Tests Now Being Conducted for Corexit and Oil ... Results Not Very Reassuring

BP-Gulf Oil Disaster

Real testing is starting to be conducted on dispersant and oil in the Gulf, the results are not looking so good:

* U.S. Government press release says NOAA, FDA now testing for dispersant: Corexit ingredient DOSS found in 13 samples — Up to 500 ppm allowed in shrimp, crabs, oysters ["DOSS" stands for Dioctyl Sulfosuccinate Sodium Salt - which might be nastier than BP is telling us]

* Crab containing 8,815 ppm of hydrocarbons had NO smell or sight of oil — “We were astonished there were levels like that”

* Research team “uncovered a PAH bonanza” — And just 190 parts per BILLION of PAHs is “considered pretty toxic” says professor at NASA installation

* Scott Milroy, a marine scientist at the University of Southern Mississippi, said seafood samples he gathered in September along the Mississippi coast showed levels… hundreds of times higher than the levels the government tests found

Washington's Blog

Fishermen Report Illness From BP Chemicals

Fishermen Report Illness From BP Chemicals - Health News Story - WDSU New Orleans

Marine toxicologist Riki Ott said the chemicals used by BP can wreak havoc on a person's body and even lead to death.

"The volatile, organic carbons, they act like a narcotic on the brain," Ott said. "At high concentrations, what we learned in Exxon Valdez from carcasses of harbor seals and sea otters, it actually fried the brain, (and there were) brain lesions."

Chinese drywall deaths

New Orleans Times-Picayune March 03, 2010

Chinese drywall is believed to emit sulfur gases that corrode metal and make people sick.
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., is asking two federal agencies to investigate reports of eight deaths that may be linked to use of toxic drywall from China.