Earth-Hostile Chemical Gets White House OK

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration announced new rules Thursday to allow U.S. farmers who grow tomatoes, strawberries and other crops to continue using methyl bromide, an ozone-depleting pesticide that had been scheduled to be phased out worldwide next year.

The United States was among a dozen nations that won continued "critical use" exemptions from the phase-out at negotiations in Prague, Czech Republic last month. International negotiators granted the United States request to continue using the popular killer of insects and weeds at a rate of 37 percent, or 5,550 tons, of the 15,000 tons used in 1991.

The new rules take effect on Jan. 1 and allow most of the methyl bromide to be used by producers and importers of crops, with the rest allotted to distributors and other users.

Agency officials said in a statement the rules they were putting in place represent "the most simple and least burdensome option."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&ncid=693&e=5&u=/ap/20041217/ap_on_go_pr_wh/methyl_bromide

[bowens43]

1. We suck.

No wonder the world hates us.

[hatrack]

29. Hey! Where's your sense of global market perspective?!?!

After all, what're a few thousand or a few tens of thousands of deaths 20 years down the road from malignant melanoma, compared with the ABSOLUTE UNQUESTIONABLE IMPERATIVE NEED for unblemished strawberries 365 days a year in every grocery store in America right now?

Now, granted, those strawberries don't really have any "flavor" to speak of, but they look PERFECT - and that wouldn't be possible without methyl bromide.

So shut yer yap, ya tree-huggin' radical New Jersey subdivision-torching commie pinko radical liberal!!!

:hi:

[grilled onions]

2. world hostile

It takes one "hostile" to know another! * is famous for hostility towards the enviroment AND to the population.

[countryjake]

3. Idiots!

As a very small child, I was poisoned from eating a banana that had visible methyl bromide all over it; damn near killed me & may account for all that ails me now, lol! Anyway, this crap has been an issue with the banana import/export business for a long time. Look up the effects it has on banana farm-workers. It's a sorry country we live in. Oh yeah, be sure & wash your bananas before you hand them to a kid!

[Igel]

20. It boils at 38 F. n/t

[w4rma]

23. We can all eat boiled bannanas, now instead of fresh ones. (nt)

[DrWeird]

25. What he means is...

since methyl bromide is so volatile it would have evaporated long before it ever got to store shelves. Plus it's a colorless liquid. So the bit about "I once ate a banana with methyl bromide visible all over it" is a bit of stretch. Unless he happened to be on a banana plantation wandering around after a spraying picking bananas.

[w4rma]

26. Yup. That makes sense. That temperature is pretty cold.

Below the temperature at which water freezes, even. Looks like I might have gotten suckered in by a troll.

Anyway the issue is that it evaporates at such a low temperature which means it enters the atmosphere and chemically reacts with the ozone, thus depleting it.

[DrWeird]

28. Water freezes at 32 degrees farenheit.

But yeah.

Methyl bromides really nasty shit, I won't argue that. I was shocked to find they used it as a pesticide. But the problem isn't the amount that gets to the consumer. Methyl bromide is produced naturally by plants, there's low concentrations all over the place. The problem is for the people who work with the stuff. It gets down into the ground water and into the wells on the farm and the migrant workers that drink from said wells. And their families.

[countryjake]

41. Well mister smartie pants,

I was not anywhere near a banana plantation, it was during the early 1950s & the banana I ate & all of the bananas & peels found at the establishment where it happened were crusted with "something-bromide"...it was a white substance & I cannot remember the chemicals complete name, just that everybody called it some kind of bromide poisoning & they said it was what they were shipped in to prevent spiders from entering this country. I was not the only kid who became sick & it was a big stink, for those days. Sorry this topic rung a bell for me, I didn't know one had to be a chemist in order to be concerned about the crap they pass off as edible food in this country.

[Igel]

43. Sorry.

Not a troll. But a stickler for facts.

I don't doubt that you got sick from it. Or that it was something-bromide. Just doubted it was methyl bromide. I would have guessed its boiling point was at or slightly below room temperature. (Didn't know its boiling point for sure until I checked a handbook ....)


Actually, its volatility is probably one reason that it's so widely used; my guess is that they saturate the ground with it. But in any event, it means that it has no problem entering the ecosystem.

[countryjake]

45. Didn't mean to sound huffy...

and I understood what you meant about it dissipating before a consumer might ever touch it. They've used it in strawberry fields here & when they spray, they cover it up right away, but it's the poor farmworkers who do the covering. Also, I'm pretty sure that it's the blooms that are sprayed, not the fruit. But our county has children working the strawberry fields, my own daughter started picking when she was 12; I raised a fuss about pesticide exposure to her school, which is where the buses picked the kids up to take them picking & her principal & her employer assured us all that no residue was left in the fields by the time the berries were ripe.

The plight of the farmworkers is still disastrous, with literally backbreaking labor to do for peanut pay, & the constant & never-ending battle against these poisons. I would love to stick our prez (& his entire family) in one of our county's nice picker homes, beside the fields he pollutes, to breath the air he's poisoning...just a nice little month-long vacation, preferably early spring, when the sprays are all flying. Oh yeah, & to drink from the sand-point wells that are the water sources for these people.

