The CDC just started tracking brain tumors in 1977.

I think they would be more frequent, even though in some cases it can take upwards of 50 years for them to develop?

I had a cousin who had a brain tumor removed some years back. Didn't know anything about them then; however, in the last couple of years I have been hearing more about people having them & a couple of people in recent months in our small town in Alaska have died of brain tumors. Or had brain tumors.

I personally think it is because of the use of more and more 2-butoxyethanol since the 1930s. If this chemical is the root cause, parents would have the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The fatigue that this chemical causes is hemolytic anemia (which I suspect is autoimmune) The World Health Organization says that children of those harmed by ethylene glycol monobutyl ether type chemicals are more at risk for leukemia and tumors of the brain. So are we seeing that now?

At Thanksgiving we had a young woman come down with Cushing's Syndrome and she also had 2 brain tumors: one on her pituitary; one behind her eye. She was medivaced to Seattle to have them surgically removed. There are 2 other people in our town who have had brain tumors removed & they are still alive, too.  Jan, 05 she reported that the doctors surgically removed 'pituitary tumors' and that these were VERY COMMON and that Harborview Medical Center in Seattle did this surgery ALL THE TIME.  Two others in our town came to her since her surgery & told her they had the same type.

We have a park named after Barney Meyring who died of brain cancer. I heard he was a young man; it was after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, so I wonder whether he had some exposure there? He was a first responder with his company, that I know. Lois died of melanoma brain cancer a couple of years ago... a very sweet, older woman that I knew. I wish she was still alive today.  Her close friend told me that it was a melanoma brain tumor.

Howard was not that old when he died last month. He first had lung cancer; ended up dying from brain cancer. A family member said he had tumors throughout his body. I know there are people who think it was because he smoked, and it just spread, you know. I think it was because he was a mechanic who worked with break fluid, and other cleaner/degreasers ... and it was from exposure to 2-butoxyethanol That would make more sense.

List of affected organs/systems ... per research of EGBE  - Hearing, too - AUTOIMMUNE issues

There are multiple cancers that 2-butoxyethanol can cause. Which one shows up first is sort of irrelevant. It is attacking multiple body systems at the same time. The USA hasn't studied this, but maybe they should valdezlink.com/generic.htm#fed

Sue died end of Sept, 2005. I notice the pattern of this chemical's harm with her. First cancer she had was rectal skin cancer. (As a child she had horrible headaches; her mom died of kidney caner) Her death certificate will say she died of liver cancer. However, she had brain tumors at the time of death and prior to that a thyroid ailment with resultant kidney stones. When her oncologist was checking her out that month, I said, "Sue, ask your doctor to test for whether or not you have too many immature red blood cells." He did and she did have too many that were immature. His comment, "Well, what do we do with this information?" I asked her to have the doctor look back and see if there was trace blood in urine, but she died before we found out if another clue of 2-butoxyethanol poisoning were there www.valdezlink.com/psa.htm

This is Thelma's story. . . a sweet, wonderful person in IL whom I had the privilege of meeting. Thelma died of the brain tumor that was the size of a golf ball. version 2

I personally believe that 2-butoxyethanol and diethylene glycol monobutyl ether chemicals www.valdezlink.com/same.htm are the most probable cause of 'gulf war syndrome' and that the civilian name for it should be CFS or CFIDS www.valdezlink.com/cfid_share.htm These are considered neurotoxins, solvents, pesticides & poisons. They were exposures for the gulf war syndrome vets ... They are exposures for our troops today. And also for moms for mechanics for painters, etc

This chemical doesn't get blamed for much of any health ailment. But if you ask me, it is the root cause of a whole lot; and its harm is so rampant as to affect almost everyone.  Dear Maggie
 
  

Why did I study this chemical?  What does 2-butoxyethanol do?

I always wondered what happened to the crews in Valdez. I knew that many would be ill and then abandoned.

I too have spent a lot of time investigating chemicals and their health effects due to exposure illness.

As you have already seen, the doctors do not know much on this topic. And I am afraid that what they do know is tainted by political bias inserted by those fearing liability. A doctor who pursues chemically induced illnesses will see an end to his/her career. Are you up on all that? For example, when Boeing workers were poisoned by a chemical used in manufacturing, Boeing threatened (the governor) that they would take their operations to another state if the illnesses were recognized and compensated. They are in the company of most other corporations - especially the oil companies.

