Gulf of Mexico Presents Unprecedented Toxicity Problems

By Kim Evans

Global Research, June 29, 2010

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19962

If you`re living in the U.S., particularly within a thousand miles of the Gulf, you need to detoxify your body now. Here`s why: Crude oil is packed with a toxic chemical called benzene. Even in small amounts, benzene is associated with leukemia, Hodgkin`s Lymphoma and other serious blood and immune system diseases. The EPA`s "safe level" for benzene is 4 ppb (parts per billion) and benzene is being found in Gulf air at levels of 3,000 ppb. Crude oil is being smelled hundreds of miles away, and make no mistake, if you can smell oil, you`re breathing highly toxic benzene.

With the oil, numerous toxic gases are also gushing from earth and gases that everyone near the Gulf is being exposed to include hydrogen sulfide and methylene chloride. The EPA`s allowable limit for hydrogen sulfide is 5-10 ppb (parts per billion), but on May 3rd air levels of 1,192 ppb were recorded. A former oil company CEO says these levels pose serious, even fatal, risks to adults and unborn children. Hydrogen sulfide acts like carbon monoxide and cyanide gases - it inhibits cellular respiration and oxygen uptake, and causes cellular suffocation. As for methylene chloride, the body changes it to carbon monoxide - and it`s known to cause liver damage, skin damage and cancer. The EPA`s safe level for methylene chloride is 61 ppb - and it`s being found in the air at levels of 3,000 ppb.

Most people know that the chemical dispersant BP is using is highly toxic. It`s so toxic that the EPA ordered BP to use a different and less toxic dispersant - an order which BP ignored. Currently, over a million gallons of these toxic chemicals have been dumped into our oceans. With the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the same dispersant caused serious respiratory, liver, nervous system, kidney and blood damage in people - and reports that clean up crews in the Gulf are falling ill are plenty. On the manufacturer`s label, it says that no toxicity testing has been done, but these chemicals being used in enormous and uncontained quantities are obviously very toxic.

All of this sounds bad, and it is, but here`s the kicker: as part of the earth`s interconnected ecosystem, rain water comes from the oceans. So, it shouldn`t be a surprise that scientists are predicting severe destruction across the U.S. from toxic rains - and it appears the first cases are being reported about 400 miles from the Gulf. In fact, hundreds of acres of Tennessee farm land are at risk.

The crops have small, raindrop-sized burn marks on them and while the mainstream media is reporting crop damage, they haven`t yet made the connection between the toxic, chemical-ridden rains and the potential crop failure. It`s being reported that these raindrop-sized burn marks are affecting everything in sight, and no plant is immune. Dead birds are also being found nearby. These crops may fail and if they do survive, it`s likely they`ll be toxic to consume because plants being watered with toxic chemicals will absorb those chemicals into their cells.

So, what can you do? Detoxify your body now and continue to do so regularly in the months and years to come. These chemicals in the air - and likely soon in the drinking water and in crops that do survive - present a very real danger inside our bodies. Thankfully, there are methods to remove these chemicals - but it`s up to you to take the steps to do so.