I'm sorry for my confusing things & distracting from the points of this post; I did not wish to do that.

[DenaliDemocrat]

47. I bet you got a dose

of Guthion, another nasty, nasty, pesticide commonly used in orchards. Did you have cholinsterse problems and was atropine admininstered as an antidote? If so, probably guthion or furadan. He is right about the methly bromide though. Here in the U.S., it is usually used as a fumigant for crops already in storage, even corn and wheat in silos.

[countryjake]

48. Kids were dropping...

& we all began throwing up all over the place. I can remember not being able to stand up...it was in a dance hall & one older boy passed out & they took him away to a doctor. They laid the rest of us out on the benches along the side of the hall & put cold rags on our foreheads & trashcans next to our heads & went on with the music, that was our antidote. My folks found out later from the mother of the boy what ailed us all, the bananas were the only thing we'd eaten. I was sick for about three days & then got tonsilitis on top of it. Not a good memory but bromide I will never forget.

They spray some of our fruit fields here with something in early spring & then put black tarps down while they're doing it. That's one of our signals that there's poison in our midst, when we see the tarps. I don't know what it is & I'm thinking now that it's for weeds, cause it's done around the same time they put out the starts. Bad for the earth, tho, whatever it is, I'd imagine.

[Igel]

32. Missed point? n/t

[w4rma]

33. Yes, yes. I'm tired. I've been awake too long.

I even, indirectly, said that the freezing point of water was something higher than 32`F, above. x(

DrWeird has the situation explained very well in his posts, however.

[oneold1-4u]

34. Bananas and imported bananas

I had fresh bananas right off the tree in the yard while visiting in Hawaii and can not stand the gaseous odor of bananas in the market today. The taste even seems to be there after peeling. Not sure that there isn't a better way to enjoy the flavor in something less poisonous. It has always amazed me, though, how what is good for you today may give you cancer tomorrow. Worse scenario though is when nothing can be diagnosed before you slowly die from something they would never admit could kill!
We got rid of DDT in the US but now buy tons of food produced in countries where the market for it is huge!

[countryjake]

42. I've often wondered,

if it was just the acetone or some pesticide, but if you have any pets, try holding a banana under their nose & watch their reaction. I have one cat who will literally run if I walk toward it holding a banana & the rest squint their eyes & back off, suspiciously.

Saw a report this week on tv which said that the nutritional content of most fruits & vegetables we eat now is drastically less than the nutrition of 50 years ago. The solution they offered was that we need to eat them more often & in larger quantities. In other words, get twice the exposure to whatever they've been drenched in while growing. The guy commentating that report was funny; he asked if it wouldn't be easier to just take a pill.

[jmowreader]

46. Visible methyl bromide?

Methyl bromide is a gas.

[Dear Maggie]

4. Good article

I'm going to share it with the Envirnoment thread at www.ragereport.com You can read the threads without joining, though www.ragereport.com/phpbb/nfphpbb/viewforum.php?f=106

You are welcome to join this forum, too, if you like forums

I study the pesiticide 2-butoxyethanol and caution everyone from getting too much exposure to that (regardless of the source) After studying it for a couple of years ... it is the most probable cause of 'gulf war syndrome' in my mind ... based on a study I'm doing on this chemical and seeing the 'match' it is to the symptoms these vets (& many in the public) have. www.valdezlink.com/same.htm

www.valdezlink.com/chemical_industry.htm

I suggest taking care of any chemicals that have butyl ether in them. Accutane for severe acne, by the way, has a butylated inert ingredient. The warnings for accutane are similar to those of 2-butoxyethanol. There is reproductive harm suggested. Who knows, it could extend beyond the actual time period in which it is being taken. Drying out your whole body for life may not be a good idea.

Why I did this study
www.seattlepress.com/features/forum/viewtopic.php?p=134#134

[countryjake]

5. Interesting & thank you!

That connection you've found with the degreasers used in the Valdez oil spill is shocking but understandable. We have a friend who worked up there on the clean-up, who in 1994/95 suddenly was stricken with pancreatitis & then diagnosed with diabetes (no family history of it) & this has me wondering about him. I just wish we could inform him, as he would be highly interested, but we've lost contact since he moved back up there. My own brother has worked on other clean-ups & he, too, was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, tho we do have some history of it in our family (but not immediate). It's always struck me as odd, since both men were in their late forties. Thanks for the informative websites & all the work you do! I will check out that forum you've mentioned.

[Dear Maggie]

6. Yes, these men need this info

Wow, I just posted this. Quite an active forum

Because the add on symptoms of this chemical's harm is so varied. (The gulf war syndrome vets can attest to that) It is almost impossible to identify this as the chemical of harm for anyone.

But I started at the other end. I studied this chemical since June, 2002 and I recognize its pattern ... very varied www.valdezlink.com/scenario.htm

I was also perplexed that doctors didn't find the red blood cell damage, until a man who was harmed by this chemical 15 years earlier had hemoglobin hematocrit in normal range, and he wasn't even making enough red blood cells. Red blood cells were just slightly under normal range, but not enough to call attention to them ... and in past urinalysis there was blood in urine, but doctors don't see a match between that and what the blood is saying.

