Community | July 07, 2010 | 47 comments

CONFIRMED - LAB TESTED Gulf Coast Water Samples are 'VERY TOXIC'

TomTucker
Oil and water samples were taken from both the Shores of Grand Isle and from 20 miles out. The preliminary analysis was done at an academic analytical chemistry laboratory. Looking for the likely pollutants from the deep water Horizon Oil spill. It was focused on the detection of benzene and propylene glycol. Benzene and other highly toxic contaminants were very low however the concentration of propylene glycol was between 360 and 440 parts per million. Just 25 parts per million is known to kill most fish and propylene glycol is just one of many ingredients found in Corexit. In short, the Gulf is being poisoned by BP's usage of the dispersants even after the EPA asked them to stop back in May. We are willing to provide ANY respected/known laboratory these samples or provide them with more. This is very serious to all people and marine life in and around the Gulf.
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47 comments // CONFIRMED - LAB TESTED Gulf Coast Water Samples are 'VERY TOXIC' // Video

  • ampersand
    • 0
      ampersand  

    • Isn't propylene glycol an ingredient in much of the ice cream sold in the US?
      Maybe that's out of date. Hope so.
      But, as the article points, out our collective poisoning of each other isn't just historical.
      Like the Energizer Bunny, (another toxic product, funnily enough), it just keeps going on, and on, and on...

    • 1 year ago
  • louiseele
  • Andrew_Douglas
  • NiceN
  • Progresshiv
  • unimatrix0
    • +3
      unimatrix0  
    • Progresshiv:

      It is a very big deal, and an important story.
      But the emotional and political posturing only serves to obfuscate and distort the issue. A calm clarity of thought and purpose will benefit the situation far more than juvenile emotional outbursts.

    • 1 year ago
  • Andrew_Douglas
  • Progresshiv
  • CalgarC
  • Animal_Chin
  • outerbanksmom
  • iloveme_tatertot
    • +6
      iloveme_tatertot  

    • "If I saw this on my home beach I would be in tears"

      To which I say: Do you live in America? Well then, this IS your home beach. Location should not make a difference, this affects us all.

    • 1 year ago
  • Omnomynous
    • +8
      Omnomynous  

    • Really, somebody needed a "lab test" to confirm that?

      The fucking dead fish/turtles/birds/dolphins/shellfish didn't say anything?

      I'm glad the American people are so dammed smart....

    • 1 year ago
  • CalgarC
  • tommic
    • +4
      tommic  

    • Mark as an enviornmental regulator you are fully aware of the danger of crude
      This entire crude oil complex is called a mixture of hydrocarbons. Crude oil hydrocarbons range include small-ringed benzene, toluene, xylense, kerosene, and naphthylene.
      All of these chemicals are known cancer causing agaents. When a million gallons a day spill forth from Deepwater Horizon every living organisim it reaches is at danger. You know it, I know it. To deny any part in any fashon is deceptive at best and criminal at worst

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • +6
      JanforGore  

    • Hey, there appears to be a BP minion on here voting down all the posts that question either water or air quality. So I just wanted you to know I voted everyone back up.

    • 1 year ago
  • Einsam_Data_Old
  • outerbanksmom
  • ScottyT
  • DefKid
  • Einsam_Data_Old
  • CalgarC
  • Einsam_Data_Old
  • CalgarC
  • ScottyT
  • DefKid
  • unimatrix0
  • pmurph364
  • samantha420
  • Andrew_Douglas
  • dtringas
  • Mark701
    • +6
      Mark701  

    • I just wrote a long post about this but it didn't show up. The short version of what said was that three samples are meaningless. Two were apparently taken along the shoreline from oily spots.and one reportedly from the ocean. You'd have to take thousands of samples from the affected areas to determine if the high levels of propylene glycol in the sample(s) was representative of the Gulf as a whole. In other words, If I took a sample ten feet away would I get the same results, less or none?

