Tag Archives: environment

The Chemical Time Bomb in Orange County

Workers in high-visibility vests wearing masks walking in a dusty warehouse near caution-taped barrels

A catastrophic chemical emergency has engulfed Orange County, California, forcing more than 50,000 residents to flee after a massive tank of methyl methacrylate ruptured at the GKN Aerospace facility in Garden Grove. Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency. President Trump also approved of Newsom’s request for federal aid, unlocking critical FEMA resources to help stabilize the crisis.

What many people don’t realize is that many chemicals, including methyl methacrylate, don’t just threaten the lungs. They also target the brain. Research published on NIH’s PubMed has found that methyl methacrylate causes measurable neurological deficits in exposed industrial workers, impairing memory, learning, and movement. One study documented that vapor exposure depressed electrical activity in the hippocampus, the brain’s memory center. The neurological symptoms of exposure, like headaches, lethargy, and a heavy, numb sensation in the limbs, can take days or weeks to appear.

As research further reveals, chronic exposure can cause degenerative changes in the brain and permanent nerve damage. Children, the elderly, and those with respiratory conditions face the greatest risk. As Garden Grove begins to recover, the invisible injury to thousands of brains is only beginning to unfold.

Workers in high-visibility vests wearing masks walking in a dusty warehouse near caution-taped barrels

This concern over industrial chemical dust is not new. California already has the strictest regulations on chemical plants and manufacturers of any state. Proposition 65 states that these companies must provide public warnings if they emit or use hundreds of chemicals linked to cancer or reproductive harm. Beyond just being one of the first states to mandate regulations, New Jersey also imposes some of the most rigorous chemical safety and security standards. Additionally, with the Matt Haller Act, Illinois enforces some of the strictest emission regulations. As Illinois Senator Dick Durbin captured in a 2017 letter addressed to the CDC Director: “It is clear that public exposure to [industrial chemical] dust can lead to serious health, safety, and environmental issues.”

Mercury on the Mind – 2

Following the posting of my last article, I found additional interesting information about mercury and dentistry (dentistry may not be the primary use of mercury, but it is the most visible one).  Although mercury is no longer toxic once it is absorbed into a compound in a dental filling, laws regarding the use, particularly the dental use, of mercury exist.  For example, in New York, the environmental conservation law was amended in 2002 to state, “no dentist shall use or possess elemental mercury in the practice of dentistry unless such elemental mercury is contained in appropriate pre-encapsulated capsules.”

As it relates to a medical procedure that many brain injury survivors undergo, this summer the journal Radiology published an article: High-Strength MRI May Release Mercury from Amalgam Dental Fillings.  Further study of the possible effects of MRIs and mercury, show that while MRIs on someone who has mercury in their body may not cause or cause harm to a brain injury per se, NIH studies, “provide further support for the noxious effect of MRI (exposure to strong magnetic field) and release of mercury from dental amalgam fillings.”  (Additionally, MRIs can harm implants, such as brain stimulators, which may contain mercury.)

(In relation to the use of the ten chemicals of health public concern, particularly as it relates to dentistry, I would also advice people to be wary of fluoride.  The World Health Organization warns of both inadequate or excess fluoride intake.  Just like mercury, fluoride can help teeth at certain levels, but overexposure can lead to such things as tooth decay and skeletal fluorosis.  Smile! New water fluoridation level called for by government read the title of a CNBC article related to the 2015 federal increase in the amount of fluoride allowed in drinking water.  In fact, all articles I found related to this increase were positive.)