I've learned that when there are too many immature red blood cells, there are many other tests that don't read right: white blood counts have to be adjusted; liver tests looked at differently. Maybe even the CBC

I do believe this is autoimmune hemolytic anemia that the chemical causes; and if doctors test for it they will find it. I believe this is the fatigue that has been evading medical science for over half a century.

I believe this is the fatigue of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome www.valdezlink.com/cfid_share.htm

My theory is provable. But only by those harmed by it. They become so ill; and many have no medical insurance; no families; no jobs. They alienate themselves from their own families, as those chemically poisoned look OK, but they are not well and the central nervous system damage all by itself is very terrible.

[FlaGranny]

17. I've got to check this out -

my husband has a slightly higher than normal immature red blood cell count and he also has a slightly higher than normal blood glucose. A couple of his liver tests are just slightly off too, and he has been complaining of fatigue. I have no idea if he has been exposed to these chemicals, though.

He also has a nodule in his thyroid (but euthyroid), high blood pressure, a couple of chronically swollen glands in his neck. He has a lot of the symptoms you list.

Is there any treatment for exposure to these chemicals?

[Dear Maggie]

21. Avoid all future exposures!

Any help?

Some people say "no" as far as the fatigue goes. If it is a 'hiding out' type of autoimmune hemolytic anemia. But then, I don't think the USA realizes how common it is; and they havn't been working on cures.

And miracles still happen. So never say never.

My focus has been on getting an acurate diagnosis so people can get real help and not just more tests that seem inconclusive.

For sure, you do not want to get any more exposure to this chemical, if you are suspecting its harm.

I think that you can hope to prevent the worst effects of it, if you prevent getting more and more exposure. But since most people do not realize what is harming them, they do get more and more exposure.

I see it as a pandemic unrecognized health crisis in our nation.

Thyroid is often part of the ailments; I also often hear of lumps here 'n there.

I'm not a medical person, mind you; however, I have learned a lot about this chemical.

Some of these extra things you mention can be part of it, too. Any stand alone ailment, I would look elsewhere for it's cause

As I shared already, the first 'other group' that I recognized the symptoms in was the 'gulf war syndrome' vet. I put together a better list of their symptoms by working with what they shared 12/03 - 4/04 http://www.valdezlink.com/gwv_symptoms.htm There is a lot of good info here for anyone ... what are the symptoms of a chemical exposure in the first place? Often these are treated as the main harm, instead of a symptom of a chemical exposure.

What was your husband doing when he first felt this type of fatigue? Many times there is an exposure you can pinpoint.

There's another list I put together & it's here on this forum under John Ashcroft. I think Cheney, Rehnquist & Ashcroft have some of the symptoms of this chemical's harm ... & if they also have 'fatigue' of undetermined source ... they should check this out, too

[FlaGranny]

22. Thanks for the reply - I've been

doing some on-line research. My husband is self employed and owns a small janitorial service. He does all the work himself. He uses lots of cleaning supplies and agents. He's been doing the same work for many, many years. Before that he used to work in a gas station for several years (as a teenager). My husband has always been vigorous and healthy. He is in his mid-60's and I have noticed these symptoms worsening in the past few years. Of course, he is getting older and that has something to do with his aches and pains, I guess. The changes in his blood glucose, bilirubin, etc., showed about two or three years ago.

I am VERY glad I clicked on this thread today. Now, to convince him to let me make his cleaning solutions out of natural stuff.

Edit: I guess I found the source of his exposure, haven't I?

[Dear Maggie]

36. Source of exposure? Yes

Yes, most likely

Cleaning, especially the industrial strength products ...
Even at home cleaning products to be careful when using are things like Simple Green, 409 Cleaner, Lysol Tub 'n Tile, Lysol Kitchen Disinfectant, oven cleaner, Scrubbing Bubbles (no warning I can find on it for the 10% 2-2-butoxyethanol it has) www.valdezlink.com/household.htm

And even various things around the gas stations ... like antifreeze, brake free, break fluid?


I suppose a rule of thumb, "If it cleans well ... be careful"


Still, does your husband remember a time when his eyes burned and hurt, and he had 'flu-like' symptoms and dark urine and FATIGUE??

Have you noticed a very grouchy personality change? Most things ... can cause a violent outburst? Or does he seem depressed? ... just not himself?

If it is true that the worst exposure is the eye membranes and the cuticle areas ... wearing goggles (like swimming goggles) and chemical retardant gloves is VERY important; also ventilation equivalent to outdoors.

Maybe some will help lobby their US Senators & US Representatives to find out what the known exposures to 2-butoxyethanol and diethylene glycol monobutyl ether are for the first gulf war troops? Dept of Defense knows some ... and I can think of a couple they may not have. www.valdezlink.com/same.htm www.valdezlink.com/how_to_contact.htm At the very least the govt should inventory all products that contain this chemical and limit troops exposure to it throughout their service period.

