Niphates digitalis name, the colour has been observed as blue, gray, and lavender, as well as "purplish to pink". The surface is coarse and porous with 6-mm-long conules or spines. Compounds extracted from the pink vase sponge have been investigated for their possible use in the treatment of castration recurrent prostate cancer. A common reagent used in organic chemistry 1,8-diazabicycloundec-7-ene can be isolated from this sponge. Niphates digitalis Niphates digitalis, the pink vase sponge, is a species of demosponge belonging to the Niphatidae family. It is native to the Florida Keys, The Bahamas, and the Caribbean including the Netherlands Antilles. The species
Radioactive contamination from the Rocky Flats Plant tests." As noted by Carl Johnson in Ambio, "Exposures of a large population in the Denver area to plutonium and other radionuclides in the exhaust plumes from the plant date back to 1953." Weapons production at the plant was halted after a combined FBI and EPA raid in 1989 and years of protests. The plant has since been shut down, with its buildings demolished and completely removed from the site. The Rocky Flats Plant was declared a Superfund site in 1989 and began its transformation to a cleanup site in February 1992. Removal of the plant and surface contamination was