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Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
The answer to that question — or at least what should be the answer — is the name of a new campaign launched today by Environmental Defense Fund, in cooperation with the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition and a number of its member organizations.
I Am Not a Guinea Pig is a new online campaign that provides tools and information Americans from all walks of life can use to press for fundamental reform of our nation’s toxic chemical law, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
I Am Not a Guinea Pig is aimed at helping to ensure that the voices of millions of Americans who are concerned about and affected by exposures to untested and unsafe chemicals are heard as Congress begins the first serious effort to overhaul the 34-year-old TSCA.
The campaign will use a variety of social media, including a website, a Facebook page with daily updates, and a #NAGP Twitter hashtag.
Our thanks go out to our partners in Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families with whom we’ve worked in our initial effort: Autism Society, Health Care Without Harm, Learning Disabilities Association of America, Moms Rising, Reproductive Health Technologies Project and Teens Turning Green.
The campaign initially focuses on three groups at particular risk from toxic chemical exposures: teens, children and health professionals. We’ll be expanding the campaign over time to include others at risk, and we’ll continue until we’ve achieved the campaign’s fundamental aim: a strong new chemicals policy in the United States that protects all Americans from toxic chemicals.
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
In an earlier post, I noted in haste some apparent discrepancies between EPA and BP acute toxicity data on the Corexit® dispersants. Little did I realize that the data mixup was actually telling me something much more significant: that the dispersant maker’s own test data demonstrate that the combination of oil plus dispersant is quite a bit more toxic than the dispersant alone and – even more significant – the combination is more acutely toxic than the oil by itself.
Let me repeat that: The data indicate that dispersed oil is more toxic than undispersed oil. (more…)
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
The Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families campaign just held a press call to draw direct links between the huge unknowns associated with the unprecedented use of chemical dispersants in the Gulf and the failures of TSCA. The campaign called upon Congress to ensure that legislation to reform TSCA fully addresses dispersant safety so that, the next time a disaster of this sort unfolds, the country won’t be caught with its proverbial pants down.
While the reform bills would go a long way to improve the situation, the campaign also provided a detailed description of enhancements to the current reform bills needed to address:
As the legislation advances, we will be pressing Congress to include additional provisions to address these deficiencies. There could be no better illustration of the limits to our current policies than that provided by government’s forced reliance on under-tested chemical dispersants the use of which is raising more questions than answers.
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
EPA issued a statement today drawing attention to its posting on its website late last week of the ingredients in NALCO’s Corexit® dispersants, more than one million gallons of which have now been released into the Gulf of Mexico. The statement appears to have been issued in response to queries from myself and others as to why the posting was not more prominently flagged by EPA. It indicates that the most recent disclosure “was possible because NALCO waived their claim” that the ingredient identities are proprietary. It also makes clear EPA doesn’t consider Nalco’s disclosure to be the end of the story, and that EPA will continue to seek to provide the public with more information about the dispersants than their producers have produced to date.
I’ve posted EPA’s statement just beyond this jump. (more…)
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
With no fanfare whatsoever, a list of the ingredients in the Corexit® dispersants has been posted on EPA’s website. I can’t say when the list appeared — I was pointed to it by Elana Schor, a reporter with E&E News, who discovered the list a little earlier today, buried well down on the agency’s dispersants page.
The components of COREXIT® 9500 and 9527 are:
| CAS Registry Number | Chemical Name |
| 57-55-6 | 1,2-Propanediol |
| 111-76-2 | Ethanol, 2-butoxy- |
| 577-11-7 | Butanedioic acid, 2-sulfo-, 1,4-bis(2-ethylhexyl) ester, sodium salt (1:1) |
| 1338-43-8 | Sorbitan, mono-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate |
| 9005-65-6 | Sorbitan, mono-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate, poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl) derivs. |
| 9005-70-3 | Sorbitan, tri-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate, poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl) derivs |
| 29911-28-2 | 2-Propanol, 1-(2-butoxy-1-methylethoxy)- |
| 64742-47-8 | Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated light |
More to come.
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
Just as BP seems to be making some progress in slowing the leakage of oil from Deepwater Horizon, another leak has appeared. Karen Dalton Beninato, writing on NewOrleans.com, has obtained, and posted for all to see, a copy of BP’s June 2009 “Gulf of Mexico Regional Oil Spill Response Plan” (caution, it’s a 600-page, 29 MB PDF file!). [Note added 6/8: Not sure how long it’s been posted, but the BP Plan is up on the Minerals Management Service website, under “Documents” here (double caution: this version is a 61 MB PDF!)]
There are some embarrassing parts, with no doubt more waiting to be discovered. Here’s one example: The Plan’s “worst-case scenario” for sites more than 10 miles offshore is a total leakage of 177,400 barrels of crude oil (Appendix H). As reported by the Washington Post this morning, government estimates put the size of this spill at between 23 and 47 million gallons, or between 548,000 and 1.12 million barrels, and counting.
On the issue of dispersants, the Plan is also revealing. (more…)