If the 'evidence' on this chemical's harm comes in as I think it might, Congress, at the will of the people, may want to ban this chemical.

[Dear Maggie]

38. PS - Eyes are the worst exposure

2-butoxyethanol can cause it all: depression, grouchiness (Any one would have to have a lot of self control to overcome the nervous system damage - once someone's gotten too much of this chemical along the way.)

OSHA has been checking its harm for 46,000 auto workers - back in Nov of 2002

It is in paint; worst exposure is in the eye membranes. Once someone has had too much exposure to this chemical component, they can't take any more exposure (It also dries out the eye membranes and might cause holes in the retina? They should see an ophthalmologist.)

People can track their red blood cells info from prior physicals.
Ask the doctor's office to mail you a copy of all blood work and urinalysis.

www.valdezlink.com/check_blood.htm#retic

[Dear Maggie]

50. PPS and HEADACHES, too - Horrible Headaches!

Now, for those who have several odd symptoms www.valdezlink.com/scenario.htm

You should for sure see if the red blood cells are immature AND you should have regular check ups on kidney and liver (But most people don't know that they should) It is part of the MSDS information on a thorough MSDS.

ANYWAY, one of the add on symptoms of this chemical is headaches and it is not the regular headache. I almost wonder if it might be a pituitary headache (?)

It is also surprising how similar CFIDS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and gulf war syndrome' are www.valdezlink.com/cfid_share.htm

According to the Case Definition of CFS used in this country, one of the symptoms listed is headaches of a new type, pattern or severity.

Here are some examples of this kind of headache:

"I have had headaches and they are getting worse and worse. It is a deep hurt - I can't describe it - at the back of the head, sometimes down my neck and across my shoulders; also in my eyes (I'm legally blind now). I can feel it 'thump' thump' It is really miserable."
August, 2002 comment by a GWS vet: "I still have these piercing headaches, feels like burning, shocks....something like that... all I know, it's not a normal headache."

An August 24, 2002 military comment: "Hey everyone! I'm curious. Many of us talk about having headaches. But, I haven't found anyone yet that described the type of headaches I have. Mine are not like a normal headache. They feel like piercing, sharp, burning in spots. That's the best I can describe. Sometimes I get the pounding hurt really bad type, but for the most part they're very different from anything I ever had before. I do experience a lot of other symptoms, muscle & joint pain, rashes, GERD (acid reflux), tremors, and tired all the darn time. but, these headaches are like the worst. Anybody out there with the same type of headaches? stationed in Riyadh, Saudi.

"I served in swa with the Marine Corps from jan91-june91. after returning to the states, I had a few very severe migraine headaches that brought me to my knees. The headaches went away and I then started to have heart palpitations with a very high heart rate. * I was placed in the hospital once for one week with the doctors being unable to explain why I was having the palpitations."

Some signs of hemolytic anemia ... somewhere along the line:
Chills
Fatigue
Pale color
Shortness of breath
Rapid heart rate
Yellow skin color (jaundice)
Dark urine
Enlarged spleen www.valdezlink.com/generic.htm#8

Chad, a gulf war vet: "I had a bothersome pain in the back of my head behind my left ear. Almost all the in the back of my head. It became severe and my balance has gotten much worse, my memory was bad since the storm, but now is absolutely terrible day to day, and I can't focus on anything."

www.valdezlink.com/complete.htm#headaches

How to find it's harm - which would be common to all harmed by 2-butoxyethanol: www.valdezlink.com/psa.htm Immature red blood cells; blood in urine - not in hemoglobin - hematocrit for many years after exposure?

2-butoxyethanol causes hemolytic anemia which I suspect is autoimmune

If you know any doctor who would be interested on receiving 3 faxed pages of helps and an overview on how to recognize this chemical's pattern of harm, please e-mail me with an intro paragraph for the cover page, and your doctor's office fax number or mailing address.

If you are not affected, it is very probable that your doctor sees many people who are affected. Why doesn't the USA know very much about cancers and reproductive harm? www.valdezlink.com/generic.htm#fed

[Dear Maggie]

55. 2nd Hand Solvent Exposure

Second hand solvent exposure is something that people don't give much thought to ... I suspect 2nd hand solvent exposure to this family & new baby:

A new mom and her husband, and 6 mo old baby are visiting his family in Wyoming. She just shared that a couple of days ago baby was throwing up and had bad diarrhea ... but was in a happy mood and didn't seem to have a fever.

At first I looked at it like most people do, oh, everyone is coming down with the flu. Then it hit me. I suspect that this was most likely a response to a chemical exposure such as the common one I've been studying. So, has baby been in a freshly painted bedroom? Has someone who was holding her 15 minutes before ... been breathing these chemicals into her eyes?

I am concerned for them to take this seriously ...

When things like this happen, there have been instances of the body organs shutting down. Maybe some SIDS is actually this? Even if nothing this serious happens, is it possible to get CFS & all those other effects? www.valdezlink.com/gwv_why_fatigue.htm

www.valdezlink.com/gwv_symptoms.htm#child

Then I remember that this young mom said that everyone wasn't feeling well, but it started with baby ... So I want to know who arrived in that household on Friday?

