Health Advisory: Environmental Detox Programs Can be Dangerous and What You Need to Know About Blood Testing for VOCs
Posted March 15, 2011 in Health and the Environment
I’ve recently been hearing a lot of worrisome stories from the Gulf. Families are struggling and some people are reporting serious health symptoms. I am also worried about some misguided, and potentially dangerous, “treatments” out there.
Announcements are going around on listservs and websites advising people to pay $250 dollars and send their blood to a laboratory in Georgia to test for toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can cause cancer, neurologic and reproductive harm, and were released from the oil during the Gulf spill. These announcements also advise “detox” programs if the VOC levels are high. I have looked into these tests and treatments and what I found is alarming. As a doctor who specializes in environmental medicine and chemical exposures, I feel a need to warn people and tell them the truth: The detox programs can be harmful to your health and the VOC blood tests raise more questions than answers.
People in the Gulf are right to be worried about what they may have been exposed to, from chemicals dispersants to the oil that washed ashore and the fumes that evaporated. But before you spend your hard-earned money on blood testing or detox, consider the facts below:
- The substances that are used in these "detox" programs include toxic pesticides such as nano-silver, and nanoparticle zeolite. These chemicals are untested, and are likely to be dangerous. Nanoparticles have been shown to make their way into the brain, where they incite an inflammatory reaction. Nanosilver is a powerful pesticide -- since when do we drink pesticides? None of these chemicals do anything resembling detox. Worse still, these treatments can have serious side effects because they put a terrible strain on the kidneys, and they can actually make people sick. That’s the last thing anyone needs.
- VOC testing is difficult and complicated. Only the best laboratories in the country can do it right, so the results from most labs are notoriously unreliable. I see patients in my clinic that have been tested for various toxins at second-rate labs, and more times than not, the result turns out to be a lab error and meaningless.
- VOCs are ultra-short-lived in the body – so any that are in your blood right now are relevant only to what you’ve been in contact with for the past 1-2 days. VOCs are also everywhere in the environment, especially if you drive, spend any time near a busy street, or fill your gas tank. Other sources include cigarette smoke, magic markers, refinery emissions, and solvents. These tests (assuming the results aren’t a lab error) just reflect the VOCs someone inhaled or contacted in the day or two before the blood was taken. These tests cannot detect VOCs from last summer’s oil spill. That doesn’t mean that the VOCs from the oil weren’t a problem, it just means that they enter our bodies, do their damage, and leave quickly. It’s also important to note that VOCs were the first chemicals to escape into the air and so when the oil stopped spewing the potential for VOC contamination from the oil spill dropped quickly and these chemicals are long-gone.
- The test costs $250. I don’t know about you, but I know money is tight for many people these days. And once you lay down the $250 and some result comes back elevated, then there's the follow-up testing, and the cost of the 'detox' treatments....$$$$. Personally, it makes me sick when companies and health providers line their pockets by preying on sick people. And in this difficult time, it’s just impossibly hard to figure out who is motivated by health and who is motivated by profit.
In my clinic I have seen many patients with potential workplace or environmental exposures who are struggling to make sense of their symptoms and to understand what might be responsible. It is confusing, the science is often unclear and there aren’t always good answers. If you’re sick it’s important to get medical care but it’s also important to think critically. The facts are that the VOC testing can’t tell you if your symptoms are connected to the oil spill and these detox programs can be really dangerous.
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Comments
Lisa Green — Mar 16 2011 04:25 PM
My husband's parents recently moved down to the Gulf-side of Florida. They live five minutes from the beach. We were planning to visit them next week with our 4-year-old son. They called us yesterday to say that it wouldn't be a good idea for us to come down right now because of all of the health problems his mom is having. Her skin is literally blowing up. It varies from attacks of relentless itching to searing pain. She is covered in red, raised blotches. Now her lungs are becoming irritated and inflamed. Her doctor prescribed steroids. What is going on? Who can she see to try to figure out what is happening? Does anyone like that even exist??
Gina Solomon, MD, MPH — Mar 17 2011 12:31 AM
It's possible that your husband's mom is having an attack of Shingles. The symptoms include a horribly painful rash, and people can also develop respiratory symptoms. Steroids are generally an appropriate treatment if that's what it is. There are other things this could be, of course, but it's not likely to be related to the oil spill. I'm glad she went to see a doctor and that she's being treated. I hope she gets well soon and that you can go visit!
Michael Robichaux, MD — Mar 17 2011 06:47 AM
Dear Dr. Solomon:
Last evening I read your comments about the oil spill and the more I read the more I realize that you don't have a clue as to what is happening in our area.
I would like to challenge you to visit with me and my family at our home in Raceland, Louisiana and to visit with the scores of people who have been SEVERELY affected by exposure to oilfield waste.
I hate to be so critical in an open forum, but you obviously don't get out into the real world of clinical medicine very often.
Your response to Lisa Green is absurd. To state that the child's "raised red blotches" and pulmonary distress is related to Shingles is absurd.
