Chemical Dispersants Being Used in Gulf Clean-up are Potentially Toxic

We finally know the main two dispersants that BP and the U.S. government are using to treat the ongoing Gulf spill. Both, by their maker's own admission, have the "potential to bioconcentrate," and both have "moderate toxicity to early life stages of fish, crustaceans, and mollusks," according to a study by Exxon, the company that originally developed them. Their use may be the least-bad course, given the importance of minimizing oil's effect on coastal wetlands. But a little digging into the chemical makeup of these two substances, which are being dumped in vast quantities into the Gulf, reveals that they could potentially do far more harm than good, both to the Gulf and to humans who later eat from it.

As ProPublica reported Monday, information about dispersants is "kept secret under competitive trade laws." I've spent the last several days trying to confirm what many in the ocean-ecology and public health worlds seemed to know, but no one would say officially: that two different dispersants sold under the banner of Corexit were being used in vast quantities. The Corexit brand is owned by an Illinois-based company called Nalco, which entered the dispersant business back in 1994, when it merged with Exxon's chemical unit. (By 2004, Exxon had divested and Nalco was a standalone company, according to Nalco's company history.)

Last night I finally got my confirmation. A spokesperson for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration finally pointed me to the website of Deepwater Horizon Response, the U.S. government's "ongoing administration-wide response to the Deepwater BP Oil Spill." The link took me to a "fact sheets" page, where I was able to download Nalco's Material Safety Data Sheets for "Dispersant Type 1," Corexit 9500; and "Dispersant Type 2," Corexit 9527A. These product numbers matched the ones that had been identified unofficially by my sources.

Bioconcentration game

OSHA requires companies to make Material Safety Data Sheets, or MSDSs, available for any hazardous substances used in a workplace, and the ones for these dispersants both contain versions of a disturbing statement. 9500's states that "Component substances have a potential to bioconcentrate," while the one for 9527A has the slightly more comforting, "Component substances have a low potential to bioconcentrate."

This is not what you want to hear about toxins being dumped in the sea by the hundreds of thousands of gallons. The EPA defines bioconcentration as the "accumulation of a chemical in tissues of a fish or other organism to levels greater than in the surrounding medium." In other words, substances that bioconcentrate tend to move from water into fish, where they can do damage to the fish itself, as well as be passed on to predator fish -- and on up the food chain, to human eaters.

And just how toxic is this stuff? The data sheets for both products contain this shocker: "No toxicity studies have been conducted on this product" -- meaning testing their safety for humans.

This is jaw-dropping. According to Ronald Tjeerdema, chair of the Department of Environmental Toxicology at UC Davis' College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, who has been studying dispersants since the '90s, "The industry typically only stockpiles one or two of these things," and while Corexit 9527 has been the dispersant of choice for a long time, in recent years, Corexit 9500 has gained prominence. Yet Nalco has done no toxicity studies on these industry-dominating products now in heavy use in the Gulf?

They do appear to have toxic properties. Both data sheets include the warning "human health hazards: acute." The MSDS for Corexit 9527A states that "excessive exposure may cause central nervous system effects, nausea, vomiting, anesthetic or narcotic effects," and "repeated or excessive exposure to butoxyethanol [an active ingredient] may cause injury to red blood cells (hemolysis), kidney or the liver."

It adds: "Prolonged and/or repeated exposure through inhalation or extensive skin contact with EGBE [butoxyethanol] may result in damage to the blood and kidneys."

Just the surfactants, please

So, what's in the stuff? According to their data sheets, both 9500 and 9527 are composed of three potentially hazardous substances. They share two in common, organic sulfonic acid salt and propylene glycol. In addition to those two, Corexit 9500 contains something called "Distillates, petroleum, hydrotreated light," while Corexit 9527 contains 2-Butoxyethanol. Frustratingly, the sheets don't give exact information about how much of the substances are in the dispersants; instead they give ranges as a percentage of weight. For example, Corexit 9500 can be composed of anywhere from 10 to 30 percent petroleum distillates, while 2-Butoxyethanol makes up anywhere from 30 to 60 percent of 9527.

