CDC survey of Gulf residents finds 50% of households experiencing respiratory issues

[Generic Other]

An emergency survey conducted door-to-door in coastal Alabama confirmed elevated levels of depression and stress following the oil spill and also detected possible effects, such as respiratory ailments, according to a preliminary report.

Epidemiologists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention joined with local heath workers and counselors to collect the data late last month.

Among the findings:

* At least half of the households queried in both counties had at least one member experiencing respiratory issues within the past
30 days. Most commonly mentioned was nasal congestion.
* The percentage of respondents reporting symptoms of depression exceeded state and national levels recorded in 2006.
* More were spending time worrying about paying rent or mortgages and obtaining nutritious meals compared to a 2008 study.
* Respondents were encountering more physically or mentally unhealthy days than people in earlier statewide surveys.

Concern about mental health issues linked to the Gulf spill is based on experiences after the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska. There, the rates of suicide, domestic violence and divorce spiked in areas most affected by the contamination.

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/09/after_oil_spill_depression_and.html


1/3 of respondents had some exposure to oil. 20% involved in clean-up efforts. This comes from two counties. How many more people have been similarly impacted? CDC needs to go door-to-door in all 4 Gulf states.

[Angry Dragon]

1. Thank you finding this and posting

[Generic Other]

2. We are on our own getting this information out to people!

I appreciate your support! :)

[Angry Dragon]

4. I sent it to StumbleUpon and Facebook

[defendandprotect]

26. BP dispersants 'causing sickness'

BP dispersants 'causing sickness'

Investigation by Al Jazeera online correspondent finds toxic illnesses linked to BP oil dispersants along Gulf coast.

EXCERPT

"The dispersants used in BP's draconian experiment contain solvents such as petroleum distillates and 2-butoxyethanol," Dr. Riki Ott, a toxicologist, marine biologist, and Exxon Valdez survivor, told Al Jazeera.

"Solvents dissolve oil, grease, and rubber," she continued, "Spill responders have told me that the hard rubber impellors in their engines and the soft rubber bushings on their outboard motor pumps are falling apart and need frequent replacement."

"Given this evidence, it should be no surprise that solvents are also notoriously toxic to people, something the medical community has long known," Dr. Ott added.

"In 'Generations at Risk', medical doctor Ted Schettler and others warn that solvents can rapidly enter the human body. They evaporate in air and are easily inhaled, they penetrate skin easily, and they cross the placenta into fetuses. For example, 2- butoxyethanol (in Corexit) is a human health hazard substance; it is a fetal toxin and it breaks down blood cells, causing blood and kidney disorders."



http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2010/10/20101027132136220370.html

[dkf]

3. Wow that many?

Not good.

[TheWraith]

13. Read more carefully, they include sinus congestion as a "respiratory issue."

So in other words, if someone has allergies, that counts.

[dkf]

16. You would think they would separate out new symptoms from old symptoms.

[defendandprotect]

25. Breathing in oil fumes presumably could create sinus problems ....

nasal irritations -- nasal polyps -- which can appear throughout the sinuses!!

[Generic Other]

24. The question is whether 50% is a high number

I have never seen 50% of the people around me suffering with colds or allergies at any given time.

[Kurovski]

5. K&r

Petroleum, generally speaking, is some nasty, nasty poison. I don't think increased exposure creates a benign or particularly pleasant experience.

The shit is already just about everywhere.

[highplainsdem]

6. K&R

[Kurovski]

7. Kick. (nt)

[ibegurpard]

8. maybe it's from the bacteria that ate all the oil...

[defendandprotect]

12. More likely from Corexit ... one of its ingredients "dissolves plastic" ... !!!

"2-butoxyethanol=paint solvent, dry cleaning solvent, also used in dissolving plastics" . . .

Company that sells it points to its dangers to respiratory system ---


MSDS on Corexit EC9527A says:
“**EMERGENCY OVERVIEW**
WARNING
Eye and skin irritant. Repeated or excessive exposure to butoxyethanol may cause injury to red blood cells
(hemolysis), kidney or the liver. Harmful by inhalation, in contact with skin and if swallowed.”

