VERY URGENT MATTERS:
"I AM DOWN HERE DOWN HERE SPECIFICALLY TO TRY TO PREVENT IT FROM BECOMING A HUMAN HEALTH TRAGEDY, WHICH IS THE NEXT STEP. ..."
— Riki Ott, Ph.D., marine toxicologist, author of two books concerning the Exxon Valdez oil spill
"IF YOU SEE OR SMELL OIL, LEAVE THE AREA RIGHT AWAY"
— Gina Solomon, MD, MPH (Senior Scientist: NRDC)
6/17/10 (date item was added here):
"I am down here specifically to try to prevent it from becoming a human health tragedy, which is the next step. …
"… People need respirators [VOC respirators]. … These are incredibly toxic chemicals, the oil in and of itself. The Louisiana crude has a lot higher proportion of light ends, the amount of oil that evaporates into the air and dissolves into the water column. … and it's not just the workers out on the cleanup. In the communities, … people are getting the same symptoms as the workers, … .
… "What people need to think is respirators. [people living onshore in communities, as well as the cleanup workers]…..
… "The information has not been communicated yet to the people. … People need to understand that these cold and flu-like symptoms … could be chemical poisoning. This requires specialty doctors … And the hospitals should be warning people … people could wind up like they did [with the] Exxon Valdez. I am still dealing with workers who are 100 percent disabled now". …
-- Riki Ott, Ph.D., marine toxicologist, author of two books concerning the Exxon Valdez oil spill, from the 6/4/10 Rachel Maddow television segment "Toxicity beyond the globs"
>>>
(Note: I'm not sure exactly how, but I was somehow able to move the pointer around on the Rachel Maddow site on the "video segment playback screen" and bring up a menu bar at the bottom of that screen which provided, among other things, a selection of "transcript." Got that? -- ed).
... "He comes home at night coughing and barely able to breathe and his skin is irritated from contact with the oil.
Will exposure to the toxic chemicals in the oil and/or in the dispersants damage his sperm or your eggs, perhaps making it difficult to conceive? Could the chemicals damage the embryo you already carry, cause a miscarriage or birth defects? Is your newborn baby or young child at particular risk? Should pregnant women and children living near the Gulf take special precautions? And what if you don't even live anywhere near the gulf, could your reproductive health be impacted as well? ...
According to Dr. Riki Ott, a marine biologist who has worked extensively to study and raise awareness about the impact of oil spills on both the environment and people, ... 'Pregnant women and children should not be anywhere near this,' she said in a phone interview. ...
... 'The reality is we know almost nothing about the potential harm from the long-term use of any of these chemicals [dispersants] on the marine environment in the Gulf of Mexico, and even less about their potential to enter the food chain and ultimately harm humans,' [-- Rep. Edward Markey] ...
-- from the 6/7/10 article by Lucinda Marshall of TruthOut.org "Can the BP Spill Cause Miscarriages and Birth Defects?"
>>>
"Everywhere you go these days on the Gulf Coast, people are complaining about the smell of oil."...
... "Some of the chemicals in oil are toxic at levels far below levels detectable by the human nose. For example, benzene is harmful at levels 1000-times below what people can smell."...
"We live on the AL gulf coast - about 20-25 miles north of the gulf, and about 8 miles east of Mobile Bay. ... Yesterday around 5pm (when the wind was still) I noticed the smell outside ... as a mother, I'm naturally very concerned for my 4 year old daughter, husband & myself." ...
-- from the 6/7/10 blog "Oil Odors: If You Smell It, Is It Toxic?" by Gina Solomon, MD, MPH; Senior Scientist: NRDC
>>>
OIL SPILL HEALTH HAZARDS:
5/24/10 (date this item was posted here):
"... Those working on the oil spill and people far from it can be exposed to crude oil chemicals in air." ...
"Crude oil is toxic, and ingredients can damage every system in the body:
respiratory
brain
liver
kidneys
circulatory system
immune system
musculoskeletal system
nervous system, including the brain
reproductive/urogenital system
endocrine system
gastrointestinal system
sensory systems
Damaging or altering these systems causes a wide range of diseases and conditions. In addition, interference with normal growth and development through endocrine disruption and direct damage to fetal tissue is caused by many crude oil ingredients (CDC, 1999). DNA damage can cause cancer and multi-generational birth defects." [emphasis added] ...