Suggestion:

If any adults go to the doctor have them check for blood in urine & get the retic rate www.valdezlink.com/psa.htm www.valdezlink.com/check_blood.htm#retic & also track it over time.

Do eyes burn & hurt? That is a clue - this is the primary route of exposure to this 2-butoxyethanol www.valdezlink.com/same.htm

From a third party I hear that someone who worked EVOS has who has red, white and hemoglobin counts that are too low & there could be concern for heart attack.

Why I learned about this chemical exposure
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1079661&mesg_id=1086257
www.seattlepress.com/features/forum/viewtopic.php?p=134#134

[kodi]

11. and the propylene glycol versions of butyl cellosolve/carbitol?

i am unsure of whether the determining factor is the butyl derivative of ethylene glycol ethers or the base glycol itself. we know the propylene glycol butyl ethers are not considered to be hazardous as are their ethylene glycol cousins.


at least we should target whether we are discussing the t-butl or n-butyl derivate. and i say this because i have found the t-butyl moiety usually is too bulky to interact with biological systems when compared to n-butyl derivatives. of course my own work was in structure-mutagenic activity relationships with aromatic amines as determined by ames testing, viz., the bigger the carbon chain in a homologous series and the more branched, the less biological activity.

[Dear Maggie]

49. n-butyl ethers

Thanks for your input

There are a lot of synonymns for ethylene glycol monobutyl ether including Dow Chemical's trade name butyl cellosolve such as is about 6 % concentration in Simple Green (Not as non-toxic as they claim?)

Here's a list of synonymns: www.valdezlink.com/2-b_synonyms.htm

C6H14O2/CH3(CH2)2CH2OCH2CH2OH

CAS number 00111-76-2

2-butoxyethanol
2-butoxy-1-ethanol;
2-Butoxy ethanol;
2-BUTOXY ETHANOL

(ETHYLENE GLYCOL MONOBUTYL ETHER);
o-butyl ethylene glycol;
2-n-Butoxy-1-ethanol;
2-n-Butoxyethanol;
3-oxa-1-heptanol;
Beta-butoxyethanol;
BUCS; butoxyethanol;
Butyl cellosolve;
butyl glycol;
Butyl oxitol;
Dowanol EB;
Ektasolve EB;
Ektasolve EB solvent;
Ethylene glycol butyl ether;
Ethylene glycol mono butyl ether;
Ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (EGBE) (2-Butoxyet ;
Ethylene Glycol Mono-n-butyl Ether;
Ethylene glycol n-butyl ether;
gafcol eb;
glycol butyl ether;
glycol ether eb;
glycol ether eb acetate;
Jeffersol EB;
monobutyl ether of ethylene glycol;
monobutyl glycol ether;
n-butoxyethanol;
n-Butyl Cellosolve;
poly-solv eb


AND ALSO the compounded version:

C8H18O3 / CH2(CH2)3OCH2CH2OCH2CH2OH
CAS number 00112-34-5
Diethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether
2-(2-Butoxyethoxy)ethanol

Kidney damage; Central Nervous System effects

NFPA Rating Health #1 (really?) if anything these numbers need to be higher, for greater health concerns

Diethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether
is a registered pesticide with EPA
USEPA/OPP PC Code: 011502

Synonym(s):

BUTYL CARBITOL
DIETHYLENE GLYCOL MONOBUTYL ETHER
DIGLYCOL MONOBUTYL ETHER

2-(2-Butoxyethoxy)ethanol <112-34-5>
Synonyms: 2-(2-Butoxyethoxy)ethanol; 2-(2-n-Butoxyethoxy)ethanol;

o-butyl diethylene glycol;
3,6-Dioxa-1-decanol;
3,6-Dioxadecanol;
diethylene db;
Diethylene Glycol Butyl Ether;
Diethylene glycol, monobutyl ether;
Diethylene Glycol Mono-n-butyl Ether;
diethylene glycol n-butyl ether;
diglycol monobutyl ether;
butoxydiethylene glycol;
Butoxydiglycol;
butyl dioxitol;
Butyl Carbitol;
dowanol db;
Dowanol OR;
ektasolve db;
glycol ether db;
Glycol, monobutyl ether;
jeffersol db;
n-Butyl Carbitol;
poly-solv db;
Trade Name(s): DOWANOL
Scientific Name(s): BUTOXYETHOXY)ETHANOL

Lysol Tub 'n Tiles has an EPA Registration number
www.valdezlink.com/only_chemical.htm

[Dear Maggie]

51. Questions from an Ordinary Person on n-butyl ethers

www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1079661&mesg_id=1084144

Above is my reply to your question.

It is obvious that you know a lot on this topic and I would appreciate your additional observations

I am not a technical person, however, I took the synonyms for 2-butoxyethanol n-butyl ethers ... and made a web page from information I found on an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet)

But since web pages don't always come up, I wrote them out on the reply (Didn't want anyone to think I knew all that)

I consider the 2-butoxyethanol like a tornado chemical. From what they say, this chemical does not bio accumulate and it is thought that it leaves the body within 48 hours (Don't know whether that is true or not). However, in lay terms, to me it is like a 'tornado' Even if it is no longer there, there is much damage done to people.