You do a tremendous disservice to yourself and the organization you represent with your comments and should you persist in making them, I can assure you that you and the wonderful organization that you purport to represent will be hearing from a large number of thoroughly angry residents from South Louisiana.
Mike Robichaux, MD
Raceland, Louisiana
Michelle Nix — Mar 17 2011 11:45 AM
This is absolutely preposterous, I have worked non stop for 11 months now and have never collected money! The real question here is, why are there no protocol for proper testing offered! If you feel this test is inadequate. Why is the testing required to detect things such a 2-butoxy ethanol, propylene glycol , and hydrocarbons in blood being kept from public knowledge! Why aren’t you pushing for the testing and protocol that should be being used to prove that people aren’t or are sick? Since you have such a keen knowledge of duty, and so many vast resources, maybe you should question them for an answer.
Charles Taylor — Mar 17 2011 12:12 PM
Well I see more disinformation reported here. First the wholesale cost that a doctor pays to get the VOC test can't even come close to your 250 dollar estimate. An individual will pay about 400 minimum!
Secondly, I work in the food service repair buisness. All major ice machine and more equipment have been incorporating Agion for several years! It releases silver ions from the unit and keeps mold and fungi from growing. So now we should be worried about those now?
Third, as a resident of the GulfCoast, I can tell you that all is not well here and people are getting sick from the oil/dispersant mix that is still here and washing up everyday!
What an outrage!
Fritzi Presley — Mar 17 2011 01:36 PM
dr. soloman,
i live in the heart of all of this...in long beach, mississippi...
i jus' have a few questions for you...
so, what do you make of the thousands of local doctors ordering all of these VOC tests for every man, woman an' child that needs 'em? an' the readily available access we have to this testing?
what do you make of all of the BP money pouring into the health program for the victims of the spill, payin' for all of their medical an' psychological expenses?
what do you make of the WONDER DRUGS, prescribed by said doctors, that seem to be healing locals right before our eyes?
what do you make of the oil an' dispersants being completely gone, now?
please, y'all...no shouting over the doctor...don't you all want to HEAR her answers to these "questions"?
i certainly do...save your "COMMENTS" until after she has addressed my questions....
Susan Felio Price — Mar 17 2011 04:07 PM
Dr, Solomon,
I am aware that the VOC only lasts a couple of days in the system once a person is removed from the source....however...what about testing for other heavy metals and chemicals from oil and dispersant ..or any other industrial chemicals for that matter, that remain in the body...sometimes for years? Is there particular testing for that and where would one go for appropriate testing? I've been told that the testing of a person's hair will detect toxins in the body. Could you possibly expand on that for me? And if that's appropriate testing...where does one go for that testing? I'm not only asking these questions due to the oil disaster, but also in concern for industrial toxins members of my family are exposed to on a daily basis. Any info you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Susan Felio Price
P.S. Also...is there testing available to establish damge done to the lungs and organs from certain chemicals?
Susan Felio Price — Mar 17 2011 04:10 PM
I can also be reached through email at susanprice@charter.net
Susan Felio Price — Mar 17 2011 04:17 PM
One last question for now. Considering that oil continues to wash ashore from wave action....oil that has been laying on the bottom and not exposed to air....would you say that those living in close proximately to those areas are continually breathing in VOC's on a daily basis depending on the direction of the winds?
Thanks a million for any enlightenment you can offer.
Jo Billups — Mar 17 2011 06:32 PM
Gina Gina Gina,
It is obvious that you have not heard the cries and coughs of my friends and neighbors some who have
now been sick for 8 or 9 months. You have not heard the stories of a few Drs.who stepped up and did the
research to test (because people were asking for it) and treat (because people are sick from La. to Fl.)
for the chemical exposure that has surrounded the Gulf Coast for nearly a year.
The idea of second rate labs conjures up the image of mad scientist in dirty garages doing experiments.
Please. That is an insult to the handful of Drs. who have surfaced to help us and the fine labs across the country
running the test.
Your idea of not knowing is better than knowing can be taken up with the countless people who now know
what they are dealing with and what they need to be treated for. Saving, time, energy, money and rounds
and rounds of anti-biotics and steroids that don't work . The people I know seem empowered by this knowledge
and have all made their own choices how to deal with their situation with positive results. Many have taken a western medicine route.
You are so misinformed I can't believe you bothered to blog on this. Your criticism is biased and personal and wasted
on caring giving people who have worked tirelessly and endlessly to deal with a disaster of monumental proportions.
We ask you if you have a better plan and funding for it come on down. We need help not negativity and arrogance.
Sincerely and with all my heart,
Jo
Karen Harvill — Mar 17 2011 07:05 PM
Gina,
Were you aware that they 'sprayed' corexit and that those planes taking off from Stennis Airport in MS were still dropping liguid over our the coastline as they returned. I have personal knowledge AND I went out to Stennis and took photos of the planes from a public road.
I had the opportunity to come in contact with corexit while pulling dead turtles out of the surf early on in the spill and my hands and arms broke out in blisters. How lovely to have that same stuff dropping out of the air (no matter how unintentional for days.)
