Refutation of 2-butoxyethanol calims of BP use of banned Corexit

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Many articles have been written concerning BP's potential use of a version of Corexit (formulation EC9527A) that contains 2-butoxyethanol.

The conclusions in the articles run the gamut from realistic to the utterly ridiculous.

Attempting to finger BP for using a banned form of Corexit based on water analysis that contains 2-butoxyethanol is a legally problematic if not hopeless case because:

1) Samples of water from the same area would have to be tested for 2-butoxyethanol before the oil spill occurred to establish a baseline contamination level.

2) A baseline contamination level must be established because 2 butoxyethanol is used in paints and surface coatings, as well as cleaning products and inks. Other products that contain 2-butoxyethanol include acrylic resin formulations, asphalt release agents, firefighting foam, leather protectors, oil spill dispersants, bowling pin and lane degreaser, and photographic strip solutions. Other products containing 2-butoxyethanol as a primary ingredient include some whiteboard cleaners, liquid soaps, cosmetics, dry cleaning solutions, lacquers, varnishes, herbicides, latex paints, cleaning product, and glass cleaners.

3) Contamination of water by 2-butoxyethanol can come from a all too common human practice of dumping any and everything in lakes, creeks, ocean, and any other water, b) allowed levels of industrial and city waste water runoff, c) industrial pollution from any and all points north that has washed into the Gulf of Mexico from plants that dump waste legally and illegally into rivers that eventually feed into the Gulf.

The short and sweet of it is if BP used a banned version of Corexit you cannot prove it to a court or a jury.

Even the most fame seeking prosecutor could not get this case into any court let alone win it.

I have been a chemist for thirty-five years and have been on my share of hunts for chemicals that have escaped into the environment one way or another.

Proof is just not as simple as some journalists and politicians would have one believe as the BP Oil Spill saga grinds on to some far distant conclusion.

The proof is as follows.

One of the best resources for environmental chemical dangers is the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), based in Atlanta, Georgia, is a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ATSDR serves the public by using the best science, taking responsive public health actions, and providing trusted health information to prevent harmful exposures and diseases related to toxic substances.

The ASTDR reports these facts about 2-butoxyethanol:

2-Butoxyethanol does not build up in plants and animals.

2-Butoxyethanol may break down in air into other compounds within a few days.

In air, 2-butoxyethanol may be removed by rain, ice, or snow.

Breakdown products of 2-butoxyethanol can be measured in your blood and urine to see if you have been recently exposed to the chemical. These tests need to be done within a day after exposure because 2-butoxyethanol and its breakdown products leave your body within 24-48 hours. These tests cannot tell how much you have been exposed to or whether health effects will occur. Certain blood tests can tell if your red blood cells are damaged, but this effect is not specific to 2-butoxyethanol.

2-Butoxy Ethanol forms Peroxides on exposure to AIR and LIGHT and 2-Butoxy Ethanol is not compatible with OXIDIZING AGENTS (such as PERCHLORATES, PEROXIDES, PERMANGANATES, CHLORATES, NITRATES, CHLORINE, BROMINE and FLUORINE) and STRONG BASES (such as SODIUM HYDROXIDE and POTASSIUM HYDROXIDE) according to the New Jersey Department of Health & Senior Services Right to Know Program.

The United Nations Environment Programme, the International Labour Organisation, or the World Health Organization have determined the sources of human and environmental exposure to 2-butoxyethanol to be:

