Heartbreaking News -

[Margaret Diann]

My heart 'sank' when I heard this

Yesterday I was visiting with someone I don't usually talk to, and came up with my usual, "What did you do in 1989 during the Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup?"

Turns out he was on a barge that delivered supplies of all kinds, mostly to the beach workers. That would be the 'bioremediation' experiment using 1,000 young MEN ... mostly college age kids.

He said they didn't realize how strong the Inipol EAP 22 was and that the workers were having blood in urine and had red bloodshot eyes.

My heart sank. From what I've learned about this product, it causes hemolytic anemia (that's the blood in urine) and with that strong an exposure, it is very unlikely that any of these young men would be alive today, 16 years after the fact.

The synonym for hemolysis is hemoglobinuria. I looked it up and learned some more things, but the most distressing was that the average people live is 10.3 years. Without exception, this is a rule that has proven true. So, anyone still alive today ... is on 'borrowed time' Then, too, that would depend on how much exposure. Some people died in that very year, with easy jobs, like transporting people and equipment in their fishing boats. (I suspect exposure to either ethylene oxide &/or 2-butoxyethanol) Same as for the 'gulf war syndrome' vets. They had exposure to 2-butoxyethanol AND diethylene glycol monobutyl ether

I next talked to a Union worker from those days. They said the Union was offering free blood tests to those in the Union (either at this time, or for those retiring). There seemed to be little trust for the Union. Who wants this info? Why? What will they do with it? Who would get a copy?

Of course, I know that they don't find the harm of 2-butoxyethanol unless they were to check some extra things.

PS

Ah ha ... I just remembered what the blood shot eyes would mean. This is the primary route of exposure to this 2-butoxyethanol chemical: through the eye membranes. These workers would have had an extreme, very excessive amount of exposure to this chemical for the eyes to be blood shot like this.

(And remember, they were inexperienced, stranded at sea - working long hours for 2 weeks straight with no cell phones and no computers to contact their families.) More

Even without this sign the eyes can burn and hurt and give someone way too much exposure. ... like this lady who worked for the box dept of Home Depot in Sugarland, TX. She is now having kidney failure and expected to die at 35 years of age. Doctors are stumped as to what is the matter with her.

I hope she didn't use 409 Cleaner, it's a mini Corexit!