I have not had a VOC but I do know people who have...
Are you saying that? The huge oil mats showing up on the beaches mixed with perhaps corexit are no longer volatile? Do you feel that the water in the gulf which is still bearing the oil is: Ok for swimming and ingesting (you how kids are when they swim) ??
Shirley Tillman — Mar 17 2011 08:07 PM
Dr. Solomon,
If you are truly worried about the stories you are hearing about the Gulf, I suggest you talk to Rocky Kistner who also blogs for NRDC. He has seen, first hand, what those of us that live along the Gulf Coast, from Louisianna to Florida, have had to deal with from the beginning of this disaster.
I guess that since you're saying VOC's are ultra-short -lived and remain in your body for only 2-3 days, that it means we are still being exposed to BP toxins on a daily basis. You are right about only the best labs being able to do the test right. I have a two-year-old grandson that has been sick since September. I am not sure about the exact number, but I know he has been to at "least" five doctors and been on at "least" eight rounds of antibiotics, some of which lasted twenty-one days. He was tested for toxins in October. We waited for twenty-two days for the test results only to find out that it was the wrong test. His parents were finally able to get the right test done, thanks to an amazing group of people. He tested positive and cannot be detoxed because his immune system is so low because of all the antibiotics he has been put on. He is not allowed to use magic markers, does not smoke nor is he around anyone that does and certainly has not pumped any gas.
He has not been to the beach nor has he eaten any seafood. My husband and I have also tested positive, but we are guilty of some of the above.
I have documented the oil spill since early June. BP's dispersed oil continues to wash up daily. So thank you for clarifiying what I have suspected for months now. BP is still continuing to poison us! It is and has been in the air we breathe. Please feel free to contact me at:sndtillman@gmail.com and I will be more than happy to send you a few recent photos, just so you will know where I'm coming from and what the Gulf Coast is dealing with.
Sincerely,
Shirley Tillman
Lisa Marie Jacobs — Mar 17 2011 08:08 PM
Some parts of this article are accurate, bu the author is extremely misguided on others.
While it is correct that VOCs stay in the blood stream for only a short amount of time, they do remain in vital organs. The author didn't finish her homework by any stretch of the imagination.
Dr. John Laseter, creator of the Volatile Solvents Profile, is highly regarded and is NOT affiliated with any detox program. Dr. Laseter was the owner of AccuChem, and sold his firm to Metametrix upon retirement. Both Dr. Laster and Dr. Daniel Teitlbaum, retired from Jewish National Hospital in Denver, are leading resources that this author should have consulted.
Some detox programs are dangerous, and others are safe. Any detox program should be conducted under the supervision of a medical professional.
Lisa Marie Jacobs
Assistant to Riki Ott, PhD
Delia Labarre — Mar 17 2011 08:14 PM
Dear Dr. Solomon,
I recall reading one or two posts of yours in the past that resembled reasonable thought processes, but this one isn't worthy of any self-respecting doctor, must less an environmental health physician, or even a compassionate person, for that matter. Every line you have written here, including in your response to Ms. Green, is so stunningly illogical that we can't help but conclude that you have discredited yourself, and NRDC if they continue to retain you as an associate.
Your response to Ms. Green is every bit as irresponsible as the doctors along the Gulf Coast who call chemical poisoning or bacterial infections "scabes" or "spider bites" without a close look or taking a culture to make a definite diagnosis or to rule out other causes of symptoms. I'm glad to see that the good Dr. Robichaux called your response what it is: nothing short of absurd.
Except for a very few doctors with conscience like Dr. Robichaux, the people on the Gulf Coast are quite on their own, abandoned by their government and by most of the medical community, for even the latter, who vow to do no harm, do great harm by flippant misdiagnoses, refusal to treat properly, or gross incompetence. That is why some of us have become "barefoot doctors," students of detoxification, working from gleanings and instructions of various experts in detoxification throughout the world who understand that the current circumstances are such that most people do not have access to competent or affordable medical care for the severe toxicities that are affecting their health.
The detoxification guidelines that Gulf Coast Barefoot Doctors have been providing are not only safe, but are at times undoubtly life saving. Your "nano-silver" straw-man fallacy is most revealing. But that's okay. We've become accustomed to such discrediting tactics. And we know that people will have to either detox, by whatever means they can, or die, and that the people who take to heart the challenges of reducing the toxins in their body while at the same time reducing the amount they're taking on, even while continuing to live in contaminated areas, because they have limited options, have the best chances of survival.
While GCBD wishes that at least as much money were made available for detox supplies for the poisoned, whose immune systems have been thereby weakened, the blood tests have served several good purposes. There are many people who disagree with your opinion on them, from toxicologists to attorneys, and from generous patrons to activists who have championed that mission. The individuals who have responded above are clearly more knowledgeable about the tests than you are, Dr. Solomon, for they have consulted with leading toxicologists, and they know what a difference acquiring that data have made.