This information I learned from an MSDS
www.valdezlink.com/acute.htm

It is from an MSDS on what this chemical does to people and it is the best I have found. A doctor could check into the source site and get more information that is unavailable to me.

I wonder since there can be tumors throughout the endocrine system and the brain, too - and since maternal effects are mentioned ... whether or not breast cancer could be part of its harm?

I've noticed people can get the melanoma cancers: melanoma eye cancer was a cancer our chiropractor came down with in 1992 and he died earlier this year from a liver cancer that they had a hard time diagnosing. Or soft tissue cancers ... sarcomas? A French journalist who was research this shared with me that she found research on leukemias and lymphomas being part of what this chemical does. I know of a couple from the Exxon Valdez oil spill who've come down with CLL (Chronic Lymphocydic Leukemia)

So I ask, why doesn't the USA know as much as others?
www.valdezlink.com/solvent_studies.htm#who
www.valdezlink.com/generic.htm#fed

By the way, the chemical companies may have successfully lobbied EPA ending a year ago, to emit more of this chemical into the air. Since it is in a lot of products, that could mean more harm to us? I believe, as a seasoned auto painter said to a young man, "The worst exposure of the chemicals in paint is by way of the eyes and the cuticle areas (Are there any of these chemicals used when one gets a manicure/pedicure?)

OSHA was checking into this chemical family Nov, 2002
www.valdezlink.com/inipol/pages/comments.htm

I noticed an experiment using PEOPLE last year that was scary to me. I wonder what disclosure they gave these men to do such an experiment? They were looking for effects from dermal exposure. I asked the researchers (but they didn't reply) ... how do you know whether it was dermal exposure they were getting or exposure through the eye membranes?

I suspect the butylated inert ingredient in Accutane as being the harmful component. This acne medication seems to have the same warnings as 2-butoxyethanol. www.valdezlink.com/inipol/pages/accutane_warnings.htm I would suspect reproductive harm in the future, long after taking it as being a possible side effect, too.

I wonder if it was the butyl ether component to gasoline in the late 70's that caused so many health ailments ... that state by state they have been phasing it out?

I was wondering about this chemical propylene glycol butyl ether Cas # 5131-66-8 as I see it in industrial 'Simple Green'

[Dear Maggie]

52. Why I'm Studying 2-butoxyethanol - the Fatigue I've noticed

I developed an interest in this after a family member, who worked as a 'bioremediation worker' on the Exxon Valdez oil spill, became ill. He took a job there just after graduating from high school to earn money to go to college. I found other spill workers that were sick. I developed a feeling that the illnesses were caused by the chemicals used to clean the oil. The only chemical mentioned then was 2-butoyethanol (ethylene glycol monobutyl ether)

My study started in earnest June, 2002 after he had been diagnosed with a low red blood cell anemia, but the doctor was stumped as to the cause: he had a colonoscopy to check for internal bleeding. They did a bone marrow test; a lymph node biopsy as his lymph nodes were swollen throughout his body. Nothing was seeming to be the cause.

As you look at the symptoms of the oil clean up workers; you discovered that they were similar to 'Gulf War Syndrome.' You asked yourself the question could there be an active chemical in the oil cleanup chemicals that was also used in the Gulf War? I explored how each oil spill was cleaned up in 1989 vs 1991. Actually, the symptoms and definitions for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome are also strikingly similar

I felt that should be studied by professional staff but I was largely ignored. I also began to develop questions about the safety of ordinary household cleaners, since Exxon said Inipol EAP 22 had the same chemical as in these. Intro

I am just an ordinary person in a remote area of Alaska whose loved one got sick and I am asking the question why? I have done no scientific research of my own, but have looked at studies done by others. I pass on what I have found as a service to others. It is up to them whether they reach the same conclusions I did. I am not trying to sell anything. It is as simple as that.

I hope that others will not be harmed by this chemical, as many of the tests just to see what is wrong, (when doctors don't know) can be painful, expensive, and many times unnecessary (?)

Now how can you tell if you ARE harmed by this 2-butoxethanol? Well, there are a lot of odd add on symptoms, however, I theorize that the blood will all look alike. Do you have acquired autoimmune hemolytic anemia? That should start right away & last, regardless of the symptoms piled on top of it. That's my theory ... and it is provable. Track the retic rate and red blood counts over time. Are your red blood cells immature? Have you had trace blood in urine? These should be the 'clues' This is the fatigue that shows up differently than doctors expect. (Not in hemoglobin or hematocrit until a LONG time later) Too many immature red blood cells and other tests are off, like liver, for example.