-- from "Gulf Oil Spill Health Hazards" by Michael Harbut, MD, MPH, FCCP, and Kathleen Burns, Ph.D.
>>>
...
"Smith’s lawsuit will ask that BP, as well as Halliburton, Transocean, Anadarko Petroleum, MOEX Offshore, Cameron International and their subsidiaries, provide training and safety equipment, including VOC respirators, to the volunteers responding to the spill." ...
-- from the article "Three Ways the Oil Spill May Threaten Human Health" (5/8/10) from NewsUSA.com (which provides copyright free content)
>>>
5/5/10:
... "Oil contains a mixture of chemicals. The main ingredients are various hydrocarbons, some of which can cause cancer ... . There are also certain volatile hydrocarbons called VOCs (volatile organic compounds) which can cause cancer, and neurologic and reproductive harm. ...
"
"The Louisiana Department of Health is setting up shelters for those impacted by the air emissions. ..."
[and, in Alabama? -- SS (ed.)]
"Some of the volatile chemicals in oil have been linked to miscarriage, preterm birth and low birth weight, ... . To be cautious, pregnant women may choose to avoid any areas directly along the waterfront and beachfront, even when oil is not visible." [emphasis added]
..."Pets should not be allowed on the beach in any areas where ...
"The dispersant that is primarily being used contains petroleum products, sulfonic acid salts and propylene glycol. ... Chemicals in dispersants share some of the same toxic properties as chemicals in the oil itself. ...
"... We're still dealing with illnesses in the first responders and cleanup workers from the World Trade Center attack in 2001. It is a big mistake to put our first responders and clean up workers at risk again....
"Avoid areas where oil can be seen or smelled. If you see or smell oil, leave the area right away....
"Young children, pregnant women, people with compromised immune systems and individuals with underlying respiratory conditions should avoid the areas near the contaminated water."...
-- from the 5/5/10 article "Gulf Coast Oil Spill: Health Questions" by Gina Solomon, MD, MPH; Senior Scientist: NRDC
>>>
... "During the Exxon Valdez spill, health problems among cleanup workers became so widespread, so fast, that medical doctors, among others, sounded warnings. Dr.Robert Rigg, former Alaska medical director for Standard Alaska (BP), warned, 'It is a known fact that neurologic changes (brain damage), skin disorders (including cancer), liver and kidney damage, cancer of other organ systems, and medical complications-secondary to exposure to working unprotected (or inadequately protected)-can and will occur to workers exposed to crude oil and other petrochemical by-products.'" ...
-- from the 5/1/10 Reuters report "Lessons from the Exxon Valdez spill" by Ricki Ott, Ph.D. (marine toxicologist and author of two books on the Exxon Valdez oil spill)
>>>
... "With an oily stench permeating the air across southeastern Louisiana, ...
... "Residents throughout the New Orleans area on Thursday [apparently 4/29/10] reported an oily odor apparently coming from the spill, which was more than 90 miles from the Crescent City." ...
-- from the 4/29/10 Times-Picayune report "Oil from Gulf spill is reaching Louisiana coastline" by Paul Rioux and Robert Travis Scott
>>>
COMMENTS:
6/17/10:
To help make decisions about what to do, the above articles by Ms. Marshall and Drs. Harbut, Burns, Ott, and Solomon are all URGENTLY recommended reading for anyone living or working near or along the coastal areas the spill is effecting or threatening to effect. It is also recommended that readers living elsewhere consider making relatives and friends in the coastal area aware of those articles.
Also, it is not clear the government and mainstream media are making the general public well-aware of the health dangers this "spill" poses to humans.
-- SS (ed.)
QUESTION TO ALL INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS OF THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA:
How well are you serving your individual readers, viewers, and family (as compared to advertisers and management) on this specific matter (human oil spill health hazards)?
-- SS (ed.)