River Of Death --Is WV Spill Chemical Carcinogenic? Does It Cause Birth Defects pictures and video

by Monica Davis

How safe are the nation’s waterways when there is mass regulatory laxity? How many chemical storage facilities line our waterways, without inspection, supervision, or penalties for running unsafe tanks and containment facilities?

In the latest catastrophe in West Virginia, we don’t know that much about the chemical that was spilled. Does it cause cancer, birth defects or long term health problems? WE DON’T KNOW.

MCMH should not be swallowed and may readily cause skin and eye irritation but it is not known to pose major risks to human health and safety. That said, the colorless liquid chemical has not been studied extensively—its effects on cancer or inducing mutations in DNA is unknown. It freezes at 0 degree Celsius and it evaporates slowly, but not as easily as, say, gasoline. It smells like alcohol, according to safety reviews, but some of those exposed in West Virginia described it as smelling more like licorice. Its solubility in water is “appreciable,” according to one of its Material Safety Data Sheet, information required by regulation for any chemical in industrial use. MOREHERE

US authorities have said the facility where a chemical spill contaminated the water supply of 300,000 West Virginia residents was rarely checked, flying largely under the radar of government regulators who viewed it as a low-risk operation. This meant that a problem at a key holding wall at the Freedom Industries plant went undetected and unreported.YOUTUBE