Antifreeze

To avoid tissue injury or death, creatures that live in extremely cold environments need protection. That means some kind of antifreeze - proteins that prevent freezing of blood or other fluids. Antifreeze proteins are most commonly associated with saltwater fish that can survive in salt water colder than 32 degrees. But other animals have them, too. The latest is the lowly snow flea, a tiny creature found on the surface of snow. Laurie A. Graham and Peter L. Davies of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, report in Science that the flea has unique antifreeze proteins that do not resemble those found in any other known organism.

Discount stores in Maryland and three other states sold toothpaste falsely packaged as Colgate and spiked with a poisonous chemical used in antifreeze, federal health officials said yesterday. The Food and Drug Administration is investigating who laced the toothpaste with diethylene glycol, which FDA inspectors first discovered last week in a tube on the shelf of a Silver Spring discount store. The Colgate-Palmolive Co. warned consumers to beware of counterfeits and is helping recall the tainted products.

From: Marc A. CalderoneArnoldA state recycling bill should be implemented to require the recycling of freon from automobile air conditioners and antifreeze from autoradiators.The freon creates holes in the ozone layer, while antifreeze is a pollutant of our waters.If such a bill were enacted, we would, over an extended period of time, save money, but more importantly we would immediately begin saving the environment. Currently, both of these recycling processes are being performed voluntarily, but should be done by everyone.

A North Laurel man accused of killing his neighbor's dog by poising it with antifreeze has been indicted by a Howard County grand jury. Jack Carl Schroeder, 58, of Rachel Yates Court is accused of serving a bowl of food soaked with antifreeze to his neighbor's 2-year-old beagle. The dog became sick and died from ingesting the contents last month, police said. The grand jury indicted Schroeder on Wednesday on six counts: aggravated cruelty to animals, animal cruelty, destruction of property, attempted animal cruelty, attempted aggravated cruelty to animals and attempted destruction of property, according to the indictment released by the Howard County state's attorney's office Friday.

Anne Arundel County police obtained medical help in time to save the life of a Glen Burnie man who drank antifreeze shortly before he was arrested Thursday, accused of assaulting a relative. The 22-year-old man was in stable condition at a Baltimore hospital yesterday. The case occurred less than a week after a county police trial board recommended firing an officer for failing to get medical attention for a Calvert County man who died of antifreeze poisoning in a county police holding cell nearly a year ago. This time, officers called for an ambulance as soon as they were told that David M. Luedtke might have ingested antifreeze, according to police reports.

The widow of a young man who died in police custody after consuming antifreeze and not receiving medical treatment has filed a $231 million lawsuit that names Anne Arundel County, the police chief and seven other police officers as defendants. Phillip A. Montgomery, 20, died of antifreeze poisoning in lockup at a police station in Edgewater on Dec. 15, 2000. The Calvert County resident, who suffered from schizophrenia, had been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. Anne Arundel County prosecutors never brought criminal charges in the case, but one officer was fired because officials said he violated the Police Department's operating procedures by not seeking medical attention for Montgomery.

NEW YORK -- The Brooklyn Bridge is going high-tech.Officials are testing a de-icing system there that uses electric sprinklers to spray antifreeze chemicals on the span's roadbed when it freezes.The system, installed on part of the bridge in August, is the first of its kind in the city.Transportation officials are touting it as a way to save the 115-year-old bridge from the corrosive rock salt that they use now, while allowing them to deal more quickly with icy bridge conditions."The biggest thing that destroys our bridges is not the traffic, it's the salt," said outgoing city Transportation Commissioner Christopher Lynn.

A federal jury last night absolved a former Anne Arundel County police officer of blame in the death of a 20-year-old man who he thought was drunk but who had consumed a fatal amount of antifreeze before his arrest. Ending a legal battle in Baltimore U.S. District Court, the jury decided after deliberating 3 1/2 hours that former Officer Charles R. Atwell had no way of knowing that Phillip Montgomery, 20, needed emergency medical treatment before he died Dec. 15, 2000, in a holding cell at an Edgewater police station.

A federal jury last night absolved a former Anne Arundel County police officer of blame in the death of a 20-year-old man who he thought was drunk but who had consumed a fatal amount of antifreeze before his arrest. Ending a legal battle in Baltimore U.S. District Court, the jury decided after deliberating 3 1/2 hours that former Officer Charles R. Atwell had no way of knowing that Phillip Montgomery, 20, needed emergency medical treatment before he died Dec. 15, 2000, in a holding cell at an Edgewater police station.