Here's a 1975 example of acquired autoimmune hemolytic anemia
www.valdezlink.com/hb_aha_attack.htm#mother

Other information that may be of interest:
'bioremediation worker' www.valdezlink.com/inipol/pages/experiment.htm
Exxon Valdez oil spill www.valdezlink.com/1989photos.htm
chemicals used www.valdezlink.com/inipol/pages/c_only.htm

2-butoxyethanol MSDS www.valdezlink.com/inipol/pages/2-butoxy_msds.htm
Similar to 'gulf war syndrome' www.valdezlink.com/wondering.htm#symptoms
Also strikingly similar- CFS, CFIDS www.valdezlink.com/cfid_share.htm
Ordinary household cleaners www.valdezlink.com/household.htm
What's in Inipol EAP 22 www.valdezlink.com/inipol/pages/chemicals.htm
Intro www.valdezlink.com/intro.htm



retic rate www.valdezlink.com/check_blood.htm#retic
blood in urine www.valdezlink.com/psa.htm
the fatigue www.valdezlink.com/why_fatigue.htm

This information - Restated here
www.seattlepress.com/features/forum/viewtopic.php?p=134#134

[Dear Maggie]

53. EVOS is still in the news

Alaska Star
December 16, 2004

www.alaskastar.com/stories/121604/new_20041216013.shtml

Exxon Valdez spill still news in Ott's new book
'Sound Truth And Corporate Myth$': It ain't over until lessons are learned
By TONY BICKERT
Alaska Star

The oil industry considers Riki Ott to be a pest.

That in itself is reason enough to read her new book, "Sound Truth And Corporate Myth$ - The Legacy of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill." Anybody who has pestered Big Oil for as long as Ott has and, as the saying goes, "lived to tell the tale," has a tale worth telling.

Just hours before the infamous tanker ran aground on Bligh Reef on March 24, 1989, Ott was telling the Mayor's Oil Action Committee in Valdez about the oil industry's "inability to quickly contain and clean up an oil spill" and that it was a matter of "when, not if, the 'big one' occurs."

But Ott hasn't endured as an oil industry watchdog on her ability to predict oil spills - or on her love of the delicate marine ecosystem of Prince William Sound. The former commercial fisherman from Cordova, who is schooled in marine biology and oil toxicology, has always backed up her claims with science.

In her 562-page book she methodically disassembles what the oil industry says it has done, is doing and will do to protect its workers and the environment, filters out the "Corporate Myth," then reassembles it all to reveal the "Sound Truth."

Among her revelations:

* The Exxon Valdez did not spill only 11 million gallons of oil as Exxon claims, but more like 35 million gallons, according to Ott's deductive reasoning: measuring the amount of oil that was pumped from the stricken tanker.

* Despite industry promises that the gear issued to clean-up workers would protect them from harmful oil vapors and solvents, Ott writes that 6,722 clean-up workers reported symptoms of upper respiratory distress, symptoms Exxon dismissed as the common cold or flu.

(The section on oil toxicity alone makes the book a must-read for anybody who's considering joining the Unalaska oil spill clean-up effort.)

* Exxon in the early 1990s distributed glossy pamphlets and booklets in which scientists paid by the industry proclaimed several oil-damaged wildlife species as "recovered." But more extensive studies by Ott and other independent researchers show that several of those species had not recovered and some have still not recovered. "(Exxon) did not look for long-term effects of the oil spill because they claimed there would be none," Ott concluded.

In summary, Ott argues that the Exxon Valdez oil spill is not old news because its lessons have not yet been learned.

It's an argument worth considering as Alaskans now stand on the threshold of more oil and gas extraction and transportation projects than we've seen in 30 years.

As we grow nearer to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, and as we prepare to build the liquid natural gas line from the North Slope, "Sound Truth And Corporate Myth$" makes for an important counterweight to the industry's public relations machine, which soon will be churning out promises to protect the environment and the workers it plans to hire, promises similar to those made in the 1970s and '80s, promises that have been, according to Ott's book, soundly broken.

Tony Bickert is editor of the Alaska Star and former oil beat reporter for the Valdez Vanguard (1991-2000).

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, December 16, 2004.

[Dear Maggie]

54. New Book: $ound Truth and Corporate Myth$

The Alaska Forum for Environmental Responsibility
is pleased to announce the publication of

$ound Truth and Corporate Myth$:
The Legacy of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
(Dragonfly Sisters Press 2005) by Riki Ott, PhD

For excerpts and action items, please visit www.soundtruth.info.

SYNOPSIS: Dr. Ott shares the profound legacy of the Exxon Valdez oil spill and how readers can help reshape our global energy future.

This book chronicles the long-lasting environmental harm to Prince William Sound, Alaska, and investigates the health problems suffered by many cleanup workers. Exxon’s spill provided a portal to understanding a startling truth: oil is much more toxic than we previously thought.

$ound Truth and Corporate Myth$ frames the larger story of discovery of the truly toxic nature of oil.

This book shows how one particular fraction of crude oil, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs, may well be the new DDT of the 21st century. In 1999, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency listed 22 PAHs in crude oil as persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) pollutants. Sharing this list of extreme human health hazards are the more commonly known pollutants: mercury, lead, dioxin, PCBs, and DDT.
The latter are all highly regulated chemicals: DDT and PCBs have been banned in the United States.