There are some reputable doctors who are doing some good work. For example, Dr. William Meggs at Duke University has found that the tight junctions in the nose weaken and allow chemicals to pass into the olfactory bulb which sits at the center of the brain. He proposes that a combination of chemicals can cause the initial irritation that starts this process.

There are some doctors working to gain recognition of the fact that many of our common illnesses are actually caused by exposure to chemicals. http://www.ehhi.org

I have been interested in the chemical called bis chloromethyl ether (BCME) as it is created when formaldehyde and chlorine mixes in acidic air. It is the most carcinogenic chemical known.

Are you familiar with the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences? http://www.niehs.nih.gov Check out Environmental Health Perspectives, their archives are free now.

We all have to stay on this issue - humankind is in big trouble. KT2000

Thank you for sharing. You have some helps that I shall look into.

When you said, "I always wondered what happened to the crews in Valdez. I knew that many would be ill and then abandoned." You are so right and it brought a sadness to my heart that I have not been thinking about recently.

You may find some things that I share on this thread of interest: Prevent Harm - Oil Spill Workers and here is some information I gathered after talking to some of the workers valdezlink.com/evos/workers_etc.htm

Someone started a thread of interest along these lines & my comments follow 

There is a book which has just come out that you might be interested in. Dr. Riki Ott as a biologist and also someone who knew many workers ... has put a more thorough, yet fair look at these realities.

         

A summary valdezlink.com/pages/rr/book.htm  EVOS photos  AND

The Migraine, CFIDS, diabetes, headache causing chemical & EVOS pictures

Thank you for your thanks. I have spent a lot of time on this the past 2 1/2 years; someone said, that was why the picture of this chemical's harm was coming together for me. www.valdezlink.com/generic.htm

There is a clarification I need to make about exposure, though:

I believe you can be born into life with some of this 'allowable' chemical exposure; you can get your own exposures throughout your life; and you can be exposed indirectly. The second hand solvent exposure of 2-butoxyethanol is, in my opinion, very serious. Even babies can be exposed as the solvent is expelled in one's breath and the worst route of exposure is most likely into the eye membranes of another. Maybe SIDS is the body systems shutting down; and then baby stops breathing? An exposure will often look like the 'flu' BUT, it is NOT the flu

There's another thread shared by Ollie on the Hazards of a Building Operations Engineer's job entitled ISO 14001:

You have done some good research. So sad about the Boeing health issues & how it was dealt with.                 

Dear Maggie

I will pass it along to others who like me have chemical sensitivity (which is like GWS and CFS).

Your links have good information. I live in Washington and oil spills are not uncommon here.

I hope to see more of your posts. I once asked the administrators on DU if we could have a category for environment and health because that connection is not usually made until it is too late. People also tend to think of environment as the trees, water and soil.
Anyway - they did not agree that it needed a new category but somehow people just have to start thinking in these terms.

Anyway - thanks for the info.  KT2000

I have had gulf war vets pass it on, too. However, I find that for the most part after 13 years everyone in that group has their own focus and they do not believe me. Doesn't matter that this 2-butoxyethanol and the complex version are clearly on the list that came out in Feb, 03: one of the Congressionally mandated books, this one on 'Solvents and Pesticides' the gulf war troops were exposed to. I posted 12/03 - 4/04 on gulfwarvets.com as 'Mother Margaret' until the main moderator said, "No, more; she was tired of hearing about how this chemical was such a perfect match" My overview www.valdezlink.com/gwv/1-5.htm About December, 03 was when this lady found it for me 'on the list'

I don't think I would have EVER looked in their direction, except that March, 03 we had a new renter spouting off about how 'the gulf war syndrome' vets didn't trust the USA govt and that 150,000 had registered with the American Legion and that they were perplexed as to how the spouses and the children born before their deployment had also come down with 'the symptoms' www.valdezlink.com/gwv/wondering.htm

First thing I did was to look up these symptoms. Symptoms of Gulf War Illnesses
(according to the American Legion):

Chronic Fatigue
Signs and symptoms involving skin (including skin rashes and unusual hair loss)
Headache
Muscle pain
Neurological signs or symptoms (nervous system disorders which could manifest themselves in numbness in one's arms or legs, for instance)
Neuropsychological signs or symptoms (including memory loss)
Signs or symptoms involving upper or lower respiratory system
Sleep disturbances
Gastrointestinal signs or symptoms (including recurrent diarrhea and constipation)
Cardiovascular signs or symptoms
Menstrual disorders

My immediate response, "I RECOGNIZE THESE SYMPTOMS"

Then I started comparing how they cleaned up their oil spill at the end of the war. AND I did find some similarities. I sure wish I could find out something about THIS experiment:

"A small Texas company Alpha 30 Environmental had come from Austin to cleanse Saudi wetlands with its oil-eating microbes and a special biocatalyst to stimulate them. The Research Institute of King Fahd University set up experiments to test the technology and its after effects. Alpha was optimistic that it would soon win a test of its technology on a Saudi beach." This company seems to be non-existent.

