The Canary Report

A toxic emissions spill at a BP refinery in Texas makes area residents ill; a $10 billion class-action lawsuit is filed

Posted on Aug 30, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Environment, Susie Collins

The New York Times reports while the world was focused on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a BP refinery in Texas released huge amounts of toxic chemicals into the air that went unnoticed by residents until many saw their children come down with respiratory problems.

While we were busy paying attention to the health affects of the BP oil well blow out in the Gulf, a community in Texas was dealing with the aftermath of a BP refinery spewing out huge amounts of toxic chemicals into the air during an accident.

The New York Times reports With Neighbors Unaware, Toxic Spill at a BP Plant.

For 40 days in April-May, 538,000 pounds of toxic chemicals poured out of the refinery following an equipment failure. Environmentalists say the release of toxic gases ranked as one of the largest in the state’s history. Most households in one area close to the spill had at least one family member fall ill during the month of the accident, including many children. Residents are so angry, they’ve filed a $10 billion class-action lawsuit against BP.

[The] final report said the release of chemicals had gone on for 959 hours, until May 16. Among other pollutants, the plant had released 17,000 pounds of benzene; 37,000 pounds of nitrogen oxides, which can cause respiratory problems; and 186,000 pounds of carbon monoxide. Another 262,000 pounds of various volatile organic compounds also escaped.

“The state’s investigation shows that BP’s failure to properly maintain its equipment caused the malfunction and could have been prevented,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement.

Of interest to Canary Report readers is that current research shows both carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds or VOCs can initiate Multiple Chemical Sensitivity in susceptible individuals. (The seven main classes of chemicals that can initiate cases of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity include three classes of pesticides: organophosphorus and carbamate pesticides, the organochlorine pesticides and the pyrethroid pesticides. Other types of chemicals reported to initiate cases of MCS include organic compounds, mercury, hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide. See the peer-reviewed MCS research of biochemist Martin Pall for further information.)

How many new cases of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity have been initiated through the negligence of BP in these recent accidents in the Gulf and in Texas is anyone’s guess at this point.

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Tags: Air, Canary's Cry, Chemicals, Children's Health, Environment, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Pollution, Research, Toxic

The aftermath of the fire in Ookala

Posted on Jul 20, 2010 by Susie Collins in Susie Collins, Susie's Secret Garden

In the days following my neighbor’s house fire, I have discovered gems of protection and compassion from unexpected places.

The charred bamboo that protected my home from the heat and flames of my neighbor's house fire. That's my red roof in the background.

On Saturday, I blogged about my neighbor Dr. Tawn Keeny’s house burning down on Thursday. Since then, I’ve spent a lot of time processing what happened.

As I described in my post, while the tragic event unfolded before my eyes, several helpers and I were manning hoses on my fence line. We had a two-fold mission: keep the fire from encroaching my property on the ground where it was creeping along in the grass, and hose down my house itself as well as the foliage in my gardens that run along the fence line. I wrote about the tall bamboo that took most of the heat during the worst of the fire, even going up in flames at one point, which in turn incinerated the top of the 40-foot palm at right in the photo above.

That half hour of fighting the fire was definitely one of the more intense half hours of my life! Time got very contorted, although I believe only about 15-20 minutes went by before firefighters arrived and beat the flames back for good. I am extremely grateful for my helpers for all their hard work in protecting my home, and I’m also extremely grateful for the firefighters who brought the fire under control– they arrived just in time; I just don’t know how much more we could have done with our little hoses as the fire grew and grew.

Over the days following the fire, we watched as more of the bamboo leaves on the fence line turned brown and died. Our avocado tree is located a bit further up the fence line, above a wood pile that stubbornly burned long after the house fire was extinguished. That avo tree also showed more brown leaves each day. Here’s how it looks today looking up the hill toward the avocado tree:

Looking up the fence line with bamboo at right and my avocado tree at the far end.

The burned site in its totality is sobering, and it feels a bit like sacred ground. I took many photos this morning of the burned home itself, but I don’t feel comfortable publishing them since it’s not my property. The home is owned by my friend and family physician Dr. Tawn Keeney, and I know this tragedy has affected him deeply. I don’t want to add to that sorrow.