$ound Truth and Corporate Myth$ traces 15 years of lingering harm to humans and wildlife from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. It reveals how corporate greed, government short-sightedness, and manipulation of the truth and the media have kept the public from learning the deadly nature of PAHs. The author provides relevant information and practical recommendations for people and policy-makers at this critical juncture in the history of civilization. This book will inspire people to reduce their own consumption of fossil fuels and, in so doing, help permanently shift society to a clean energy future.

600 pages with index, appendices, maps, and photo insert. ISBN: 0-9645-2266-7.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Riki Ott, PhD, is a marine toxicologist and environmental writer in Cordova, Alaska. She holds a PhD (University of Washington) and MS (University of South Carolina) in
marine toxicology. The former commercial fisherman in Prince William Sound, Alaska, has co-founded three nonprofit organizations to deal with the lingering social, economic, and environmental harm from the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

To Order see
http://www.soundtruth.info/ordering.htm
OR
Join AFER or renew your membership for $50 or more
and receive a copy of this book.

Thank you,

Alaska Forum for Environmental Responsibility
POB 188
Valdez, AK 99686
[e-mail]
http://www:alaskaforum.org

Name:__________________________________

Address ________________________________
________________________________________
________________________________________
Phone:__________________________________
Email address____________________________


Amount: $ 50 $ 100 $ 250 Other $ ______

www.valdezlink.com/rr_book.htm

[quaoar]

7. What Orwellian name did Bush give to this abomination?

The Healthy Farms Act?

The Clean Strawberries Initiative?

[xxqqqzme]

8. 'Help the Hungry'

(thru extermination in fine print).

[countryjake]

9. Passion for Pesticides Program

probably!

[catgirl]

10. Buy only organic!

And boycott any imported fruit and vegetable. It's also time to boycott the veg and fruit from the US that typically use this chemical. It's time the farmers start respecting their customers. Sure, organic food costs more, but you're worth it.

[Straight Shooter]

27. Buy organic because it tastes so very much better anyway

Store tomatoes are gross. They have no flavor, just a watered-down imitation of what a real tomato should taste like.

This coming year I'll be planting my own little veggie garden and I'm really excited about it :)

[underpants]

12. HAVE YOU SEEN THE PRICE OF TOMATOES???

That will be the spin on this story if it ever sees the light of day.

[Tyler Durden]

13. Buy at stores that sell Canadian Tomatoes.

The Leamington area of Ontario grows tomatoes outdoors, in greenhouses and hydroponically. We see more of them than the US ones (that taste like wet red newspaper) and the Mexican ones (that occasionally carry hepatitis C and g. lamblia), and they taste almost as good as the ones from the Farmer's Market.

Now that there's a "shortage" (yeah. Right. heard THAT before) of tomatoes in this country, CDN tomatoes are all I see in the supermarkets, and that is just fine with me.

[Dear Maggie]

14. Remember - Tomato crops lost

Which recent natural disaster was credited with raising the price of all tomato products?

[MaineDem]

15. $4 a pound!

It's awful.

All because of hurricanes and droughts?

[FlaGranny]

19. No, not at all because of hurricanes -

The truth is, tomatoes aren't planted in Florida until well after those hurricanes left town. The Florida tomatoes should be coming into season shortly.

[FlaGranny]

18. Yes, tomatoes

are $3.99 a pound here. That works out to about $2 per tomato.

[Poppyseedman]

35. The price of tomatoes has

a lot more to do with four hurricanes blowing though Florida than anything else. They ruined about half the crop

[PATRICK]

16. No chemical left behind

program.

[Im_Your_Huckleberry]

24. remember. "without chemicals, life itself would be impossible."

buck up and eat your vegetables.

[Dear Maggie]

37. This chemical is an unnecessary harm

"remember. "without chemicals, life itself would be impossible.""

That may seem true at first glance, however, when people realize how harmful 2-butoxyethanol is and that it is an unnecessary harm ... Maybe they'll get Congress to ban it!

Underneath the 'gulf war syndrome' symptoms or CFIDS or CFS or FMS or Lyme Disease symptoms

You will find the fatigue that goes unfound: autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Doctors need to look again at what's happening with the red blood cells.

[pinniped]

30. *, an Earth-hostile piece of human garbage.

No surprise here.

[parkenyc]

31. This is not surprising.

Not at all.

[wicket]

39. fucking evil!!!!

[Deja Q]

40. Oh good. Ruin the Earth in order to save a fucking penny!

:grr:

When will people learn, or get out of their indoctrined state, THAT IT IS NOT ABOUT MONEY, dammit!

Money is evil.

[genieroze]

44. That's okay, destroy the planet, Jesus will save us.

http://www.theocracywatch.org/

[axordil]

57. I've heard that one before...

...my reply is this: let's say your toilet is backed up, and you've put in a call to the plumber. Now, you don't know exactly when the plumber is coming, and he's said not to expect him at any particular time.

Is it wise, under these circumstances, to keep filling up the toilet?

[Megahurtz]

56. chalk up another one for the good ol' U.S. of A.

:(