How toxic is the oil dispersant Corexit when mixed with oil?
In the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Catastrophe and the subsequent use of 2 million gallons of the oil dispersant Corexit to disperse an estimated 250-300 million gallons of oil, we find ourselves asking this question almost everyday.
Three and a half years after the largest human-caused environmental disaster in history, remediation and restoration efforts have helped to remove the most obvious signs of the disaster and returned the most affected coastal communities to near pre-spill conditions.
But Gulf Coast residents now face an even more ominous health care crisis, as untold numbers of people – cleanup workers, divers, beach comers, residents, children, etc. – have been made ill from exposure to a mix of oil, methane, Corexit, and from inhaling aerosolized oil fumes from the in-situ oil burns (oil burned in contained areas on the surface of the water).
Since 2010, the Storm Surge team has interviewed scores of people who claim to suffer from acute illnesses ranging from rashes, upper respiratory infections, severe asthma, skin infections, blisters in between their fingers and arms on their legs and their feet, and blood in their urine, to heart palpitations, kidney and liver damage, migraines, memory loss and reduced IQ, after they came into contact with oil and Corexit.
We continue to remain perplexed as to the reasons why the American mainstream media fails to cover this problem.
Last week, 60 Minutes Australia published the following two-part investigative report on the use of Corexit to disperse oil, both here in the United States and in Australia.
Crude Solution – Part 1
Crude Solution – Part 2
Meanwhile, BP is reportedly spending over $5 million a week on a nation-wide marketing, advertising, and public relations campaign to convince people across the country that the Gulf of Mexico is safe to swim in, the seafood is safe to eat, the environment is being restored to pristine order, and how great a company BP is to work for.
Storm Surge 