It's a shame, Dr. Solomon, that you've written a few haphazard paragraphs without doing five minutes of research, or even speaking with a colleague who has been actually treating patients on the Gulf Coast. But it's even more of a shame that those who are suffering on the Gulf Coast are having to contend with yet another person who calls herself a doctor who blatantly violates the Hippocratic Oath, either through malice or ignorance, doing physical and psychological harm through her recklessness.
It's enough for us all down here to cry out, "Is there no balm in Gilead?"
Delia Labarre,
Gulf Coast Barefoot Doctors
Rob Coulon — Mar 17 2011 08:35 PM
Dear Dr. Solomon,
I do not understand your complacent attitude toward the suffering of the Gulf People. It is time to quit hearing the worrisome stories from the Gulf and come live them first hand with those of us who you have offended. You have my e-mail address. Use it.
Rob Coulon — Mar 17 2011 08:45 PM
Dear Dr. Solomon,
I do not understand your complacent attitude toward the suffering of the Gulf People. It is time to quit hearing the worrisome stories from the Gulf and come live them first hand with those of us who you have offended. I will be your diplomat if you are interested. You have my e-mail address. Use it.
Scott — Mar 17 2011 09:13 PM
This is a very interesting conversation and I notice that the 'good Dr Gina' has been curiously quiet since her innitial, confident blurbs. Not so sure of your opinion now?
My name is Scott A. Porter and I have had my blood tested recently by Dr. Robichaux and recorded a level of ethyl benzene that is above the 95th percentile which I believe I absorbed or injested while SCUBA diving in the northern Gulf after the oil spill.
As a marine biologist and environmental consultant for the government and oil industry in the northern Gulf, I and my research colleagues experienced the dispersant, oil and seawater solution first hand when we went diving on the reefs that live under the offshore platforms.
Videos of these dives are availible at my facebook and youtube sites; also at EcoRigs.org.
After diving from May to August filming the conditions in the study areas, I became sick with violent vomiting and severe muscle cramps after a dive with Save the Sea Turtles and Sea Sheppard Foundation representatives. In the beginning of the spill I dove in a wetsuit because NOAA said it was safe. By August, I was regularly diving in my drysuit no matter how hot the summer was in order to reduce my exposure potential.
Anyway, after Aug. 23, I refused to dive south and east of the Miss. River; but by January, I was still experiencing head and body aches and periodic muscle cramps. Also, the red, itchy and sometimes burning bumps still persisted and sometimes flares up into rashes. Also, I have had shingles and the skin bumps are different from the skin lesions that I experienced with the shingle episode.
I am glad that I found Dr. Robichaux in January and that I am not a patient of Dr. Gina (no offense meant).
It's just that so many doctors are telling people that the oil spill is not good and that the disparsants and probably bad but there is no way that people are affected by the spill and dispersants on a broad scale so they (the doctors with blinders) do not look for anything related to toxic exposure as a cause of chronic illnesses.
Hey Charles, who is talking $400 per test, we can have a blood sample analyzed for every $285 donated. Our associates and fellow non profits have spent over $10,000 on suffering peoples blood tests who could not afford the tests themselves. Money spent to help and not to make more money as the lazy skeptics assume.
So, who was complaining about the cost of the test? How much does Dr. Gina charge for an Office visit without insurance? Does it come close to $200-$300 per visit?
As far as detox systems, I do not care for chemical rinses but I do believe in supplements of cranberry, green tea, niacin and mineral supplements with a meat and nut/ seed diet. Works for me with a vigorous work out which is the hardest part when I feel like I have chronic fatigue syndrom.
Fritzi, back-up, settle down and chill out, or maybe you were kidding; I hope so.
Hopefully other medical providers across the south will join with Dr. Robichaux and begin to compile records of symptoms that patients are experiencing. When will other personal physicians begin to discuss the potential poisoning of the public with organic cyclohexanes (benzene, etc.); as well as, the corresponding symptoms and possible causes and solutions?
SOON I HOPE!
Thanks for the platform.
ScottPorter@EcoRigs.org
Denise — Mar 17 2011 11:08 PM
So let me get this straight. You feel it's not worth the time or money to get tested for VOC's or detox? And which doctors can you tell me will do the "proper" testing that you suggest exists? We have several women losing their babies to miscarriages, we've had several people pass away with what we all know was chemical poisoning, but they were misdiagnosed as having "unexplained bacterial infections" or staph, or pneumonia.
I highly suggest you do another nights homework because these toxins have been found to be cumulative in the vital organs.
Metametrix happens to be a highly reputable laboratory, do you have information otherwise? What are these "poisons" in the detox methods you speak of? Are you here to tell me that antibiotics and steroids are not toxins?
You further suggest that the VOC's only traveled in the air immediately after the accident...are you saying the Gulf is clean and none of the dispersants or hydrocarbons remain or are washing in or being carried through the air? I think many very highly creditable labs will disagree with you on that...as will myself and countless others based on our continued illness and what we witness visually each day.