I am feeling very grateful for these beautiful bamboos. The fire inspector told us that he rarely sees adjacent homes catch fire when there is foliage between the houses. I can’t even describe to you how hot the fire was. The wood pile you see above spontaneously erupted in flames simply from the heat coming from the flames originating in the house. That entire space you see there above was a wall of fire at least 25 feet high and reaching all the way from the burning house at left to the hedge at right. Trees located much farther away from the fire up in the back were fried. So I know that were it not for this thick bamboo hedge, the gardens closest to my home would have been overwhelmed with heat, and who knows what would have happened to my house. There were two propane tanks against the house less than 30 feet from this hedge.

But look at the inside gardens on my side of the bamboos:

My secret garden would have been fried, and possibly my house, were it not for this magnificent bamboo and my helpers who kept everything wet during the fire.

We called the nursery where we bought the bamboo, Quindembo, to find out if they thought the fire damage was fatal. Quindembo owners Susan Ruskin and Peter Berg thought not and told us to look at the base to find the new shoots. Sure enough, there at the base are the new shoots already emerging– how’s that for timing? And we learned something else very interesting. Because bamboo stems are full of water, Susan and Peter said they don’t catch fire. So while the leaves of the tall blow pipe bamboo ignited in a roaring flame, the stems did not catch like a tree probably would have under that intense heat. Those bamboos shielded my gardens and my home from that wall of fire. They were the guardians of Susie’s Secret Garden.

In the days following the fire, I also have discovered gems of compassion from unexpected places. Because of my Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, I started to get sick from the fumes of the charred rubble from the burned house. It rained Saturday night and Sunday morning, but when the sun hit the rubble on Sunday afternoon, the evaporation released something from the ash that hit me like diesel fumes. It was as if a diesel truck was idling outside the window. I started feeling nauseous, dizzy, fatigued, and my eyes became irritated. When the good doctor found out, he contacted the demolition company that’s scheduled to raze and haul away the rubble, telling them that I have a medical condition and asking if they could move up the date of the job because I was getting ill from the fumes of the ash. The owner of the company said yes, he could rearrange their schedule and come sooner, starting tomorrow morning. How incredible is that?

I think this extraordinary act shows so much about who Dr. Keeney is. He’s my family physician as well as a friend and neighbor, and in his time of loss, he cared enough to pick up the phone to see if the date of demolition could be moved up because I was becoming ill. It also says a lot about the company owner, Louis Nobriga of D & D Trucking, who was flexible and responsive to a client’s request. It also shows the kind of magic that can happen when you live in a small, tight-knit community.

I’ll be vacating my home during the demolition and removal of debris. We know that dust control will be implemented, and we’ll take measures to seal up the house just in case some particulate matter becomes airborne.

Meanwhile, Dr. Keeney is already making plans for building a new home, a bit further up the hill where he will have a spectacular view of the ocean.

Susie's Secret Garden, my sanctuary.

©2010 Susie Collins

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Tags: Air, Chemicals, Environment, Garden, Home, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Toxic

Fire in Ookala!

Posted on Jul 17, 2010 by Susie Collins in Susie Collins, Susie's Secret Garden

My neighbor’s house caught fire Thursday evening, shooting flames about 20-30 feet high, reaching out in the breeze in the direction of my home less than 40 feet away. Talk about an adrenaline rush.

Before firefighters arrived, flames engulfed this whole area, shooting up about 20-30 feet, sending some of the foliage in my gardens up in flames.

Just beyond my fence, the neighbor's house is engulfed in flames.

Our neighbor’s house burned down Thursday evening. While struggling in real time to comprehend the tragedy of my dear neighbor’s loss, I spent about a half-hour in thick smoke, spraying down my own house and surrounding foliage so it wouldn’t catch fire. My husband was in Hilo some 45 minutes away. But four people came by to help, two of them I didn’t even know– they were driving by and stopped to see if they could help. Good Samaritans!

Smoke going up into the back gardens. Later, when things were under control, I worried about my chickens, rushed up into the back and found them huddled together in a fairly safe place and just fine!

