“Our heads are still swimming,” stated Barbara Schebler of Homosassa, Florida, who received word last Friday that test results on the water from her family’s swimming pool showed 50.3 ppm of 2-butoxyethanol, a marker for the dispersant Corexit 9527A used to break up and sink BP’s oil in the Gulf of Mexico.
The problems began for the Scheblers a few weeks after the April 20 blow-out. “Our first clue were rashes we both got early in May. Both my husband and I couldn’t get rid of the rashes and had to get cream from our doctor,” Schebler noted, “I never had a rash in my life.”Then, on “July [23], my husband Warren mowed the lawn. It was hot so he got in the pool to cool off afterward. That afternoon he had severe diarrhea and very dark urine. This lasted about 2 days,” she revealed. The Scheblers found Robert Naman, a Mobile, Alabama chemist who’s performed multiple tests (1, 2, 3) for WKRG Channel 5, also out of Mobile.“Warren collected a water sample from the pool filter on August 17th… packed the sample according to Mr. Naman’s instructions, and overnighted it to his Mobile, Ala. lab that same day,” she noted.
The results were delivered by Naman over the phone on August 27 at 11:00 a.m. EDT. A copy of the findings were then e-mailed to the Scheblers. “Naman [said] our pool water sample we sent him contained 50.3 ppm [parts per million] 2-butoxyethanol marker for Corexit,” according to Mrs. Schebler. Tests for arsenic came back at less than .02 ppm.
A July letter from four top scientists noted, “Corexit 9527A contains 2-BTE (2-butoxyethanol), a toxic solvent that ruptures red blood cells, causing hemolysis (bleeding) and liver and kidney damage (Johanson and Bowman, 1991, Nalco, 2010).”The safety data sheet provided by Nalco, the manufacturer of Corexit 9527A, warns, “Harmful if absorbed through skin. May be harmful if swallowed. May cause liver and kidney effects and/or damage. There may be irritation to the gastro-intestinal tract.
“At night we would hear very low aircraft, including helicopters. We figured they were just heading to help out in the Gulf,” and Mrs. Schebler added that she was told, “The prevailing winds from the Gulf are easterly — and when they spray, it is airborne — and that we are right in the path of those winds.” It was also noted that, “We had a lot of rain here before my husband got sick, and wondered what was going on… We had been having daily downpours in July.”
I’m afeared we haven’t heard the end of this.
Ooops! Somebody made a bu-bu! I’m not actually surprised.
I’m pretty sure…..I mean if we dig back far enough….I’ll bet this is Bill Clinton’s fault.
# 2 Bubba said, “I mean if we dig back far enough….I’ll bet this is Bill Clinton’s fault.”
Bubba – even if it IS Bill’s fault, I bet they find a way to blame it on Bush.
But the news said it’s safe! We can bathe in, eat and drink Corexit all day and night, it’s wholesome and nutritious!
“Harmful if absorbed through skin. May be harmful if swallowed.”
WHAT??? it is safer to eat this?? who would want to pay to get past the paywall to read this horrific journalism???
lets see..
Cleaning auto parts you learn a few things about CRUD..
That even Scrubbing wont get 1/2 of it..
Soaps dont eat the lower levels very quit..
The stuff that works best, tends to be as Toxic as the CRUD. And you still need to SOAK IT or SCRUB ALLOT.
What we need, is material that will attach to it and bring it to the surface, that WONT kill everything in the gulf..THEN use the scoopers on it.
It’s also an ingredient in many insecticdes used in Florida. It’s not clear that Corex-it was actually used in that part of Florida! More likely to be part of aerial mosquito spraying than the oil spill response.
If the Corexit was in the pool how did it get there?
Are pools usually filled with seawater? Is it delivered in tankers?
I’d never thought about it before and assumed they were filled from the water main. Obviously not in this case otherwise there would be hundreds or thousands who had drunk the stuff rather than just bathed in it.
#8, Arial drop. A plane or helicopter flew over spraying the stuff. I think this stuff is used in mosquito control as well, so it may not be gulf related. With winds coming off the ocean being what they are, it could have been sprayed miles away, and drifted into their pool over time.
Bubba = Shill
think something like this may start a new epidemic or plague?
This stuff seems just as bad as Agent Orange if not worse.
Swimming pools tend to accumulate chemicals, salts, etc. As their water evaporates over time and is replaced by rain, tap water, or whatever. The dissolved solids and other stuff stays in the pool.
Result? Toxic soup.
ah..yeah. I can vouch for this
in another way..
Here in the lovely NYC & Bronx area, -starting at the end of May with the cool freaky-fun flash lightning / rain storms we had..and into June and August, every time it rained, the several hemp plants, a potato plant and some spices i have been growing outside in some planters would get light green water droplet “burn marks” on them and the majority of the under foliage would shrivel up and die.
A Maple tree i started growing in April (those trees with the “helicopter seeds”) has shown almost no dire effects from the rain. some spotting on the leaves, but only 3 leaves of maybe 25 have shriveled up..were as all the plants i’m growing lose about 90% of their leaves,and the poor potato plant (a Russet, i think) has had about 40% of it’s leaves dry up and shrivel away after each rain.
It takes the plants about 1.5 weeks to being recovery after a rain.
One of the hemp plants (of 5) almost completely shriveled up and died save for 3 leaves (from an original 20) after the first rain)
I learned that stroking the stems and leaves of plants inspire them to grow.
-of the 5 plants, the two i stroke are almost twice the size as the other three. (which i only yak at)
Don’t laugh..i thought the whole talking to the plant thing was complete BS.. So.. I have experimented with this concept for 3yrs and and can say with 100% certainty there is a huge difference in size between plants you “handle” and those you don’t. all are in the same planter, and the seeds that bore them are originally from the same plant.
I intend to start experimenting with “Growing crops & plants by electricity” next. (fwiw: as an aside, in my case, I observed that stroking ivory plant leaves after eating peperoni without washing your hands first will result in the handled leaves becoming speckled and also start to die. i repeated this 5 times with the same effect over 1 yr)
I have a neighbor on the other side of the complex who grows peppers and spices (like greek oregano) and all his plants suffered the same demise / effects after each rain. What i found interesting was that “food” plants as opposed to local trees and shrubbery were far more effected by this year’s rain.. About 65% of the plant (again, save for the tops) shrivel up and die every time it has rained.
A walk around the neighborhood showed all but what i call “Oil based Fibonacci” greenery (like pine trees-trees that stay green during winter) were visibly effected.
Only the very last rain in mid august did the plants fare rather well, with no visible toxic effects presented. Add to this, the plants this year are maybe half the size they normally would be this time of year.
In my some 15yrs of throwing random seeds in a planter, i have never seen this happen before. Further, i have watched the 4km and 16km water vapour satellite animations from the experimental Colorado.edu RAMSDIS online weather site.
For some years now..esp this year and after the oil leak, we have had direct vapour jet streams (grey) flow straight up from the texas/louisianna gulf area and curl around and dump right into the NY Tri-State area quite often.
You can say what you wish, however, it is my direct observation that these toxic rains are being fed directly from moisture picked up from the gulf region and contain the Corexit 9500 by-products. I have about 3 yrs of observations from which to draw upon.
What may be even more concerning is that our reservoirs have most likely been flooded with the same toxic rains that have been killing the local foliage and food plants this past spring and summer.
It will be interesting to see what this year’s fall crops produce. If the statistics are not scrubbed, i imagine a spike in toxic symptoms related to Corexit 9500 will be seen in medical data next year.
-anyway, food for thought.
-s
will be
Chemist conducting test had his lab fined 2x in 98/99 for Hazardous Materials Violations.