While it's true that many of the VOC's could be transmitted to many of us in traffic, pumping gas, etc., what about the unborn and young children suffering? What kind of world are we living in if children are testing in excess of 10 times the 95th percentile????? Most importantly, why are we all suffering the same or similar symptoms whether young, old, or infant and NONE of us had these afflictions prior to the Deepwater Horizon explosion?
If you are going to suggest that the detox programs are poisonous, may I suggest you be specific? The program I'm on is nothing but natural herbs and has been used to treat 10's of thousands for these same compounds. Just ask, and I'll provide a list of ingredients.
Please go back to your desk and continue your homework before you make such uneducated remarks. You have no idea how few choices those of us in the Gulf have do you? We are on our own to be proactive and guard our own lives. Your suggestions might tend to confuse people seeking help to detox and thus be causing them more harm.
I too have scores of photos of the Gulf in Mississippi. Please e-mail me and I will forward recent ones for your opinion.
I also look forward to your suggestions to which tests would be more conclusive and where they can be obtained. Furthermore, you general opinion of what to use as a "safe" method of detoxification.
Respectfully, Denise Rednour
Resident Who Suffers - Long Beach, MS
Denise — Mar 17 2011 11:24 PM
In addition, Dr. Wilma Subra at L.E.A.N. is a force to be reckoned with. She has mounds of very valid testing and proof that we are not a band of misguided fools as you suggest.
Why no response from you?
Gina Solomon, MD, MPH — Mar 18 2011 12:31 AM
Wow, a lot of comments since I last had a moment to log on!
I am extremely concerned about what's going on in the Gulf, and I'm very aware that there are a lot of people who are really sick. Here's what I think is needed:
1) More medical care, with clinics that are available to everyone. It's bad how far some people need to travel for medical care, and BP should be paying the medical bills.
2) Teams of specialists that are experts in environmental medicine, neurotoxicology, pediatric environmental health, dermatology, and pulmonary medicine, who can do more in-depth evaluations and whatever testing's needed in order to help people - and also to learn something from this terrible disaster so there won't be the same kind of unknowns next time (yes, if we keep using oil, there will be a next time).
3) A system for collecting illness reports, so that every person who is getting sick can report their illness and it will be recorded by the public health system. Right now, the government isn't tracking what's going on, and they're pretending there's no problem.
That's what I think needs to happen.
I think the VOC testing is a blind alley and it's diverting us from pushing for the things that will make a bigger difference. Obviously others disagree.
The fact is that oil and dispersants aren't just made up of VOCs, in fact those chemicals account for less than 1/3 of what was in the oil, and they were the first chemicals to evaporate and blow away. Those VOCs are long gone. The other stuff in the oil (the stuff that's still washing up on some of the beaches) include various other chemicals that are not VOCs. There aren't biomonitoring tests available yet for those chemicals, but testing for VOCs today won't tell you anything about what you might still be exposed to from oil washing up, and it won't tell you what you were exposed to last summer, so it's not helpful. I wish it were a helpful test, but wishing doesn't make it so.
Alene Albright — Mar 18 2011 12:48 AM
What we need is a central repository for the research, tests, symptom tracking, treatments, results, etc. Lots of people are doing things independent from each other and duplicating effort, which is not cost or time effective. That way information can be shared and better disseminated to those that need help. If anyone has any ideas about how we can set up something like this, let me know. Hands Across The Gulf is willing to apply as a non-profit to support this type of initiative, but will need lots of help from the experts.
Michael Boatright — Mar 18 2011 10:36 AM
Dr. Solomon,
I have read your article and the comments, I have also have read as much as I can in regards to ethylbenzene and p xylene on the web. According to studies it has a very short half life . I think someone needs to challenge these studies, everything I read indicates the route as inhalation.
Most if not all of these patients has a method of entry through wet dermal contact, long exposures at very high doses.
They dissolved the vocs into the water column and we have tests from seawater at the 30' foot level with deadly levels of variety vocs in the water column. What is the half life if it is in dissolution? Well these samples are from Oct 12. in an area open to the public. The VOC's didn't follow the research I read.
Entry through the skin will allow direct deposit into subcutaneous tissues and other tissues in the body especially fat.
People here are sick and we know why.
I myself have ethylbenzene 5 times higher than 95% of the people on planet earth, as well as a plethora of other toxins.
Coincidentally so do my two dive buddies. There is no other way I could have had this exposure and the 3 of us have no other common link, and all of our results are near identical.
Taking shots at the labs will not help the cause or help us, it will only make people down hear feel that you may be biased. The lab we used for the water sample is very respected and EPA certified, our chain of custody an collection methods are professional done by qualified personnel. There are no questions to the integrity of the results.
Come down here see for yourself we have a disaster in the making,
As far as detox methods you are right. I will be using the Hubbard method, http://www.detoxacademy.org/ . This is the safest that I have found and I know that it will work.
Denise — Mar 18 2011 12:42 PM
It seems like you are just now catching on to what we've been fighting for almost the entire year now. Our Government and the medical field have cut us off completely. They will deny or lie at all costs.