At one point, there was a wall of 30-foot flames about 20 feet from my house, and four of us worked the hoses until the fire department arrived. The smoke was really thick. My friend Cathy, who came to help, knows about my Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and kept encouraging me to leave the area. I had to make a decision in real time: worry about breathing toxic smoke or protect my house. I opted for protecting my house until firefighters arrived.

I feel okay today, by the way. I was very tired with a sore throat and burning eyes on Friday, and am doing better this morning. I hate to think about what’s in my lungs but I’m doing a lot better than I thought I would be.

I feel so bad for my friend and neighbor, Dr. Tawn Keeney, who lost his house. Tawn owns the historical Honokaa People’s Theatre and is a long-serving physician at the Hamakua Health Center. He’s my family physician, a real life country doctor and such a dear. He was not home when the fire started. The fire was out of control fairly quickly and there was nothing we could do to help.

My house. One of my helpers positioned a ladder in case embers reached the roof, we could douse it with the hose.

Tawn is a pillar of our community here in Ookala. Our hearts are so saddened by this loss. He loves that house so much, and is always talking about how much he loves it and truly appreciates its history. The houses here were built circa 1920s as part of the sugar plantation that existed here in our village of Ookala. Tawn had recently replaced the roof and the floors.

The fire started at around 4:30 pm. It’s really hard for me to say when the fire department got here because I lost all track of time; maybe 15 minutes from the time I called 911. It seemed like an eternity. The flames grew so fast! Within minutes flames were so high and so hot, less than 30 feet from my house.

At one point, the worst two or three minutes of the ordeal before the fire department arrived, we were literally staring at a 20- to 30-foot wall of flames less than 15 feet away from us. The sound was so loud that we had to shout to hear each other. I must have yelled, “Watch for embers!” 100 times. We all stopped what we were doing and watched to see what the flames were going to do. They roared up and caught our tallest bamboo on fire. The flame swooshed up in a nanno second and caught the top of a 40-foot palm. One of my helpers exclaimed, “Here we go!” I literally dropped down on my knees and prayed. But then the miracle happened: because the bamboo stems are not readily burnable, coupled with the fact that we had doused as much of the plant as we could as high as we could, the fire on the bamboo (and the palm) burned out quickly– and then the breeze let up and the high flames pulled back a bit.

It was a big smokey mess and I do worry a bit about what we were breathing. For one thing, these old houses all have layers of lead paint encapsulated under renovations.

One of the good Samaritans was a young man whose arm was burned because he was reaching out over my fence so bravely to keep the flames down on the grass and away from that bamboo. He barely left his post when that wall of fire encroached. The other good Samaritan kept spraying a wood pile that had caught fire bit further up the fence line– that fire was threatening to draw flames into my huge avocado tree.  Two of my helpers were my friends Ross and Cathy Perrins. Cathy had a hose at the fence line and Ross set up a ladder on my house in case we had to access the roof. My job was to keep the house itself hosed down. I credit these four people for protecting my house until the fire department arrived. I could not have done any of it alone. If that bamboo had caught fire and fallen, our house may have caught fire. My appreciation can’t be put into words.

The photos are taken after the fire department arrived. The first thing they did was send fire fighters with hoses to the main fire, but they also stationed one on my fence line by that bamboo and the wood pile. It wasn’t until then that I thought to get the camera. Meanwhile Dr. Keeney’s house was engulfed.

The fire department stayed until 7:30 p.m.. The fire inspector said the cause of the fire is undetermined.

This is shot from the front of the property that burned. You can see how the flames traveled on the grass from the burning house on the left toward my property on the right. My helpers were stationed with hoses on my fence line inside that bamboo hedge at right and kept the grass wet in that green section you see.

Fireman dousing wood pile that threatened to lead flames into my property. One of my helpers had kept flames from this pile away from my property by spraying it with the hose. I don't know how he withstood the heat.

Firemen could not get the wood pile to stop burning even though they'd flooded it with water. So this fireman doused it with chemicals. I was not mad about this use of chems at all, I just wanted the fire out! Those are my wilted plants in the foreground.

Now we can see the rubble as the smoke calms down. This is a tragic story: my friend and neighbor Dr. Tawn Keeney, lost his house.