Our EVOS experiment www.valdezlink.com/inipol/pages/experiment.htm and an overview www.valdezlink.com/1989photos.htm and www.valdezlink.com/valdez_evos_photos.htm 

You see, Exxon didn't want ANYONE taking pictures, 

so I thought I'd help out and repost those that I found. 

                               www.valdezlink.com/intro.htm 

There was a new discussion forum that started up this year & someone invited me to join. That was on May 9, 2004 - Mother's Day. As time when on they allowed another category - HEALTH which has taken off

Now I am hoping to get this information into the hands of doctors. As when there are too many immature red blood cells, this chemical goes unnoticed and other medical information as to the white blood cells and the liver, etc don't read right. I think it must fool even the CBC. Doctors think these are OK and they don't recognize the overall pattern of this chemical's harm, so is it any wonder that it gets by with hurting so many people. No one should give up their life & quality of life because they were hard working and took a job one day.

OSHA has recently looked into these, but I don't know what they concluded. How could they tell? www.valdezlink.com/inipol/pages/comments.htm They were probably looking at the high rate of prostate cancers or something, but my theory is that the proof of the harm of this chemical is the blood damage ... regardless of the odd assortment of symptoms that pile on top of it.  Dear Maggie

I would say that the first thing people notice who are affected by 2-butoxyethanol is that they have a horrible fatigue set in that no sleep relieves and that doctors seem unable to pinpoint. That actually is part of the definition of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, too, by the way www.valdezlink.com/cfid_share.htm

One EVOS worker shared that for him it settled in 4 months after a serious exposure. (Doesn't it take 4 months to make a new red blood cell supply?) He was a bioremediation worker & the co was taking his blood. So I think it was an experiment on people, not just the environment. He told me that they took his blood a second time but this time with thick tubbed needles so as to not destroy whatever it was they were looking for. He was 18 and went on to college and is a true success story, except that his health is failing.

AND other people will notice how grouchy and 'fly off the handle all the time over nothing' you've become. (That is part of the central nervous system damage of this chemical) and more parts are sleep difficulties, CNS depression, suicidal tendencies, difficulty concentrating and short term memory loss.

By the way, the suicide rate is higher than expected in our current war, per articles brought forward by the gulf war vets of 90-91 (something like 21 instead of 16 per 100,000?)

I would also like to know if this chemical is added to jet fuel valdezlink.com/jp4.htm Some of the warnings look the same, like its causing 'defatted skin' A military man who came down with the 'gulf war syndrome' symptoms in 1985 said he kept going back to the jet fuel & he asked me what I thought. I never had given it a thought, until he brought it forward If so, it's no wonder that sperm count and viability is decreasing in our nation valdezlink.com/sperm_count.htm

I would like to know whether this or 2-2-butoxyethanol is in gun cleaners valdezlink.com/clp.htm Such as had to be the case for Indiana 'gulf war syndrome' vet, Chad valdezlink.com/gwv/chad.htm

Please don't let your teen take accutane, either, because it has a butylated inert ingredient. The warnings on accutane remind me of what 2-butoxyethanol does. www.valdezlink.com/inipol/pages/accutane_warnings.htm

AND that could mean reproductive harm in the future ... not just during exposure time. 2-butoxyethanol is a teratogen www.valdezlink.com/pages/teratogens.htm

Dear Maggie

Tired of being Tired?

My focus has been to recognize this chemical's pattern of harm ... to help doctors consider it - for an accurate diagnosis and not having people take tests that are expensive and painful, if they're not absolutely necessary. That maybe we could Lobby Congress to eliminate this chemical from harming anyone else AND spend our efforts on finding a cure. These would likely have a weakened immune system and we are expecting a pandemic flu epidemic? I am concerned for these.

Lobby Congress

Dear Maggie  e-mail                  

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