We are finding that all of our sickness is not necessarily chemical in nature. It's bacterial...as in "man made bio organisms" and possibly the oil eating bioremediation that are eating at us as well!
How quickly we forget that we are an integral part of the ecosystem and we are made of carbon and water!!!!!! The micro-organisms are transmitted through the air, in the rain, dermal through our skin, and (for those of those who dare to take a chance) through the ingestion of contaminated seafood.
At issue is the fact that spraying of both bacterial and chemical products continues each day and we add the decaying plant and animal life to the bacterial pool of toxins.
Modern medicine doesn't have antibiotics to fight these poisons.
I am using the Serving Those Who Serve Detox program from New York who have been treating the 9/11 first responders. It's helped a great deal, but I continue to suffer daily.
Worse yet, is the lack of any funding or insurance coverages or BP claims for medical issues. If you weren't previously working for the oil industry or fishing or tourist industries, you are up a creek. (As are many of those who were!)
Marlitta Perkins — Mar 18 2011 01:26 PM
Dr. Solomon,
Instead of sending me e-mails, asking me to support the EPA, for exampe, an agency that has done nothing for the residents in the gulf, why does the Natural Resources Defense Council not use their influence in Washington as well as on a state level, to get some much needed help for Gulf residents? Where are the e-mails from you asking me to sign that petition? Sadly absent. I'd like to see proper tests and medical evaluations as well as adequate medical care by specialists who understand what is going on with people in the Gulf. Furthermore, I'd like to see BP being held accountable and made to pay for every bit of it. To make things "right"...like it was promised.
Anne Rolfes — Mar 18 2011 05:40 PM
Hello Dr. Solomon and others:
Dr. Solomon in taking a courageous stand. She's only trying to help us and we need to be civil even when we disagree.
People are feeling health impacts, and while some may choose to get blood tests, it is possible to document health problems without it. Observation is valid; it's the first step of the scientific process. Self reported symptoms are high. Our La Bucket Brigade / Patagonia / Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy survey found that 48% of the nearly 1,000 people we surveyed experienced coughs, skin irritation, breathing problems and eye problems more often than usual. See the complete results at www.labucketbrigade.org
The sad truth is that there is no magic bullet to this - including VOC blood tests - and those of us on the Gulf Coast need to recognize this. What we need is long term health care.
VOC's do fade from your blood and what is being tested is what you were exposed to in the last couple of days - not from the BP disaster. I wish there were a way to find out details of that exposure and maybe there is. Gina, perhaps you could provide an article or other reading about VOC's and their endurance in both the environment and in blood.
Thanks to all for the hard work and caring
Scott — Mar 19 2011 04:34 AM
I agree that we need to have a civil discussion and I do not intend to be rude, I simply mean to say that I am glad that I found a doctor that was intuitive enough to learn what blood tests to run on me so that I may have a clue as to what may be dissolved in my system after SCUBA diving in the spill zone.
If Dr. Gina would have treated me, I am not sure see would have known what tests to run. Nor do most of the other GP's in this region know the type of tests needed to detect the CoreXite signature; therefore, family doctors are not running the blood test matrix that looks at potential toxins at the part per billion and smaller levels.
Still, there are some areas in which we agree. For instance, the need for a forum for local medical doctors to share similiar scenarios and develope an informed approach to treating potential toxic exposure cases. We feel that this is paramount.
By the way, where is BP's excuse or explaination in the conversation? At least 'the good Dr. Gina' is still in the discussion.
Gina Solomon, MD, MPH — Mar 19 2011 02:19 PM
This is a really important conversation – thanks for these comments! I'm sorry that my blog seemed to under-cut some of the important and difficult work that's going on in the Gulf Coast right now to figure out what's going on. I respect the scientists and community members who are trying hard to figure out - and document - what's going on.
I just want to reemphasize that oil and dispersants contain a really complex brew of chemicals, and VOCs are the part of the mix that's least likely to still be around. People's health might be affected by various chemicals or microbial agents, or even by a combination.
Because of the problems with blood tests for these chemicals, I think the best course is to document and track the illnesses, push for better health investigations. I agree that this is urgently needed. Thanks to Anne, Marlitta, and Alene for suggestions about how to move forward the efforts to get the needed health tracking and medical attention to the Gulf Coast. I will be blogging more about this, and stay tuned for more news on this front!
Scott — Mar 20 2011 10:44 PM
Dr. Gina, you are right about one thing, it is a very important conversation. One that we have been trying to get information and help from the medical and media communities for 10 months now and it is still like pulling teeth to get you or anyone at the government or national TV news networks to even mention the word CoreXite You prefer the word dispersant; somehow it is more vague, like the government (NOAA)likes it. By using the word dispersants, the conversation about what we were and maybe still are being exposed to. For instance, some at BP are now claiming that the dispersants are more like Dawn soap and they just break up and dissolve the oil. Well frankly, I am not worried about soap, I am worried about my exposure to CoreXite and the potential carcinogens that it liberated from the raw crude. We cannot even get a straight answer as to whether they are still spraying CoreXite, much less, how much of each type of solution of CoreXite was used or what we may should be concerned with after having been exposed to their application of said CoreXite. Do you get it yet, we demand to know more about COREXITE!!!!!