©2010 Susie Collins

P.S. I’ve had some comments on Facebook that the prayer is what saved my house. I don’t want to get all religious here, but I had no intention of inferring that. One of my favorite sayings is “Trust in God but tether your camel.” The bamboo didn’t catch fire for several practical reasons: bamboo stems don’t readily burn like wood, we’d sprayed most of the plant down with water, and the wind shifted slightly away from my house just as the flames licked in and up. But you better believe I’ll throw a good prayer up there just for good measure when standing between a 30-foot wall of fire and my house.

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Tags: Air, Chemicals, Environment, Garden, Home, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Photography, Toxic

BP blowout cleanup workers are getting sick

Posted on Jul 09, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Environment, Media/Videos, Susie Collins

BP blowout cleanup workers are getting sick; Exxon Valdez survivor warns of long term health effects, and an activist chemist currently on site in the Gulf reports on current illnesses in BP cleanup crew.

Click on the video, it will automatically start at the beginning of the section on BP.

As the BP oil spill enters its 78th day, cleanup crews across the Gulf Coast are working to try and remove what they can of the expanding oil slick. And many of them are getting sick doing it. A growing number of cleanup workers have reported suffering flu-like symptoms including headaches, dizziness, fatigue, nausea and problems with memory and concentration. We speak with a Louisiana chemist who testified before Congress to call for greater worker protections and a former general foreman of the cleanup crews of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Interviewed:

Merle Savage, general foreman of the cleanup crews of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska’s Prince William Sound.

Wilma Subra, chemist and president of Subra Company. She provides technical assistance to community groups on environmental issues and to the Louisiana Environmental Action Network.

Click here for rush transcript.

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Tags: Air, Chemicals, Environment, Environmental Illness, Pollution, Toxic, Video

Ask the Canary

Posted on Jul 08, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, MCS, Research, Susie Collins

Does Multiple Chemical Sensitivity have anything to do with the sense of smell?

What role does the sense of smell play in MCS?

Q:

What role does our sense of smell and the olfactory system play in Multiple Chemical Sensitivity? Do people with MCS have a heightened sense of smell?

Thank you,
A Nosy Canary

A:

Aloha Nosy!

I am often asked these questions. The first point I always clarify is that MCS does not center on our sense of smell or an olfactory response. To understand this better, let’s review the cause of MCS.

Current research shows that MCS is initiated by a previous toxic chemical exposure from one or more of seven classes of chemicals, notably organic solvents (volatile organic compounds or VOCs), three classes of pesticides, mercury, and/or carbon monoxide. Toxic mold exposure also is reported to initiate MCS, and we find this cause most often in people with MCS who have lived or worked in “sick buildings” that have a toxic mold infestation (Pall, 2009).

So the first thing to understand is that despite many descriptions of MCS that you may find on the Web and elsewhere saying that the olfactory system has a central role in MCS, there is no evidence supporting that claim and in fact, there is considerable evidence against such a role. There are cases of MCS in people with no sense of smell– in fact we have several members of our community who have no sense of smell and also have severe cases of MCS.

Many people with MCS report symptoms of a chemical exposure without any chemical odor. I personally have had this happen: while sitting in my livingroom one day I was overcome with feeling ill, dizzy with loss of cognitive ability, only to discover the neighbor was spraying some sort of herbicide that had no odor.

There are three studies of MCS patients where a nose clip was used to block off access of odors and the MCS patients still reacted to toxic chemicals (Joffres et al, 2005; Millqvist and Lowhagan, 1996; Millqvist et al, 1999).

This is not to say that the olfactory system is never impacted in people with MCS, but rather that it does not play a central role in cause.

To explain this, I’d like to refer to the work of MCS researcher Martin Pall, professor emeritus of biochemistry and basic medical sciences at Washington State University. Pall’s research on MCS is widely published in books and articles, the most recent of which is a chapter in the authoritative international reference manual for professional toxicologists, General and Applied Toxicology, 3rd Edition, 2009.

