Volatile Solvents and the Gulf Oil Spill

Oil Spill

Heavy on the minds of many is the devastating effect of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill on both our health and safety and the health and safety of the environment. Thankfully the spill has been stopped, but not after hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil have polluted the waters, damaged the aquatic wildlife, and posed a nightmare to clean-up crews.

One of the pressing concerns is the impact of the volatile solvents that are being emitted into the atmosphere from the oil itself, as well as those created during the controlled burning process. Those living in the gulf coastal regions report odors that smell much like a gas station. The EPA is monitoring the levels of these solvents, which are mainly benzene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, and toluene. While they report that the levels in the air are still within safe ranges, they do suggest those living in the coastal regions to stay indoors and put the air conditioning on re-circulate.

Side-effects of acute exposures to these volatile compounds include headaches, nausea, vomiting, cough, and dizziness. However, long-term exposures can lead to much more serious health problems such as increased risk of infertility, low-birth weight babies and miscarriage, decreased cognitive function and psychomotor coordination, decreased immune function, and increased risk of depression, insomnia, and certain cancers including leukemia and lymphoma.

If you are worried about your exposure to these volatile organic solvents, you can test your blood to see your levels. Metametrix offers a Volatile Solvents Profile that measures the solvents emitted from the oil spill as well as a few others that are found commonly in typical American air pollution.

Don’t wait until it is too late, have your doctor order a Volatile Solvents Profile for you and your family today to determine your risk and assess your exposure. —Dr. Eve Bralley

TO: The Honorable Vice President Joseph Biden

FROM:  Trisha Springstead, RN

DATE: March 28, 2011:

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

I am a registered nurse licensed in Florida. I trained in medicine at Loma Linda University, UCSB, and Riverside State College. I have over 36 years experience in the medical field in a myriad of specialties and have been clinical educator and administrator for two HMA Hospitals. My husband Richard W. Springstead is an MD and has seen a few of these patients with me.   He is an orthopaedic Surgeon with 35 years and a Graduated from Emory College of Medicine.   He has listened to me talk to these patients and is willing to help but in order to start up a clinic we need assistance for these patients.   Richard and I both have taken the Certification Courses from Metametrix Clinical Labs in Atlanta, Georgia.

Since the beginning of the Deepwater Horizon oil blowout disaster I have been working with patients from the Gulf States  that are demonstrating a wide variety of serious symptoms of toxic chemical exposure and poisoning.  I currently have over 200 families reporting to me. These families are terribly ill.  They have shortness of breath, horrific skin lesions, neurological impairments, and short term memory loss.  Their immune systems have been highly compromised, they are bleeding from every orifice, bruising is occurring spontaneously, their lung capacities are declining and their hearts are enlarging.  Most are financially so broke that they can not even begin to afford the necessary testing for VOC’s or PAHs, let alone treatment. This truly is a public health crisis that urgently needs to be addressed.

Metametrix Clinical Laboratory is the lab of choice for these people and we are begging for doctors and funding to be able to help these people.  Many of them are going to die quickly, and are dying from undiagnosed poisoning. I assume because there is no insurance coding for “chemical poisoning,” that this is one of the key reasons they are being misdiagnosed with the flu, or mycoplasmic pneumonia, delusional,  due to short term memory loss and confusion from elevated hexane levels, and Polyaromatic  Hydrocarbon levels (from exposure to water, air and the vicarious spraying of Corexit.) Without a defined insurance codes, the doctors can not bill the insurance companies and be reimbursed for their work.

From the blood test results we have seen, the levels of Hexane in bloods samples is creeping up to the 95th percentiles in the population I’ve been seeing, indicating that the air quality in this area is contributing to the demise of the health of the local population. One of our dearest friends and friends, Lisa Nelson, was a lovely young woman in her 30’s.  She died two weeks ago.  All indications are that it was as a direct result of exposure to Corexit on the beach last September.  I personally know of approx 20 other people who have died or whose deaths are imminent. These people are scared, have families and children who are also becoming ill as the air becomes warmer.

A large number of the people I am seeing were oil cleanup response workers for the Deepwater Horizon and they are now very ill.  Per my observations, they are consistently being misdiagnosed by ERs, medical clinics and hospitals.  In addition to the lack of the reimbursement insurance coding issue, few doctors and others in the medical profession are educated in Environmental Medicine and this is exacerbating the situation.

From numerous first-hand reports I have received, the spraying of the toxic chemical dispersant called Corexit goes on to this day on the beaches and open waters.  This is completely unacceptable and must be stopped.  I have been told by about over 1OO of the patients reporting to me, that they witnessed Corexit (being sprayed from a boat, a plane and I have my own first-hand experience of watching planes spraying at night in Applachacola and Panama City. I would be happy to meet with you in regard to the above statements and can provide more detailed information, if it is needed (within the legal framework of patient confidentiality laws).

Sincerely,

Trisha Springstead, RN MS

Dr Richard and Patricia R Springstead

3/26/2011 10:35:35 AM #

morgellonsreport.com/.../

Here is a Research paper done by Trisha Springstead.
Thank You,
Dr and Mrs Springstead

Trisha Springstead RN MS

7/21/2011 3:15:37 PM #

7/29/2011 7:18:59 PM #

gulfrescuealliance.webs.com/currentsituation.htm

Here is the most current work that we are posting, look at the Public Health log.

Thanks
Trisha Springstead RN MS
Richard W. Springstead MD PA

cnelson-dooley

7/30/2012 5:25:17 PM #

This article also talks about volatile solvents in the blood of Gulf Coast residents

www.aljazeera.com/.../2012420725163795.html

cnelsondooley

8/10/2012 4:11:38 PM #

According to the recent Deepwater Horizon Medical Benefits settlement, compensation will be granted to clean-up workers with dermatitis and respiratory symptoms as a result of acute exposure to the spill. Clean-up workers could have been exposed directly to the oil products causing dermatitis (skin inflammation) or fumes (think of the fumes when filling up your gas tank) that would have been inhaled and could have caused respiratory distress. Direct contact with dispersants could have caused skin and respiratory symptoms also.

However, mental health professionals should be aware of the neurological symptoms associated with chronic exposure to oil byproducts. Chronic, low-grade exposure to the spill could affect the general coastal population, not just clean-up workers. Symptoms to look for would include personality change, memory impairment, neurological deficits, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, psychomotor deficits, and depression. A Volatile Solvents test can monitor a person’s blood levels of oil products after an exposure. Though not mentioned in the Deepwater Horizon settlement, Volatile Solvents blood testing should be part of routine care for coastal inhabitants negatively impacted by the spill.

1.Dick FD. Solvent neurotoxicity. Occup Environ Med. Mar 2006;63 (3):221-226, 179.
2.Bockelmann I, Pfister EA, Peters B, Duchstein S. Psychological effects of occupational exposure to organic solvent mixtures on printers. Disabil Rehabil. Jul 8 2004;26(13):798-807.