And yes, more about VOC's and cyclohexanes, such as ethyl benzene since that has been detected so far on my first set of blood tests. I know that the discussion now is about the 48 hr half-life of VOC's. Please correct me here, but I understand that the free radical half-life for most VOC's in the blood is 48 hr because by then it has found a receptor and becomes bound in the system (usually in fatty tissue). But just because it is bound and not a free radical, the cyclohexane chains are not broken and thus remain in tact in the body and can bioaccumulate. If the fat chain is broken up what happens to the benzene chain? Is it liberated back into the blood stream, I think so.
Also, what would you suggest to naturally depurate benzene from the body. What natural supplement or herb or food will bind with cyclohexanes and safely flush them from the body?
By the way, in your expert opinion, can you name what are potentially the most dangerous chemicals or, more accurately, compounds that are in CoreXite or what it may liberate from the oil and what happens to those dangerous compounds like benzene once they are liberated? I know about toulene, xylene and styrene, but what else should we be looking for?
Again, WHERE IS BP AND NOAA WITH THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS? Where are the people at NOAA that wanted my videos and water samples last summer? Where are the national TV news crews like Speppard Smith at Fox News that wanted and aired my SCUBA videos last summer? CBS, CNN, and ABC were all on our boats diving with us last summer and now none of them will even mention the word CoreXite or talk to us about it. All conversation seems to stop at the mention of the word CoreXite.
In summary, just in case I have not driven the point home hard enough to be clear, what we or I am most concerned with at this time is what do I need to potentially look for in my body after diving in a water body that has had millions of gallons of CoreXite intentially applied to hundreds of millions of gallons of raw crude oil which were also dumped into the same region of the same body of water the the diving was occuring. Get it? I can state it simplier if you like.
WHAT WERE WE SWIMMING IN AND INGESTING AND ABSORBING THROUGH OUR SKIN; HOW DO WE TEST FOR IT AND HOW DO WE REMOVE IT?
One more thing, I noticed that you acknowledged Anne, Marlitta and Alene for their suggestions on a way to approach the discussion and information gathering SOP's; but you neglected to even address Dr. Robichaux and his standing request for a forum for MD's and environmental scientists to discuss potential health issues and past solutions to similiar problems. It seems you want another call to study people like me so that you can watch us die and try to learn from it. Well I am not your lab rat! I want a doctor that is willing to help me look into my body and try to determine what I may have been exposed to and affected by. Not a doctor that dismisses me because I question his or her opinion.
After all, is either of us a toxicollogy specialist? By the way, the environmental toxicologists that I have spoken with have told me that to not be concerned about the potential exposure levels to the oil, CoreXite and seawater solution is either insane or in a severe state of denial.
I also will be blogging here with you about this; just like the dispersed oil, you may not see us but we are still here.
Thanks for the forum!
Scott — Mar 20 2011 11:16 PM
After reading your post again in order to determine if I may have been a little too harsh in my previous post, I was once again seriously put off by your apparant lack of concern for the health issues and questions that I and others put before you which you conveniently ignored. I realize that I am not a patient of yours and that you do not owe me your opinion; but at the same time, you brought yourself into the discussion.
To sum it up, not only did I not appreciate the dismissive manner of your last post and learned almost nothing except that you will refuse to address that which you disagree with or that which displeases you.
Sorry if I seem a little perturbed, it may just be the benzene in my system; the symptoms do include tempermental moodiness and loss of patience. Hope it gets better.
Scott — Mar 20 2011 11:30 PM
OOPS, Sorry - apparent and temperamental
Jose Mestre — Mar 21 2011 08:40 AM
Dr. Solomon,
You represent a great org and you seem to really care about your patients. I am the Executive Director of Serving Those Who Serve, a nonprofit whose mission is to use integrative/holistic healing modalities to help heal the tens of thousands of people who are sick from exposure to the 2400 toxins released on 9/11 and its aftermath when the WTC was destroyed.
I cannot address what you say about VOCs but I can tell you from the experience of thousands of people who are very sick from Ground Zero exposure that these compounds do not leave the body quickly. And if they do then they do tremendous damage anyway as almost ten years after 9/11 tens of thousands of people still have severe respiratory issues, severe signs of metal and chemical toxicity, severe GERD issues, many skin issues and joint issues and a host of other problems.
Our experience after 10 years of working with the 9/11 community that the good people of the Gulf Region are going to be dealing with the consequences of BP's massive irresponsibility for years to come.
I cannot address the detox programs you describe but STWS offers an herbal program that is all plant-based and organic and have no side effects. It was developed for us by world-renowned Ayurvedic physician Pankaj Naram who has healed hundreds of thousands of all over the world in the past 25 years. Dr. Naram has worked with the Dalai Lama and Mother Theresa.
