the toxic truth - Greenpeace

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the toxic truth What it is possible to conclude on the publicly available evidence It is likely that individuals would have been exposed to one or more of the following chemicals, by contact, inhalation or otherwise. soDIuM HyDRoxIDe Based on the NFI analysis, sodium hydroxide represented some 10 per cent of the waste, weighing 37.9 tons. Sodium hydroxide can be absorbed into the body by inhalation of aerosol and by ingestion. The chemical is very corrosive to the eyes, skin and respiratory tract. Because of its corrosiveness, skin will be damaged on contact but uptake by the skin is unlikely to be a significant exposure route unless there is extensive skin injury. It is corrosive following ingestion. Inhalation of an aerosol of sodium hydroxide may cause lung oedema. Repeated or prolonged contact with skin may cause dermatitis. Following inhalation of sodium hydroxide aerosols, individuals complain of a burning sensation, sore throat, cough, laboured breathing and shortness of breath. Symptoms may be delayed. Contact with the skin will result in the skin becoming red and painful and there may be serious skin blisters. Exposure of the eyes will result in them becoming red and painful and there may be blurred vision and severe deep burns. Any ingestion will result in a burning sensation and abdominal pain with the individual going into shock and possibly collapsing. MeRCaPTIDes/MeRCaPTaNs Mercaptide salts that is, salts into which the mercaptans in the original coker naphtha would have been converted (however inefficiently) during the caustic washing operations – have been found in the waste. The compounds that were identified by NFI in a mixture which had been acidified included methyl mercaptan, ethyl mercaptan, butyl mercaptan, propyl mercaptan, pentyl mercaptan, phenyl mercaptan and heptyl mercaptan, indicating the presence of a diverse array of mercaptides in the waste itself. It is clear that the pH of some of the waste did fall below 11, which would have resulted in a proportion of the mercaptides being converted back to mercaptans and being released. 61 Following inhalation of mercaptans, the likely effects would be headache, nausea, cough, dizziness and drowsiness. There may also be vomiting as a result of the nausea. Where concentrations are high enough, individuals can become unconscious, the breathing rate will slow and there is a risk of death. Exposure to certain mercaptans at high enough levels could, in theory, be lethal. While it is clear that there are doses which are lethal to animals in laboratory tests, evidence for humans is very limited. There is, however, one well known example of a worker’s death which is thought to have resulted from high level exposure to methyl mercaptan in the 1960s. He was involved in cleaning out tanks in which the chemical had been stored, so his exposure was probably very high and perhaps long-term, but it is taken (even by the US Environmental Protection Agency) to be “a single case of death resulting from occupational exposure to methyl mercaptan.” 62 Mercaptans are recognized irritants of the eyes, skin, and respiratory tract. Exposure to the eyes can result in them becoming red and painful. Exposure of the skin can result in it becoming red and painful. Prolonged exposure can cause dermatitis. A toxicologist has advised Amnesty International and Greenpeace that medical observation is warranted where exposure may have occurred. 63 217 ANNEX I
218 Amnesty internAtionAl And greenpeAce netherlAnds ANNEX I Mercaptides will therefore be a source of mercaptan vapours as the pH decreases after the waste was dumped, but the mercaptides themselves are also hazardous chemicals, including by skin contact, ingestion and aspiration (inhalation of droplets). They are nowhere near as strong-smelling as the mercaptans, but have an unpleasant odour nonetheless. HyDRogeN sulPHIDe (H 2 s) More difficult to determine is whether individuals would have been exposed to hydrogen sulphide. This would only have happened if the pH of a proportion of the waste fell to between 7 and 8. Trafigura has taken the position that hydrogen sulphide could only have been released from the slops following the addition of large quantities of concentrated acid. And they state that there is no evidence whatsoever of any such significant acidification event. 64 A toxicologist consulted by Amnesty and Greenpeace confirmed that over time it is likely that this lower pH would have been reached in at least the surface layers of some of the waste, because of dilution with rainfall and contact with other soil ingredients. However, it is not possible to say how long it would have taken to reach this stage. A very large amount of rainfall (which is normally just below neutral pH) would be required to neutralise all of the waste dumped to a pH of 7-8, and this would not be likely within a matter of days, weeks or even months. However, there is likely to be a gradation in any pile of waste from the upper or outer layers, which may be neutralized more rapidly (as they are most directly exposed to the neutralizing effects of rain water), and the inner or lower layers which will remain at high pH for longer. In other words, you do not need to have reduced the entire bulk of the waste to pH 7-8 in order for there to be a problem with H 2S – it would only be necessary for a small fraction of the material, perhaps a thin surface layer but over a wide area, to have been reduced in pH sufficiently for H 2S to have been generated. Again, we do not know this actually occurred in practice, but theoretically at least it is not impossible, even with a much smaller amount of water. This is not to say that there was definitely a problem with H 2S release from the waste (and most of the odour problem was much more likely to have been from the mercaptans), but simply to that, even if a lot of water were needed to neutralize all the waste that was dumped, it would only be necessary to neutralize a small proportion of the waste for H 2S to be released and become a potential problem. Where waste was dumped into river channels, lagoons, or in thin deposits on land, neutralization could have been much more rapid and efficient, even if the majority of the waste (dumped elsewhere) remained at a high pH because of its physical bulk and limited contact with water. Hydrogen sulphide is irritating to the eyes and respiratory tract and it will affects the central nervous system. Exposure may result in unconsciousness and death. Following inhalation of the gas, lung oedema may develop. Signs and symptoms may be delayed and may include headache, dizziness, cough, sore throat, nausea, laboured breathing and unconsciousness. Exposure of the eyes will result in them becoming red and painful and there may severe deep burns. Hydrogen sulphide is known to be very toxic to aquatic organisms. The effects of exposure to hydrogen sulphide depend on the concentration of the chemical; those exposed to high concentrations would be at greatest risk.
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