Pall’s review of the literature and other research he’s conducted over the past eleven years show the probable cause of MCS is a biochemical mechanism involving nitric oxide (NO) and peroxynitrite (ONOO-), what Pall calls the NO/ONOO- cycle. Pall describes MCS, also known as chemical sensitivity and toxicant-induced loss of tolerance (TILT), as a disease initiated by toxic chemical exposure, leading to brain injury that produces high level sensitivity to the same set of chemicals that cause the disease. To get a little deeper into the science: all seven classes of chemicals mentioned at the top of my answer are thought to act indirectly to increase the activity of NMDA receptors, which are glutamate receptors for controlling synaptic plasticity and memory function. This activity, in turn, leads to rapid increases in intracellular calcium (Ca2+), nitric oxide, and peroxynitrite (ONOO-), acting to greatly stimulate the NO/ONOO- cycle. That cycle is what causes our myriad symptoms.

So how does this impact our olfactory system? Do people with MCS have a heightened sense of smell? Let’s ask Martin Pall.

“MCS is not primarily a defect in the olfactory system,” Pall says. “But when the olfactory system is impacted by the NO/ONOO- cycle it will impact the sense of smell. This is because both the NMDA receptors and nitric oxide have roles in the olfactory mechanism. However what impact the cycle has, varies from person to person, possibly depending on the severity of the cycle in that region of the body. Some people report being much more sensitive to odors but others are anosmic, completely devoid of the sense of smell.”

Aloha,
Susie

Photo credit.

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Tags: Air, Chemicals, Indoor Pollution, MCS, Mold, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Research

Celebrating independence: You’re doing it wrong!

Posted on Jul 04, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Environment, Susie Collins

My annual commentary on 4th of July fireworks.

©2005 Chris Conway, used with permission.

Link to more information about the toxicity of fireworks.

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Tags: Air, Asthma, Chemicals, Environment, Pollution, Toxic

Gulf Coast: Grab your respirators!

Posted on Jul 04, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Environment, Media/Videos, Susie Collins

3M #4279 Organic Vapour/Inorganic and Acid Gas/Ammonia/Particulate Respirator

RT America reports on health problems in the Gulf caused by chemical fumes from crude oil and dispersant originating from BP oil well blowout. Don’t miss reference to the Exxon Valdez spill and the analogy to 9/11.

6/30–What can go wrong will go wrong. Such is the case for the Gulf Coast and the unending saga of the BP oil spill that’s now in its eleventh week. What’s wrong now is this: winds from Hurricane Alex are pushing tar balls as large as apples onto Gulf Coast beaches. This has stopped cleanup efforts momentarily and even undone some of the spill control. As one marine scientist put it: “We lost all the progress we made.” But the winds picking up are a giant concern for something else.

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Tags: Air, Children's Health, Environment, Environmental Illness, Pollution, Products, Toxic, Video

Kindra Arnesen speaks out on lack of respirators for oil well blowout “clean up” crew

Posted on Jun 30, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Environment, Susie Collins

Kindra Arnesen, whose husband was made ill during his work on “clean up” efforts in the gulf, speaks out about harsh realities in the impact zone.

On Monday I blogged about a timeline of health horrors caused by the BP oil well blow out. In that post, I told you about a commercial fisherman’s wife, Kindra Arnesen, who broke the silence about her husband’s deteriorating health since he worked on clean up efforts in the Gulf.

Above is a talk Kindra gave at the Gulf Emergency Summit in New Orleans on June 19.

Kindra Arnesen, a young mother of two 8 and 5 year-old children, and the wife of a commercial fisherman in Louisiana, became extremely concerned about the lack of progress of the relief operations of the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. She had the opportunity to investigate on the spot by participating in a number of meetings with authorities, and in on-site “clean-up” visits. She vividly and powerfully describes, at the Gulf Emergency Summit in New Orleans, the harsh reality of what’s really going in the area – and the need to prepare for evacuation of populations.

You’ll be especially interested in Kindra’s explanation about why workers are not given respirators. From the transcript:

“I’m gonna go into the health issues for a moment, if you don’t mind. I sat through endless hours of meetings with BP’s safety officers. I sat through an hour and 45 minute meeting with the Coast Guard Safety Officer, both in the Homeland Incident Command Post, as well as a gentleman from OSHA.

“In order to obtain a respirator for our responders — now this isn’t just commercial fishermen — I’m talking about Coast Guard members, all responders, people off the street, everybody involved.