70-75% of the people who have done our herbal program for the minimum required 6 month protocol have seen improvements to the symptoms described above often dramatic ones. Our program is supervised by Western MDs who believe in Integrative healing. The herbs are meant to be integrated with whatever medical protocol one is doing. Our doctors have checked over 300 meds for counterindications and so far they have only recommended that one person on Coumadin not take the herbs. And this is because the person was very sick and because Coumadin has so many counterindications with so many drugs so it was doen as a precaution.
Our Chaiman of the Board is distinguished Integrative Psychiatrist Dr. Richard Brown. Dr. Prown teaches at Columbia and gives between 150-200 lectures a year to health professionals. Our other medical adivsors are all distinguished MDs.
If you want to see our 8 minute video and read short or long testimonials on our herbal program or read the study on the program published on the peer-reviewed journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, go to our web site www.stws.org.
Thanks to our partner in the Gulf LEAN, we have begun to offer the herbal program to people on the Gulf Coast. Based on my experience of talking to people there and my 10 years of experience of talking with thousands of people exposed to the 2400 toxins at Ground Zero after 9/11 it is my professional experience that:
1.) Many residents of the Gulf are sick because of exposure to the hydrocarbons from the BP oil spill and the Corexit dispersant.
2.) Whether the VOCs go through your body quickly or not the results to the body are devastating. Mt. Sinai hospital in NY tested 30,000 people who worked at Ground Zero. 78% of them are sick.
3.) Since 9/11 almost 500 people have died from what their doctors write on the Death certificate are "illnesses due to exposure from the toxic air and dust from 9/11."Most of these people have been healthy people in their 30s and 40s dying of rare lung diseases and cancers from families with no history of either.
4.) 400,000 people live or work in the affected areas in NYC. Many public health officials are predicting a public health disaster in the years to come.
5.) All of the above can be expected in the Gulf. Since the area contaminated is much, much bigger than Ground Zero and it is one of the largest ecosystems in the US the long-term public health effects from BP's actions are ominous and seem to me will be much more serious than 9/11.
Thank you for listening and please try to educate yourself more about what happened and is still happening after 9/11 and what is happening in the Gulf so you can help the situation.
Scott — Mar 23 2011 06:58 AM
I wonder what happened to the conversation here; guess it's over. It seems that Dr. Gina is either off observing someone's symptoms or is busy with the EPA advisory council duties or maybe conferring with George Soros and her National Resources Defence Council connections in order to determine what to discuss with us.
Back to the task at hand, so again I ask you, WHAT ABOUT THE COREXITE? ARE THEY STILL SPRAYING? Latest reports are that C130's have been spotted and photographed spraying near shore now. And what about the oil coming onto the beach at Elmer's Island at Grand Isle, La., where did it and the slick from last week come from?
Who is asking these questions for us? And what MD's are helping the people in these areas to get information about what may be the options for actions that they may need to taken to determine the cuase of potential illnesses associated with exposure to CoreXite. So what can you tell us about CoreXite, or do I need to mention it a few more times?
We need to know what to look for in order to be able to detemine what is associated with toxic exposure and what may be cuased by other issues or pre-existing conditions. Unless you at the EPA, DEQ and NOAA do not want to know; or more likely, DO NOT WANT THE PUBLIC TO KNOW ABOUT IT!
Sorry about the tone of the blog. I am trying to be civil and still get the point across. As an advisor to the EPA, can you please tell me, AM I RISKING MY LIFE BY DIVING IN THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO then and now?
Scott — Mar 23 2011 07:04 AM
Oops didn't see it twice - cause
Gina Solomon, MD, MPH — Mar 25 2011 06:24 AM
I can't answer the questions about whether dispersant spraying is still happening in the Gulf. I've heard some of the same reports Scott has heard, but haven't seen any documentation (or refutation from BP or the government either). Someone defininitely needs to get to the bottom of that question! However, the VOCs included in the blood testing don't include the chemicals that are in the dispersant, so the blood testing is unfortunately not helpful in this regard either.
Regarding the parallel to 9/11 - I think that's a very interesting analogy. The exposures in the 9/11 disaster were very different from the exposures in the oil spill, so the health effects in the body will also be different. However there is an important parallel: the government agencies gave an "all clear" after 9/11 but they didn't measure all the important substances in the air that could cause health effects (they especially didn't think about the horribly alkaline pulverized concrete dust that is corrosive to the lungs). After the Gulf oil spill there was a similar "all clear" based on low VOC levels, but now we know that there was a major plume of oil-dispersant aerosol that spread far-and-wide during the spill. For more information, check out my colleague Miriam Rotkin-Ellman's blog here: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/mrotkinellman/new_study_sheds_light_on_air_q.html.
I'm wondering if the oil-dispersant aerosol might be the mystery substance in the Gulf. That stuff could really set up inflammatory reactions deep in the lungs.
Whatever it turns out to be, the point is that these illnesses need to be documented, and people need good health care. Blood testing for VOCs won't help to sort this out, but action is needed to get help to the community.