“ENVIRONMENTAL PRECAUTIONS :
Do not contaminate surface water”

“HUMAN HAZARD CHARACTERIZATION :
Based on our hazard characterization, the potential human hazard is: High.”


How brazen of us to think that Corexit might be harmful!!!

[Generic Other]

23. there are some who believe the bacteria was manmade and has mutated

I can't verify this is so, but I have seen some reports.

Is it possible that they sprayed some designer bacteria developed in BP labs to "eat" oil faster and that it is now making humans sick? It sounds like a bad sci fi mivie, but it might explain the veil of secrecy. Sinister stuff.

[Generic Other]

30. Anyone have any info on the "new" bacteria that supposedly ate the oil?

I can't find much info on it but the idea of microbial enhanced oil recovery? That NP might have used some lab created bacteria to eat the oil and that's what is making folks sick? I was thinking it sounded too way out there, but I have been wondering if anyone had thoughts on this topic.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

9. 50 PERCENT!

And the criminals go yachting.

As stated so simply by a poster earlier today... "This is the world we live in."

HAPPY

[AlabamaLibrul]

10. 168 houses in south Baldwin? They never came by my place.

Either way, I believe the stats. I'm experiencing everything everyone else is, according to the survey.

[defendandprotect]

11. This is environmental TERRORISM .... !!!

More damage from capitalism and its exploitation of nature than from 9/11!!

Horrific damage to citizens from Katrina to 9/11 rescue workers and lies of EPA --

and now this tragic situation in Gulf harming citizens there!!

As the Pentagon told W Bush -- Global Warming is more of a threat to US than terrorism!!

I'd put it another way ... "Capitalism is destroying humanity, the environment, the planet" -- !!!

[Generic Other]

20. You can see now why you have to be proactive about this stuff

Not like BP cares. And the government is downplaying the situation. I don't see how your respiratory problems will be helped by directing you to mental health resources!!

That's crazy!

[defendandprotect]

21. Right wing has been selling "insanity" for decades now ....

I think Jim Garrison stated it most eloquently when he compared Americans to

"Hamlet" questioning if his father/the King had been murdered!

We know it -- but we're still waiting for our corporate-press to confirm it for us!!

And same with corporatism/fascism --

If we get good enough reception on our TVs, maybe one day the news reader will confirm

for us that we have fascism in America!!


:evilgrin:

[Generic Other]

14. They should be widening the study

Ocean Shores, MS. , Grand Isle, LA. , Pensacola, FL. These areas have taken the worst of the hits. Why no testing on their populations?

I find that rather shocking. If I lived in these areas, I would be absolutely livid. In fact I don't live in these areas and I am livid!!!

[SammyWinstonJack]

15. +1. nt

[defendandprotect]

22. Recently, the hearings about the "spill" were still going on in Congress ....

Who should be in charge of demanding wider investigations --

our lying EPA?

Obama, of course ... but looks like he's more concerned with protecting BP and souces

of oil for MIC than with protecting citizens!

[blindpig]

17. Nothing to see here, move along.

Expropriate without compensation

[Generic Other]

37. why do I have to convince people there is a problem in every thread I post?

Thankss for not being pigheaded as some seem to be!!

[ensho]

18. kick

nt

[xchrom]

19. Recommend

[TheKentuckian]

27. Our elected officials are worst than the crooks they protect and serve

At least those guys oath is to profit.

[gratuitous]

28. I'm glad the CDC is following up

Will the costs of monitoring the health of Gulf Coast residents be passed on to our good friends at BP, who have promised, promised, promised to pay every last penny of the cost of cleaning up their mess?

[Generic Other]

29. They won't even acknowledge there is a problem!!!!

Doubt if BP plans to do anything but drill for more oil.

[Generic Other]

31. “They are dying” says registered nurse working in Florida — I’m seeing “people who have been chemica

Trisha Springstead, is a registered nurse of 36 years who lives and works in Brooksville, Florida.

“What I’m seeing are toxified people who have been chemically poisoned,” she said, “They have sore throats, respiratory problems, neurological problems, lesions, sores, and ulcers. These people have been poisoned and they are dying. Drugs aren’t going to help these people. They need to be detoxed.”

http://www.floridaoilspilllaw.com/dying-registered-nurse-working-florida-im-people-chemically-poisoned

[Generic Other]

32. Al Jazeera quotes dozens of sick in this article

Denise Rednour of Long Beach, Mississippi, has been taking walks on Long Beach nearly every day since the disaster began on April 20, and she is dealing with constant health issues.

