 “Hair can be used to clean up oil spills and this adsorbed oil could be
recovered or renewed in fuel pellets” (Vijay Kumar Thakur, Manju Kumari Thakur ,
Michael R. Kessler, 2017)

”There is very fascinated property of human hair surface which is useful in oil-
water separation and this property is that it is has a high affinity for oils which is
much higher than its affinity for waters” (Murthy et al. 2004)

“The use of booms and mats of human hair have been increased to clean up
coastal oil spills in the Philippines and In the United States” (MSNBC 2006 Guatson
2010) According to the author of this statement he said that one of the affected
country in oil spill is the Philippines where we live. Philippines is surrounds by
seawater that the main problem is this. The most affected country of oil spills is the
country that is surrounds by water, aside from Philippines many country is
surrounded by water in south East Asia so many countries will be affected if this
problem will still continue up to the future.

“In oil water separation and oil spill remedation method , oil can be recovered
by squeezing out the hair , which after that can be used again up to 100 times and
this is the advantage which has not been found in other oil spill remediation method”
(Vijay Kumar Thakur, Manju Kumari Thakur , Michael R. Kessler, 2017) According to
author we can use the hair up to 100 times in oil spill remediation method, so that it
means that hair is very useful in cleaning up an oil spill. Unlike from the other
material that is one time use only hair is very useful, recyclable and very efficient in
terms of cleaning oil spill from the sea.

“Human hair is present within a porous casing. Oil floating on water enters the
porous casing whereupon the oil is absorbed by the human hair. Flotational material
is mixed with the human hair or attached to the casing to cause the device to float”
(Brett D. McCrory ,Phillip A. McCrory, 1993) According to the author one the reason
that’s why the hair can absorb liquid is because of the porous casing of the hair.
 Chapter III – Methodology
Research Design

This project aims to determine which is more absorbent between human hair
and cotton in terms of cleaning up an oil spill. The researchers gathered the
materials that will be needed in the experiment and while performing the experiment
the researchers will use the time test to measure the time of absorbency in the two
different materials.

Materials

The materials needed in the experiment are a cup of clean water that taken
from the faucet in our house. Used lubricating oil, which can bought from motor
shops and car repair shops, Human Hair from either barbershop or at the parlor.
Containers bought from store, cotton that bought in both sari-sari stores and markets
and laboratory gloves from local drugstores.

Procedures

The first thing that the researchers did was to gather the materials that will be
needed in the project such as water from the faucet, human hair from the salon
,cotton from sari-sari store, two empty containers from the kitchen and the used
lubricating oil representing the oil spill. After gathering, all of the materials the
researchers started pouring the water in the empty container with the same amount
as well as the used lubricating oil and then the researchers put the human hair in the
first container and the cotton in the second container and wait after 5 minutes to
absorb the oil from the container.
Data collection

The researchers measured the time of absorbency of the oil spill in the first
container that has human hair and also in the second container that has a cotton.
After five minutes the oil spills were absorbed by the human hair and cotton in the
equal amount of time. The researcher measured the absorbed oil from the hair and
cotton from taking how much oil did the hair and cotton absorbed..

Statistical Analysis Tool

The researchers used the time test in measuring in absorbency of the human
hair and cotton. After the experiment the results were analyzed and found out that
the time of the absorbency of hair is the same as the time of absorbency of the
cotton but the oil spills was not totally absorbed by the hair and leaving about 5-10%
of oil spills. Based on the analysis 90% of oil spill was absorbed by the human hair.
 Chapter IV

Results

Set A Set B
Hair Cotton
Time given to absorb 5 minutes 5 minutes

Absorbed oil spill Almost 90% Almost 30%

(not accurately) (not accurately)

Absorbed water 10% 70%

(not accurately) (not accurately)

Cheapness Free Php 6.00

Effectiveness Accurate False

Base on our observation from the hair almost 90% of the lubricating oil was
absorbed. Then from the cotton almost 30% of the lubricating oil was absorbed. It is
not accurately
Generally, after taking the absorption test and knowing the result of the
research topic, we determined that the hair is more absorbent than cotton in terms of
cleaning up an oil spill in our community. It is because the cotton is the best
absorbent in water so it sips water more rather than oil unlike in hair the hair is not
really absorbent so it doesn’t absorb water and on it the oil voluntary coats the hair
so as we observe when we put the hair in the solution of lubricant oil and water the
oil coats up the hair fast.
Discussion

Chapter V

Conclusion
Generally, after taking the absorption test and concluding a research about
this topic we determine that the hair is more absorbent than cotton in terms of
cleaning up an oil spill in our community. We conclude this research because we all
know that our country are surrounded by sea water, many factories are built near the
ocean which they can make a big mess like polluting the ocean by their waste for
example a used oil that can kill many sea creatures living at the sea so that by
researching about this topic we gather an idea that can change the future.
The rationale of the study is promoting good work to our environment. Oil
spills are caused by accidents involving tankers, and storage facilities. Because of
these accidents, oil can spill into rivers, bays, and the ocean. This usually happens
when the oil is being transported. In addition to this, Oil is toxic and harms the
environment where it was spilled, affecting the wildlife there. It is important to clean
up oil spills quickly to limit the damage to the environment. And by that, this study will
also be beneficial to the students for them to learn different concepts on how they
respond to major oil spill events.
Therefore we conclude that the cotton absorbs more water than the hair and
the hair absorbs more oil than water it is because the hair has a porous casing which
is one of the reasons why the hair is focusing on absorbing an oil than water.
So that using hair in this research is efficient because it can innovate more
and when someone use the hair to create a product it can be more useful to make
our world free from any traces of oil spills.
Recommendations
We researchers recommend to take a more research about this topic because
aside from this topic is helpful in terms of absorbing oil spill this topic can also
innovate into a useful product that are built with less hair to use and easy to ship into
another places. We also recommend to use sea water than plain clean water
because it is more accurate if we tested it with the one where oil commonly spills
For the future researchers we want you to know that this topic is vague

Bibliography
Diane Carol Bailey, Diane Da Costa Millady (2013) - Standard Natural Hair Care
And Braiding.
Vijay kumar thakur, manju kumari Thakur , Michael R. Kessler(2017) – Handbook of
Composites from Renewable Materials, Functionalization.
(Murthy et al. 2004) Vijay kumar thakur, manju kumari Thakur , Michael R.
Kessler(2017) – Handbook of Composites from Renewable Materials,
Functionalization.
(MSNBC 2006 guatson 2010) Vijay kumar thakur, manju kumari Thakur , Michael R.
Kessler(2017) – Handbook of Composites from Renewable Materials,
Functionalization.
Brett D. McCrory ,Phillip A. McCrory (1993) Device for containing and absorbing oil
spills on water.
Liz Gipson(2017) Handwoven Home Weaving Techniques.
Lusted – (2016) Inside the Cotton Industry - Page 88.
Wainwright – (2012) -An Introduction to Environmental Biotechnology - Page 55.
Appendix

Figure 1 Figure 2

Two containers for the Putting the hair on the first

experiment with water container
and lubricating oil.

Figure 3 Figure 4

Putting the cotton on the second The absorbency of the two

container material