Article written by:  Tom Philpot – Source:   www.grist.com

February 1, 2010, Atlanta, GA - Before “going green” became synonymous for environmental stewardship, Na’Taki Osborne Jelks was helping to organize low-income and communities of color to fight against toxic waste sites and environmental injustice, leading youth groups to develop campus and community-based solutions to environmental challenges, and speaking to audiences across the country on the attributes of saving the planet and the people and wildlife who inhabit it. On March 26, 2010, the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) will present the Costen Award for TheoEcology to Osborne-Jelks for her exemplary work in environmentalism at the Charter Day and James H. Costen “Tribute to Excellence” Awards Dinner, 6 p.m., Hyatt Regency Hotel, in downtown Atlanta. The TheoEcology initiative, recognizing the partnership between faith and conservation, is one of the primary goals of the seminary’s Strategic Plan.

For more than ten years, Osborne-Jelks has traveled the nation and parts of the globe carrying a message of environmental justice and responsible conservation on the planet to protect its human, wildlife and plant resources, on behalf of the National Wildlife Federation. Her role includes managing state advocacy campaigns and coalition building to advance NWF’s education advocacy platform in the Southeast states and engaging underrepresented communities in conservation efforts to combat global warming, create green jobs, and train the next generation of environmental leaders. It is an important assignment for her that she began preparing for during adolescence when her mother was stricken with cancer and the cause thought to be resultant from exposure to toxic wastes from petrochemical plants near her neighborhood in Baton Rouge, LA. Her mother survived and Na’Taki resolved that her career would best serve others as an advocate for communities most inundated with environmental stressors but least represented at environmental decision-making tables as well as informed health practices, and responsible conservation.    

While working to help people in environmentally degraded communities find their voice and develop the necessary skills to speak and act out against polluters who impair and threaten their quality of life, Osborne-Jelks has helped to change the landscape of African American communities on Atlanta’s west side which are impacted by numerous environmental hazards. Notably among her many achievements, twelve years ago, she co-founded the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance. Each year during a week-long summer
environmental leadership and outdoor immersion program, called Earth Tomorrow, she leads youth from underserved communities on camping trips and other outdoor excursions, introducing them to the beauty of nature and acquainting them with different plant and animal life while also introducing them to “green” jobs, developing their environmental literacy and leadership skills, and engendering a healthy respect for preserving and protecting the world in which they live.

Osborne-Jelks graduated with a dual degree from Spelman College and Georgia Institute of Technology in Chemistry and Civil and Environmental Engineering in 1996. She earned a Masters in Environmental and Occupational Health from Emory University in 2002. In addition to her position as Manager of Education and Advocacy Programs for the National Wildlife Federation, Osborne-Jelks has served as adjunct professor of Community Health
at Morehouse School of Medicine and is currently an adjunct professor of Environmental Science at her alma mater, Spelman College.

Na’Taki is married to Rev. Ken Jelks, Manager of Sales for Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters (AIB-TV) and an associate minister at Antioch Baptist Church North. They are the proud parents of a three-month old son, Kenyatta Lorenzo Jelks Jr. (K.J.).

Further details about the Charter Day and James H. Costen Awards dinner are available at 404-527-7718 or on the ITC website at www.itc.edu.

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ITC is a consortium of six different denominational seminaries including: Gammon Theological Seminary, Morehouse School of Religion, Turner Theological Seminary, Phillips School of Theology, Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary, and C.H. Mason Theological Seminary. The Center also welcomes students of other denominations to matriculate as part of its Harry V. and Selma T. Richardson Ecumenical Fellowship, named for its founding president and his wife. The Lutheran Theological Center is also housed on the ITC campus and its students enjoy the benefits of the ecumenical afro-centric academic environment.

