Scientists Blow Lid Off Why ERs SURGING As WV Water Ban Lifts

West Virginia emergency rooms reported a surge of patients after people were told the water was safe, possibly because the poison sticks to the inside of pipes and government tests for the leaked chemical is inadequate, according to scientists Deborah Dupré interviewed Friday. 

“The influx of patients reporting related symptoms comes the same day that West Virginia American Water lifted a “do-not-use” order for many customers living in affected areas,” The Nation reported. 

After speaking to two independent scientists, it was apprarent that the present health crisis based on the public being kept in the dark should never have happened.

What the public was told and not told

The public was advised that the chemical is 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol, called “Crude MCHM.”

The public was advised, “This irritant should not be ingested or inhaled,” and, “body contact should be avoided, and it should not be used for washing, although it is safe for flushing toilets.”

The public was also advised to not to drink or bathe in the tainted water until experts deemed the water was safe.

The water ban lifted.

The public was then  advised to flush their water systems before using it.

The public was not advised, however, (among other things yet to be made public) that compounds like MCHM would be expected to have a greater affinity for materials like plastic and rubber than they do for water.

“This means MCHM is likely to accumulate on plastic and rubber water pipes and fittings, plastic water heater linings, and possibly even the microbial biofilms found in plumbing,” said retired West Virginia University biochemistry professor William Canady. “The MCHM might similarly concentrate in the organic deposits often present in the walls of water mains.”

Water later used to flush plumbing systems and water mains is inefficient at removing deposits of the contaminant because MCHM is less soluble in water. One would expect, therefore, that substantial quantities of water would be necessary to remove it, the scientists concurred.

The chemical can linger in water much longer than water users would suspect.

This might explain why some West Virginians have had no reaction and others have. If plumbing is metal, for example, the water is less likely to contain any of the harmful molecules.

Another important possible explanation is that, since the utility company has no adequate resources to measure the concentration of “Crude MCHM” coming into every building, concentration at some locations may have been much higher than at others, according to retired West Virginia neuroscientist Dr. Paul Brown..

Another critically important explanation is that a part of the “Crude MCHM” is unkown, kept secret, proprietary. This is what happened in the BP Gulf of Mexico crime when it used the dispersant, Corexit. The manufacturer of Corexit was able to hide some of its dispersant’s ingredients, according to laws that protect companies that manufacture and patent such poisons. 

“Finally, it is entirely likely that some people, who are sufficiently sensitive, will react adversely to concentrations below the arbitrarily permitted one part per million,” said Brown.

“Anyone who has taken a decent college organic chemistry course would know about the partitioning of molecules with [water-repellent] and [water-loving] components between [water] and [non-water] phases,” asserted Brown. “That should include advisors to the water company and public officials.” 

If government and other responders to this water crisis in West Virginia did know, they did not tell the public.

“This should not have happened,” Brown said.