“Number 1: They have to fill out an OSHA questionnaire. Number 2: They have to have a physical evaluation by a medical professional.

“But, EPA is doing air monitoring. Everything’s OK. It’s great. Yeah, imagine that.

“At any rate, there is in fact some Act somewhere in OSHA’s law, that says that volunteers have a right to wear a volunteer respirator. But, as we all know, BP is taking over our Gulf. BP rules right now, our Gulf, I mean… Bottom line, that’s who’s in charge of the situation.

“They couldn’t even run their own company and they are in charge of this response! I’m totally appalled!

“They can’t wear a volunteer respirator because if they’re not properly trained… BP’s rules are, they have to be properly trained in order to wear a respirator. Now, BP said that they will provide the training and they will provide a respirator. But, everything’s OK! So, they don’t need to be trained and they don’t need a respirator. And as far as the right to wear volunteer respiration? Guess what? If you don’t follow BP’s rules, you don’t have a job. And that’s what they told me.”

Click here to read full transcript.

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Tags: Air, Chemicals, Environment, Environmental Illness, EPA, Pollution, Toxic, Video, Work

A timeline of health horrors caused by the BP oil well blow out

Posted on Jun 28, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Environment, MCS, Susie Collins, Worker's Rights

Clean up workers are already visiting their doctors with symptoms of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

A still from the BP oil well blow out live cam taken June 28.

Have you been as crazed as I’ve been watching the images of people without respirators working on the so-called “clean up” in the Gulf? We all knew it was only a matter of time before cases of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity were reported. Take a look at the timeline: reports of MCS started fairly soon after the blow out.

5/03: MSNBC reports that the oil spill has little impact on human health: gunk spreading across Gulf a disaster for ecosystem, but not the public. Yeah, right.

5/23: Gina Solomon at the Natural Resources Defense Council Staff Blog, called Switchboard, reports Oil Spill Clean-Up Workers Getting Sick.

5/27: The Washington Post reports that illnesses among workers highlight concerns about health risks of oil cleanup.

6/03: CNN reports on a gutsy fisherman’s wife who breaks the silence about her husband’s deteriorating health since he worked on clean up efforts in the Gulf. “After attending a lecture by Rikki Ott [sic], a toxicologist who’s worked with families affected by the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, [fisherman's wife Kindra] Arnesen decided to organize other wives to ask questions about the safety of working near the oil.” (See next entry for more info on Riki Ott.) Here’s the CNN vid about Kindra and her husband:

Here’s a couple of asides from our Timeline– Here’s Riki Ott in the documentary film Black Wave about the Exxon Valdez spill:

Here’s more from Riki Ott on 20 years after the Exxon Valdez spill:

Back to our current disaster:

6/03: The Huffington Post reports Gulf Oil Spill Sickness: Cleanup Workers Experience Health Problems, Complain Of Flulike Symptoms.

6/07: I contacted Alison Johnson, author of Amputated Lives: Coping with Chemical Sensitivity, a book about the development of chemical sensitivity in Exxon Valdez cleanup workers, Gulf War veterans, 9/11 First Responders, and FEMA trailer residents. I spoke to Alison on the phone and she expressed concern for the people in the Gulf region that had lived through the toxic soup of hurricane Katrina, including the toxic FEMA trailers, and were now experiencing the fumes from this BP disaster. Given that MCS can be initiated by repeated exposures to toxic chemicals, people in the region should take note of Alison’s concern.

6/08: Ariel Schwartz at Fast Company warns clean up crews to Read This Before You Volunteer to Clean Up the BP Oil Disaster.

Merle Savage has a wheezy, guttural smoker’s cough. But the 71-year-old former Alaska resident and author of Silence in the Sound never smoked a day in her life. She did, however, spend four months as a general foreman during the Exxon Valdez oil spill recovery project in 1989. And she has a message for anyone working at the BP oil disaster sites: “You’ve got to use your common sense. Breathing crude oil is toxic.”

6/11: The Raw Story reports that a human rights group says BP is discouraging crews from using respirators. “BP’s logic seems to be that if the oil cleanup doesn’t look dangerous then it must not be. The oil company has told workers not to wear respirators because it’s bad for public relations, according to one human rights group.” [Emphasis added.]