      Second the chemist on the phone only said there were high concentrations. But In which samples, one, two or all of them? They were taken from different locations. Based on his answer, my guess was that the highest concentrations were in one sample which tells us nothing.

      No I don't work for BP, I'm a state environmental regulator, and to be blunt, this video presents no useful information or even good information. We know BP is using Corexit, so finding propylene glycol is predictable. What is also a certainty is that the concentrations will vary both above and below what was found. The important thing is how widespread the high concentrations are and the video doesn't provide that information. From a purely scientific perspective the samples would be considered "biased" based on where they were taken and the number of them and they certainly wouldn't be defensible in a court of law.

      I've worked as a private environmental consultant then as a state environmental regulator for total of 25 years, and nothing irritates me more than someone who, because they don't know what their doing, presents information that is incomplete, inaccurate and alarmist. Take this video with a grain of salt and wait for real data to be collected.

    • 1 year ago
  • outerbanksmom
  • Mark701
    • +5
      Mark701  
    • outerbanksmom:

      What I'm trying to say is that videos like this are alarmist. I'm not saying that a high enough dose of propylene glycol wont hurt you. But there is no evidence that I can gather from THIS video to indicate that the concentrations that were detected in one sample are representative of the concentrations everywhere.

      It's important to remember that it's not the chemical that's the problem, but the dose. In fact low concentrations of propylene glycol are used in cosmetics and food. If there are small areas with concentrations similar to what was found in the sample, it's not a major concern because it will eventually become diluted and dissipate, possibly with the changing tide. If the whole Gulf has concentrations like were found in the sample, then Houston, we have a problem.

      This tape provides no evidence that the high concentrations that were found are representative of what's out there. If I took a sample ten feet away from where people in the video took there's what would the result be? Higher? Lower? Zero? To get an idea of what is really out there, you'd have to take hundreds, possibly thousands of samples from the entire affected surface area of the Gulf and at multiple depths. Then you could actually put together a map that would display the concentrations over a wide area and give you a sense of how bad the problem is. You can't do that with three samples.

    • 1 year ago
  • unimatrix0
  • freecrack
    • +2
      freecrack  

    • oil expert captain obvious reported today that oil and water dont mix, and doing so has deadly ramifications.thank you captian and tune in next week when captain obvious explains the importance of brakes on automobiles.

    • 1 year ago
  • andreii
  • artemis6
  • JohnA
  • JanforGore
  • ScottyT
    • +3
      ScottyT  
    • JanforGore:

      Given the summer temperatures along with the above-average water temperature, you can rest assured that the numbers of volatile organic compounds evaporating off that oil slick are immense. Every journalist flying over the oil slick has complained of the smell, and numerous workers complain of headaches and dizziness.

      This is just horrific! I only wish I had an answer to how this mess will be cleaned up with the expediency that needs to be used.

    • 1 year ago
  • dtringas
    • +1
      dtringas  
    • JanforGore:

      you aren't sure of anything, you just think you are. please only report facts and not your "expert" gore-pinion. I live right on the gulf and would like clear answers on air quality, but you are no scientist so quit spreading ignorance as you so often do.

    • 1 year ago
  • mkass
    • +2
      mkass  

    • It has long been standard procedure for chemical companies (which BP is) to downplay the toxicity of their work and products and, by extension through disinformation lobbying efforts, get governments to do the same. A deep problem in public health is brewing in the Gulf. We need to start thinking now about what it will take to truely care for the people harmed by this and there are far more than anyone is imagining now. People will start having illnesses that won't diagnose and cure as expected. Psychiatrists will start calling symptoms psychosomatic and prescribing drugs. The same thing happened in NY after 9/11. The solution came from an unexpected quarter and I predict it will happen again: http://organicconnectmag.com/wp/2008/03/the-new-york-rescue-workers-detoxificati...

    • 1 year ago
  • TomTucker
  • outerbanksmom
  • TomTucker
  • CalgarC
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