2-Butoxyethanol is widely used as a solvent in surface coatings, such as spray lacquers, quick-dry lacquers, enamels, varnishes, varnish removers, and latex paint (Leaf, 1985; Sax & Lewis, 1987). In surface coatings, it imparts blush resistance, gloss, and good flow-out. 2-Butoxyethanol is also used as a coupling agent in metal and household cleaners; as an intermediate in 2-butoxyethanol acetate production; and in herbicides, automotive brake fluids, printing inks, spot removers, and cosmetics (Leaf, 1985; ATSDR, 1996). In 1994, 176 900 tonnes of 2-butoxyethanol were produced in the USA (US ITC, 1996). Within the European Community, the total production capacity of 2-butoxyethanol was approximately 70 00090 000 tonnes in the same year (ECETOC, 1994; CEFIC, 1995). 2-Butoxyethanol may be released into air or water by facilities that manufacture, process, or use the chemical (ATSDR, 1996; US NLM, 1997). Products containing 2-butoxyethanol may also release the substance into the air. Solvent-based building materials such as silicone caulk will release 2-butoxyethanol to air as they dry. There is potential for the release of 2-butoxyethanol from hazardous waste sites, although quantitative data have not been identified. Based upon the detection of 2- butoxyethanol in samples of groundwater and surface water taken near municipal landfills and hazardous waste sites, 2-butoxyethanol may be released to water in leachates from these sites (ATSDR, 1996). Information on the total estimated release of 2-butoxyethanol into the environment in the USA was not identified. In Canada, emissions to the environment between 1992 and 1994 have been reported to range from 1.4 to 3.1 tonnes per year (Canadian Chemical Producers Association, 1996).

In the atmosphere, 2-butoxyethanol is expected to exist in the vapour phase. Owing to its water solubility, wet deposition is likely to be more important than dry deposition (ATSDR, 1996). The chemical will not persist in the atmosphere; it has an atmospheric half-life of approximately 17 h, based on an estimated rate constant for reaction with hydroxyl radicals (US NLM, 1997).

The miscibility of 2-butoxyethanol in water suggests that volatilization from water, adsorption, and bioconcentration are not important fate processes and that the chemical should not bioconcentrate in aquatic organisms. Based upon aerobic biodegradation rates, the half-life of 2-butoxyethanol in water is estimated to range from 1 to 4 weeks (Howard et al., 1991). 2-Butoxyethanol is not likely to undergo direct hydrolysis in the aquatic environment, and it is likely readily biodegraded (ATSDR, 1996). Five-day theoretical biological oxygen demand values range from 5% (without acclimation) to 73% (with acclimation); 10-day theoretical biological oxygen demand values range from 57% to 74%. The maximum theoretical biological oxygen demand value reported is 88% for 20 days (US NLM, 1997). Biodegradation is likely to be the most important mechanism for the removal of 2-butoxyethanol from aerobic soil and water.

Laboratory analysis for 2-butoxyethanol in environmental samples is usually by gas chromatography (GC) in combination with flame ionization detection (FID), electron capture detection (ECD), or mass spectrometric (MS) detection; infrared absorption spectrophotometry is also sometimes used. The detection limits of these analytical methods in air range from 0.031 ppm (0.15 mg/m3) for a 48-litre sample (OSHA, 1990) to 0.010.02 mg for 2- to 10-litre samples (NIOSH, 1994). Multidimensional GC-MS has been used to improve the detection limit to 57 mg per sample (Kennedy et al., 1990). Biological monitoring is a useful adjunct to environmental measurements in assessing human exposure to 2-butoxyethanol, as it accounts for both dermal and respiratory uptake.

A variety of GC methods combined with FID, ECD, or MS detection and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods coupled with ultraviolet or radiochemical detection have been developed for the analysis of 2-butoxyethanol and its metabolite 2-butoxyacetic acid in the urine and blood of exposed workers or rats.

In general, these methods are based on either extraction or lyophilization of the blood or urine followed by derivatization and then analysis (Smallwood et al., 1984, 1988; Groeseneken et al., 1986, 1989; Johanson et al., 1986, 1988; Rettenmeier et al., 1993; Sakai et al., 1993, 1994; Corley et al., 1994). The detection limits range from 0.03 to 0.1 mg 2-butoxyacetic acid/litre. 2-Butoxyethanol and 2-butoxyacetic acid in rat and human blood can be analysed by a GC-MS derivatization method with a detection limit range of 1618 ng/g blood (Bormett et al., 1995). The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health reviewed the available data and developed guidelines for biological monitoring of 2-butoxyacetic acid (NIOSH, 1990).

Authors Bio:
Chenist Mathematician Writer - experience with coatings, lubricants, coal chmicals, and aluminum processing.
If you drank a soft drink or a beer you used something I helped create - the coating on the inside of the can, 2 billion people use it a day.