AND HERE’S THE REPORT WE KNEW WAS COMING:

6/15: Janet Kwak at WOAI TV reports that a mysterious illness plagues Gulf oil disaster workers. Clean up workers are visiting their doctors with symptoms of Toxicant-Induced Loss of Tolerance or TILT, which is another name for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

“What makes it challenging is that patients show up with non-specific symptoms. Headaches, fatigue, problems with memory and concentration, upset stomach,” lists Dr. Claudia Miller at UT Health Science Center.

The illness is called “TILT,” or Toxicant-Induced Loss of Tolerance. Patients lose tolerance to household products, medication, or even food after being exposed to chemicals, like burning oil, toxic fumes, or dispersants from the spill.

“Things like diesel fuel, exposure to fragrances, cleaning agents that never bothered them before suddenly bother them,” adds Dr. Miller.

6/18: Politics AP reports BP’s records on ill workers tell only part of the story.

This is about the time I discover the Louisiana Environmental Action Network report on the Health Impacts Associated with Dispersants and Louisiana Sweet Crude. I felt from the beginning of the disaster that the dispersant Corexit was going to cause as much if not more damage to people, animals and the environment as the crude oil. Take a look at the lists on that page for health impacts of both the dispersant and the oil.

And yesterday I found a report in the New York Times about how Cleanup Hiring Feeds Frustration in Fishing Town. Don’t you just love how BP has managed to destroy the environment, livelihoods and probably the health of most workers and many others in the affected regions while at the same time remaining the main employer with “clean up” efforts?

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Tags: Air, Environment, EPA, Pollution, Products, Toxic, Video, Work

CNN investigative report Toxic America with Dr. Sanjay Gupta to rebroadcast tonight and tomorrow

Posted on Jun 05, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Environment, Government Regulation, Media/Videos, Products, Susie Collins

The two-part CNN investigation “Toxic America” with Dr. Sanjay Gupta will rebroadcast tonight and tomorrow night, Sat & Sun, June 5 & 6, at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Check listings in your area to confirm times. Don’t miss it!

I was hesitant to recommend the CNN special Toxic America with Dr. Sanjay Gupta until I saw the first airing. It’s pretty good actually, although if you look at it through the lens of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity you may feel that it falls short in many areas. Still, it’s heartening to see this topic and type of investigative reporting on mainstream media. Dr. Gupta does a good job of presenting the problems of toxic chemicals in our environment and our homes, and he shows genuine concern, repeating over and over the fact that out of the 80,000 chemicals put into consumer goods, only 200 have been tested for safety.

Click here for dates and times of ONLINE replays June 7, 8, & 9.

Also, for those of you so inclined, CNN is inviting you to “Share Your Story” through video or photos:

Put yourself on video and document conditions in your area, or take photos of what’s around you. Tell us what industrial or chemical pollution may be contributing to health problems for you and those you love, and be sure not to put yourself in a dangerous situation.

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Tags: Air, Asthma, Children's Health, Environment, EPA, Home, Indoor Pollution, Policy, Products, Research, Sick Building, Toxic, Video

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issues indoor air quality policy for all CDC offices nationwide

Posted on Apr 07, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Government Regulation, MCS, Policy, Susie Collins, Worker's Rights

This is arguably the strongest and most important toxic chemical-free and fragrance-free policy in existence for the workplace.

CDC′s Roybal campus in Atlanta, GA.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services, recently issued a policy on indoor air quality that will affect all CDC offices (owned, leased and rented) and more than 15,000 employees nationwide. Among a host of indoor air quality standards, the policy includes specific guidelines restricting the use of fragrance in cleaning and personal care products.

Housekeeping Guidelines

CDC will ensure that products used in the workplace, such as soaps, cleaning products, paints, etc. are safe and odor-free or emit low levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to the fullest extent feasible. Only green cleaning products shall be specified and used within CDC facilities and leased spaces unless otherwise approved by the Office of Health and Safety. [...]

