Check it out for yourself
 Check the references & draw your own conclusions as to the 'technical facts'
Any information herein is for your use in the hopes of helping the workers
 

 Facts - Inipol EAP 22 chemical used in Bioremediation of 

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill cleanup 

Has Caused an Abuse of Workers

Can You Help? 

 It affects many hundreds of men, mostly 32 & older now. 

Many affected were not even those who Sprayed the Inipol EAP 22 

on the Beaches by land or by boats

.... some just stumbled upon the containers or docks or boats where the barrels of chemicals had leaked...& not even that much of an exposure seems to cause health damage.

    ____________________________________________________________________________

Exxon Valdez oil Spill cleanup - inipol EAP 22

:  

C:N:P ratio is 62:5:1 

 - not much of a fertilizer says one research article:  (probably actually a 'surfacant') http://www.science.duq.edu/esm/Course_Material/ESM595/203-246/tsld031.htm

72 miles of beach were sprayed with 230 tons of surfactant 

and 40 tons of granular nitrogen-phosphate fertilizer

(Notice that they say surfactant... not fertilizer in referencing inipol EAP 22) 

Could this cause harm to the sea lion population 

that has declined in the North Pacific Waters?

 

The below information on chemical ingredients is valuable.  Keep it on file.  

EPA only will tell you in their Tech Bulletin #10 on inipol EAP 22 

that it contains nitrogen & phosphorus. http://www.epa.gov/oilspill/ncp/inipolea.htm 

Maybe it  is mostly refined oil with dry-cleaning solvent. 

Has it been formulated to be absorbed directly into the cells?

 - density is .9 less than water. 

Workers had no protective gear... per MSDS.

 Also check the hazard sheets from NJ and Penn on 2-butoxyethanol. 

Workers never had a chance. 

If any of them did not get, 'right away' low red blood cell anemia

(formal name:  non-immune hemolytic anemia caused by solvents)

the body's premature destruction of its own red blood cells

it would be miraculous.

 
Too, it is interesting to note that a 1993 article quoting Exxon's top scientists admits all these chemicals.
Exxon's senior staff biochemist, Roger Prince, makes the following comments in a 1993 Environment Reporter article Environment Reporter, Volume 23, Number 51, April 16, 1993, p. 3169
"While 2-butoxyethanol is biodegradable, it is potentially harmful to mammals if a sufficient amount is absorbed through the skin."  You may quote, no permission needed, just give reference
Regular article by others shares all the ingredients  EXCEPT 2-butoxyethanol... that is odd, in that in the 7-28-89 MSDS for inipol EAP 22, the only ingredient named WAS 2-butoxyethanol... http://organiclifestyles.tamu.edu/soilbasics/soilbiological.html  They give the N:P:K ratios, info about it being heated,


It is also interesting to note that the initial MSDS for inipol EAP 22 clearly shows:

 EXXON

owned

inipol EAP 22;

EXXON wrote the MSDS 7-28-89  

(required Material Safety Data Sheet) 

a n d

'threw the ingredients together including MSDS'

2 days after EPA gave conditional approval for an experiment with bioremediation chemicals. 

It was field tested first, not last.

  EXXON had a rep with each of the inipol EAP 22 crews of workers. 

Not so, any other products?

 
http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/valdez/01.htm EPA had only conditionally approved the bioremediation experiment 7-26-89, saying they had little info to know whether it would work environmentally (no comment on whether it was safe for the workers):
EPA to Exxon:  "As you are aware, all data to make a definitive recommendation on the efficacy of bioremediation are not available at this time"& that "If monitoring results demonstrate any adverse environmental effect, the application of the fertilizer should be terminated immediately." 

A bigger catastrophe than the oil spill itself:

What has happened to the workers!

... And to think that we let EXXON run the show...

 

 

NIOSH wanted to do more, but...

"They couldn't get Exxon to release its clinical data,

and Exxon controlled access to workers at remote locations."

http://www.adn.com/evos/stories/T99032316.html   (many good articles catalogued, by the way!)

-  Anchorage Daily News, May 13, 1999

 

"Canadian researcher Peter Wells in 1984 concluded that part of the problem with oil dispersants is that their toxicity appears to be linked to their effectiveness: Effective dispersants are too toxic, and nontoxic dispersants are ineffective" quoted by ADN 8-15-89

http://www.adn.com/evos/stories/EV147.html 

 

Coast Guard Vice Adm. Clyde Robbins, the on-scene coordinator for the spill cleanup

"What in the world are we doing testing this stuff now?" Robbins asks.

 http://www.adn.com/evos/stories/EV147.html Anchorage Daily News, 8-15-89

 

"Peter Moutasano, a Department of Environmental Conservation member of the Resource Assessment Team in the area warned a reporter not to touch the rocks with bare hands because the fertilizer attacks red blood cells and can cause liver and kidney damage."  ADN, 9-16-89 http://www.adn.com/evos/stories/EV123.html 

 
 

Inipol EAP 22a

Oleic Acid - primary ingredient

CAS Nr 112-80-1  ?

 

Tri(laureth-4)-phosphate  *  

No correct CAS Nr found

Stable, not very soluble?

2-Butoxyethanol   CAS Nr 111-76-2

10-12% of product by weight 

C6H14O2/CH3(CH2)2CH2OCH2CH2OH

Per its own MSDS:   This substance may be hazardous to the environment; special attention should be given to the water environment and aquifer.

 Urea    CAS Nr 57-13-6   ? 

 

Water   CAS Nr 7732-18-5  ?

 

CH3(CH2)7CH=CH(CH2)7COOH

[C12H25(OC2H4)3O]3PO

 

HO-C2H4-O-C4H9   ? same as:

 

NH2-CO-NH2

H2O

The focus of everyone was on the environment; however, if you can't apply it without certain health damage... & worse, it's not worth doing!  "The human toll alone is not worth it?" Dr. John Middaugh, Alaska State Dept of Epidemiology (from LA Times article 11-5-01)  Newspaper articles on workers: http://www.blessinghouse.com/inipol/pages/workers.htm

2-butoxyethanol , besides other things, It's a dry cleaning solvent, per NJ Hazard sheet info AKOSH sent ...  causes all the things that the MSDS says it does:  hemolytic anemia, the body's premature destruction of the red blood cells...

also Clinical depression - a CNS damage, skin damage, kidney, bone, liver, lymph, reproductive

...& at some point even cancers should be showing up.   Very sad...  But of course, since the company doesn't want the real results of inipol EAP 22 to be known, these workers are not being health monitored... a loss to science & future decision-making, too. 

If you find any workers, have them call toll free 1-888-853-5333 & helps will be shared.

 

 

By the way RCAC does not recommend use of dispersants in oil spill cleanups, but fear that the state would rule over their objections and re-approve if Exxon should want to use again.

Links on Technical reports of

"Citizens organized Prince William Sound Regional Citizens' Advisory Council (PWSRCAC)

A White Paper on Oil Spill Dispersant Field Testing. Merv Fingas, Environmental Technology Centre, Environment Canada. May 2002. (1,872KB)

A Review of Literature Related to Oil Spill Dispersants Especially Relevant to Alaska. Merv Fingas, Environmental Technology Centre, Environment Canada. March 2002. (975KB)

 

Even Those Not Working on the Beaches, were exposed to inipol EAP 22 *

 

 

Table of Contents

 

Workers' Survey

 

 ... studying the issue of worker health related to the Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup.

Now for the  r e a l  f a c t s:    It is time to find all the workers and hear what they have to say.  They have the 'real facts!'

When they come forward and 'speak'

No longer will skeptics be able to say....

"Oh, it could have been caused from anything!"