Testifying in his defense before a county police trial board, Officer Charles R. Atwell II said yesterday that he had no indication that a 20-year-old Calvert County man he had arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and put into a Southern District holding cell was ill, not drunk. Atwell, a 14-year veteran of the force, tried to show that he was not negligent in his handling of Philip A. Montgomery, who died in police custody in December of antifreeze poisoning about six hours after being arrested.

To avoid tissue injury or death, creatures that live in extremely cold environments need protection. That means some kind of antifreeze - proteins that prevent freezing of blood or other fluids. Antifreeze proteins are most commonly associated with saltwater fish that can survive in salt water colder than 32 degrees. But other animals have them, too. The latest is the lowly snow flea, a tiny creature found on the surface of snow. Laurie A. Graham and Peter L. Davies of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, report in Science that the flea has unique antifreeze proteins that do not resemble those found in any other known organism.

A federal jury last night absolved a former Anne Arundel County police officer of blame in the death of a 20-year-old man who he thought was drunk but who had consumed a fatal amount of antifreeze before his arrest. Ending a legal battle in Baltimore U.S. District Court, the jury decided after deliberating 3 1/2 hours that former Officer Charles R. Atwell had no way of knowing that Phillip Montgomery, 20, needed emergency medical treatment before he died Dec. 15, 2000, in a holding cell at an Edgewater police station.

A federal jury last night absolved a former Anne Arundel County police officer of blame in the death of a 20-year-old man who he thought was drunk but who had consumed a fatal amount of antifreeze before his arrest. Ending a legal battle in Baltimore U.S. District Court, the jury decided after deliberating 3 1/2 hours that former Officer Charles R. Atwell had no way of knowing that Phillip Montgomery, 20, needed emergency medical treatment before he died Dec. 15, 2000, in a holding cell at an Edgewater police station.

The widow of a young man who died in police custody after consuming antifreeze and not receiving medical treatment has filed a $231 million lawsuit that names Anne Arundel County, the police chief and seven other police officers as defendants. Phillip A. Montgomery, 20, died of antifreeze poisoning in lockup at a police station in Edgewater on Dec. 15, 2000. The Calvert County resident, who suffered from schizophrenia, had been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. Anne Arundel County prosecutors never brought criminal charges in the case, but one officer was fired because officials said he violated the Police Department's operating procedures by not seeking medical attention for Montgomery.

Chuck Atwell was a police officer for nearly 27 years. He is the first to admit that he wasn't always as tactful as he could have been, but until last December, nothing he said ever kept him awake at night. A year ago yesterday, he arrested a Calvert County man on drunken-driving charges. Atwell phoned the man's mother to tell her that her 20-year-old son was fine and that she could come get him when he sobered up. Six hours later, police went to the woman's house to tell her that her son was dead.

Anne Arundel County police union leaders say a trial board finding that an officer was negligent after a drunken-driving suspect died of antifreeze poisoning in a holding cell shows that police policies are unclear. Since Charles R. Atwell was found negligent this month, more than a dozen lieutenants in search of legal protections have joined the Fraternal Order of Police, union officials said. And supervisors and union leaders are advising their officers to call for an ambulance any time there is any question whether a suspect is ill - physically or mentally.

A North Laurel man accused of killing his neighbor's dog by poising it with antifreeze has been indicted by a Howard County grand jury. Jack Carl Schroeder, 58, of Rachel Yates Court is accused of serving a bowl of food soaked with antifreeze to his neighbor's 2-year-old beagle. The dog became sick and died from ingesting the contents last month, police said. The grand jury indicted Schroeder on Wednesday on six counts: aggravated cruelty to animals, animal cruelty, destruction of property, attempted animal cruelty, attempted aggravated cruelty to animals and attempted destruction of property, according to the indictment released by the Howard County state's attorney's office Friday.

Anne Arundel County police union leaders say a trial board finding that an officer was negligent after a drunken-driving suspect died of antifreeze poisoning in a holding cell shows that police policies are unclear. Since Charles R. Atwell was found negligent this month, more than a dozen lieutenants in search of legal protections have joined the Fraternal Order of Police, union officials said. And supervisors and union leaders are advising their officers to call for an ambulance any time there is any question whether a suspect is ill -- physically or mentally.