"I've had health problems since the middle of July," she said. "At the end of August, I came home from walking on the beach and for four days had bloody, mucus-filled diarrhea, dry heaves, and blood running out of my ear."

Karen Hopkins, in Grand Isle, Louisiana, has been sick since the middle of May. "I started feeling exhausted, disoriented, dizzy, nauseous, and my chest was burning and I can’t breath well at times," she said.

Dean Blanchard, who runs a seafood distribution business in Grand Isle, is Hopkins' boss. He too is experiencing similar symptoms.

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2010/10/20101027132136220370.html

REAL LIVE SICK FOLKS! WITH NAMES. WHILE OUR MEDIA COVERS NOTHING.

[hedgehog]

33. 1. How many of the symptoms that are described could also be found in a similar sample of

any group of people who are out of work and/or underemployed?/( And isn't "underemployed" such a great term for "working for poverty wages'?)

2. Considering the decades long contamination of the entire Gulf region with both locally produced petrochemical contamination and all the garbage dumped in the Mississippi, did people have these symptoms before the spill?

3. Given they had similar symptoms after the Exxon Valdez, did anyone check to see if they used Corexit back then?

4. Given that the focus on Corexit seems to be based on the use of petroleum distillates, did it occur to anyone that the symptoms mat not be from the Corexit but rather from the thousands of gallons of crude oil?

I believe that the executives from BP were guilty of a horrendous crime committed out of hubris and ignorance. The spill didn't have to happen. I also believe that until we get off an oil based economy, there will be more spills. Consider the amount of oil dumped every day when people fill their tanks at the gas station! I don't think there is any vast conspiracy to cover up the spill by spreading Corexit.

[Generic Other]

34. valid question

How many people have respiratory problems in your neck of the woods at any one time? 50% seems a very high number.

How many report these sorts of symptoms after visiting or working in area contaminated by oil and corexit and who knows what other chemicals?

Severe upper respiratory, sinus and viral infections...brown vomit...nonstop diarrhea...skin rashes, nausea...sore throats, internal hemorrhaging...blood running out of ears...dizziness, light-headedness...neurological problems, lesions, sores, and ulcers...

As for Exxon-Valdez, there's plenty of data. People got sick. The avearge age at death of clean-up workers there was mid-50's. They are an isolated area with a much smaller population, yet plenty of evidence exists of their health issues.

Lots of questions you ask need answering. Doesn't it alarm you that so few are doing either asking or answering questions?

[hedgehog]

35. I think the point I'm trying to make is that we shouldn't be focused on

a theoretical cover-up but rather acknowledge that the use of oil is bad for all of us in the long run. I suspect a lot of people in the Gulf were sick from chemical exposure long before this spill. I saw a map of cancer distribution in the US; the hot spots were areas with little sunshine like my Great Lakes region, Houston and New Orleans. In other words, places where people had low Vitamin D levels and/or high chemical exposure.


BTW - I suspect that at any given moment, 50% of the people around me do have some sort of respiratory problem. The Great Lakes region is notorious for sinus problems.

[Generic Other]

36. The current complaints aren't coming in from Houston

but from places like Grand Isle LA, Ocean Shores MS, Pensacola FL. They started complaining about the burning throats, coughing, itchy rashes--the current symptoms--after the spill, not before. All of their symptoms are consistent with corexit contamination. There have been systematic efforts to suppress and under report. At this point, the cover-up is not "theoretical." Numerous reports have stated that the government, the Coast Guard, EPA, and BP have been shown to be providing incomplete reports and deliberately suppressing information to mislead the public. Whatever contamination they may have had before the oil spill, they are evidently suffering from more now.

EPA's "sniff" testing has been a joke. If that's the best test that the EPA has at their disposal, they have no business calling themselves scientists. They are using primitive folk remedies to avoid doing hard science for fear of the conclusions they will find. They have no desire to report the truth.

People's health is at risk. This is not "theoretical."