Laura Turner Seydel Attends Ribbon Cutting for the New “Green” Music Room and Chapel Atrium

(l-r) Dr. Michael A. Battle, Dr. Lisa Allen, Dr. Temba Maficon, Mr. Joe Cates,
and Ms. Laura Turner Seydel

ITC President, Dr. Michael A. Battle introduced the new “Green” Music room and Chapel Atrium to the community with thanks to its benefactors on Thursday, November 6, 2008 during a special ribbon-cutting dedication ceremony.

Mrs. Laura Turner Seydel, a national environmental activist and eco-living expert, is also a Trustee of the Turner Foundation.  The Foundation provided the generous funding for the renovation.  The ITC Women’s Ensemble performed the TheoEcology theme song, The Earth is the Lord’s which was written, arranged and directed by ITC’s own Dr. Lisa Allen. 

Greening the ITC campus is one of the strategic goals adopted for the Center in 2005.

Grants to Green Funding Moves ITC Closer To A "Totally Green" Campus

	(Atlanta, GA, February 19, 2009) - The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) has received a $50,000 grant to assist with ongoing efforts to “green” the seminary’s 10.2 acre campus as part of its TheoEcology initiative, which launched in 2005.  The gift is made possible by the Grants to Green Fund.

The grant will allow the seminary to upgrade cooling/heating systems which regulate the environment in its principal classroom building. “We are intentional in our efforts to model TheoEcology to the extent that the emphasis on a commitment to better stewardship of the environment is defined as one of the goals of our ten-year Strategic Plan.”, says President Battle.  He says that ITC is infusing TheoEcology into its curriculum as well as campus facilities, and campus lifestyle. “We genuinely appreciate the support we are getting in our efforts from the Grants to Green partners.”

ITC is in the process of trying to green the entire campus with renovations. The institution has successfully renovated its administration building, created “green” “smart-classroom” to support its growing Distance Learning Program in the Classroom Buildings, a Meditative Atrium that provides excellent “green” space as a retreat for faculty and staff from offices and classroom, and recently dedicated a “Green” Faculty Lounge, Chapel Atrium and Music Room.  

With more than $750 million in assets, The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta connects donors, nonprofits, community leaders and other partners to make philanthropy happen.  The Community Foundation works directly with donors and their families to educate them about issues in the community and support their personal philanthropic goals.  The foundation also provides support to nonprofits through grants and guidance to help them better serve those in need.  Last year The Community Foundation awarded more than 4,600 grants totaling nearly $50 million throughout 23 counties in the greater Atlanta area.  For more information about the Foundation’s programs and initiatives, visit the website at www.atlcf.org.

Grants to Green provides environmentally focused knowledge and funding to strengthen nonprofits in the Atlanta region. The founding partners of Grants to Green are The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta (www.cfgreateratlanta.org) providing expertise in grantmaking, Southface (www.southface.org) providing expertise in energy efficiency, and Enterprise Community Partners (www.enterprisecommunity.org) providing expertise in community development.

ITC is a premier academy for afro-centric theological study in the world with six participating denominational seminaries, the Lutheran Theological Center in Atlanta, and the Harry V. and Selma T. Richardson Ecumenical Fellowship.  It is the only theological seminary of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), and is a member of the Atlanta Regional Consortium for Higher Education (ARCHE).  ITC is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) and the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). 

TheoEcology Elective “Environmental Theology and
Environmental Justice: An Action Seminar”
Offered At ITC This Spring


Dr. George Thompson and Karla Simpson-Brown discuss new TheoEcology course coming to the ITC.
Staff Photo

The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) is offering a TheoEcology course for the spring 2008 semester. The purpose of the course is to challenge students to read the literature of both fields and then produce proactive responses to the two equally important but separate fields of Environmental Justice and Environmental Theology.

Students will have the opportunity to use the Environmental Justice practice to promote justice for the poor - particularly those in the African American community. Then they will partner that information with the Environmental Theology component of being a good steward of the Earth in the African American church. Finally, the students will challenge themselves to make the two practices work together.

Click here for course details