Prior to the government declaring Gulf of Mexico beaches no-go zones for journalists, a group of concerned citizens traveled to Grand Isle, Louisiana, and scooped up samples of sea water and sent them to a lab to be tested.
“The preliminary analysis was done at an academic analytical chemistry laboratory,” they write on a YouTube post. “Benzene and other highly toxic contaminants were very low however the concentration of propylene glycol was between 360 and 440 parts per million. Just 25 parts per million is known to kill most fish and propylene glycol is just one of many ingredients found in Corexit. In short, the Gulf is being poisoned by BP’s usage of the dispersants even after the EPA asked them to stop back in May.”
According to the Material Safety Data Sheet, exposure to propylene glycol causes liver abnormalities and kidney damage. It “can easily penetrate the skin, and can weaken protein and cellular structure. In fact, PG penetrates the skin so quickly that the EPA warns factory workers to avoid skin contact, to prevent brain, liver, and kidney abnormalities,” reports the Anti-Aging Choices website.
In addition to killing marine life, Corexit is a threat to the residents of Grand Isle, according to a lab tech who talked with the citizen journalists by telephone.
Corexit 9527 is defined as a chronic and acute health hazard by the EPA. The 9527 formula includes 2-butoxyethanol, said to be the cause of health problems experienced by cleanup workers after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, and propylene glycol. Exxon Valdez worker Merle Savage told FastCompany.com the symptoms included nausea, vomiting, liver damage, and dizziness.
In June, CNN reported that the vast majority of those who worked to clean up the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska are now dead.
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