Non-Permissible Products

Scented or fragranced products are prohibited at all times in all interior space owned, rented, or leased by CDC. This includes the use of:
• Incense, candles, or reed diffusers
• Fragrance-emitting devices of any kind
• Wall-mounted devices, similar to fragrance-emitting devices, that operate automatically or by pushing a button to dispense deodorizers or disinfectants
• Potpourri
• Plug-in or spray air fresheners
• Urinal or toilet blocks
• Other fragranced deodorizer/re-odorizer products

Personal care products (e.g. colognes, perfumes, essential oils, scented skin and hair products) should not be applied at or near actual workstations, restrooms, or anywhere in CDC owned or leased buildings.

In addition, CDC encourages employees to be as fragrance-free as possible when they arrive in the workplace. Fragrance is not appropriate for a professional work environment, and the use of some products with fragrance may be detrimental to the health of workers with chemical sensitivities, allergies, asthma, and chronic headaches/migraines.

Employees should avoid using scented detergents and fabric softeners on clothes worn to the office. Many fragrance-free personal care and laundry products are easily available and provide safer alternatives.

Further, the policy extends to enforcement. Within the document itself is clearly stated the process by which an employee may file a report about air quality problems through a questionnaire, and further still, who is responsible for overseeing the investigation:

Building occupants who experience irritation or symptoms that may be related to the quality of indoor air should notify their supervisors, and the OHS or local Safety Officer to initiate a complaint. BFO must also be contacted upon initiation of a complaint, to identify and/or review any potential structural, maintenance, or heating, ventilating or air conditioning (HVAC) issues. Building occupants must also complete the Indoor Air Quality Questionnaire (see Attachment B) in order to properly document the complaint. Each IEQ complaint poses a unique set of circumstances that will determine the investigative procedures used to resolve each IEQ concerns.

Office of Health and Safety/Designated Safety Officer Administers the Indoor Environmental Quality Program and serves as the primary coordinator and investigator for reported incidents involving IEQ hazards or conditions; educates CDC supervisors and workers; develops report findings and recommendations for corrective action; and reviews and updates to meet future needs and regulatory changes.

You’ll also be happy to see that there is a section on pest control. Although it’s not perfect, it’s far safer than the hazards many workers endure with ubiquitous application of hazardous pesticides, usually performed without notice: “Pest management, for both buildings and lawn care, will emphasize non-chemical management strategies whenever practical, and the least-toxic chemical controls when pesticides are needed. Integrated Pest Management practices must be utilized.”

Coming from the CDC, this is arguably the most important toxic chemical- and fragrance-free policy in existence for the workplace. In the words of former CDC director Dr. Julie Gerberding, the agency is charged with confronting “the challenges of 21st-century health threats.” It looks like the current CDC director, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, believes this responsibility covers not only the general public, but CDC’s own employees and workplaces as well.

Creating nontoxic work environments is not just good for employees’ health, it’s good for the bottom line, too. Workers who are not being slowly poisoned by toxic chemicals on the job can think clearer, work more efficiently and be more productive. Employees who suffer toxic chemical sensitivity, asthma and other respiratory ailments will take less sick days. People who are prone to developing health problems triggered by toxic chemicals will be safer; in fact, everyone who works in CDC buildings will now be safer.

For those of you with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity who are currently battling it out with your employer over hazardous chemicals in your work environment, in addition to discussing your rights to safer accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, you might want to print out this new CDC policy and give copies to your boss, your CEO, and your human resources director. Explain to them that the experts at CDC understand that indoor air quality is greatly compromised by a host of toxic chemicals, including those from cleaning products used by maintenance personnel and personal care products used by employees. Tell them that this recent CDC policy is indicative of the way trends are going, and any company getting on board now will be spared future costs caused by condoning an unsafe environment for employees.

This policy is incredibly good news– use the clout and expertise of this CDC policy to strengthen your arguments for a toxic chemical- and fragrance-free work environment.

Here’s the pdf of the policy.

Here’s the pdf of the questionnaire to be used when CDC employees file a complaint about air quality.

Thanks to Harry Clark for obtaining these documents from CDC and for sharing them so freely!

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Tags: Air, Asthma, Chemicals, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Indoor Pollution, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Perfume, Personal Care, Policy, Pollution, Products, Sick Building, Toxic, Work