Guardian: UK Govt. knew of danger of organophosphates, ignored it (Mar quoted).

[natasa778]

A little birdy is telling me that in 10-15 years time we will be reading headlines like

Guardian: UK Govt. knew of danger of fracking, ignored it

and
Guardian: UK Govt. knew of danger of genetically modified foods, ignored it

etc. (if there is anyone still left around to read those articles...) Come to think of it 10-15 years might be far too optimistic, it took esteemed scientists and experts 100 years of warnings and alarm bells to figure out and admit that smoking wasn't that great for our health

 

[natasa778]

Re local anesthetic, I had a bad reaction to it once (used for dental procedure) - 2-3 weeks of malaise and horrible 'poisoned blood' feeling, feeling flu-like and with general muscle pain, especially back/shoulder pain. I later discussed this with another dentist, a very knowlegable one in many respects, and expressed my concern about anesthetics and dental procedures, his answer "oh yes, that was almost definetly to do with the adrenaline part of the shot, not the procedure itself, and adrenalin-containing stuff is something I would never use with patients like yourself, ie those who are sensitive would react to it so I always use alternatives...' Then went on to say that he also woudn't use latex gloves with sensitive patients (but never really explained how he knew I was one of the 'sensitive' ones the first time he saw me!).

Btw adrenaline (and other stress hormones) are known to reactivate EBV and latent viruses in general so the two might be related. Would be interesting to know if adrenaline was present in other reports of anesthesia-triggered ME

 

[sarah darwins]

http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/Issue/pn72/pn72p9.pdf
I'm still going through this article slowly; there's a lot in it, and this seems highly relevant to anyone exposed to organophosphates. It also has some references to studies on combinations of chemicals:

"Synergism
Toxic effects of some chemicals can be multiplied by orders of magnitude in the presence of structurally different compounds, for example, pyrethroids, organophosphates and DEET (an insect repellent) [32,33,34]. It has been
established that malathion and permethrin act synergistically making their use as a combined treatment for head lice in children particularly unwise. Many pesticide formulations contain more than one active ingredient.

Furthermore, compounds used as solvents, dispersants and wetting agents in pesticide formulations that are generally regarded as inert may also be toxic in their own right, trigger MCS, and/or act synergistically, for example phenols in organophosphate pesticide [35] and in some herbicide [36\ formulations. It is unusual for pesticides to be applied alone; therefore mixtures of active compounds and ‘inerts’ must be fully tested."​

All of this strikes so many chords with me. I became ill after a period of years working in mosquito-rich countries. I routinely burnt mosquito coils (effectively sleeping in a permethrin fog every night), and working, for one year, not long before my ME onset, right next to a major petrochemical complex which churned out all kinds of toxins. Being one of those 'naturally delicious to all insects' types, I was also a heavy DEET user.

Looking at some of the responses above, it does seem that a lot of us have that 'poisoned' feeling as part of our illness, and have independently come to feel that toxins might play a key role in ME.

Just on a tangential note, an uncle of mine died of Motor Neurone Disease back in the 90s. He was a farmer, and I know he had organophosphate exposure in an era when the dangers were unknown (outside government circles). For some reason, even at the time I found myself suspecting a link. I see there is some support for this idea. To my layperson's mind, MND seems to have an awful lot in common with ME.

 

[Countrygirl]

http://www.theguardian.com/environm...iry-into-sheep-dip-poisoning?CMP=share_btn_tw

A former environment minister and more than a dozen MPs from across the political spectrum have backed calls for an inquiry and parliamentary debate into whether farmers were misled over the use of a dangerous chemical.

At least 500 farmers across the UK were left with debilitating health problems after using organophosphate-based (OP) chemicals to protect their sheep against parasites, under the government’s compulsory dipping programme which ran up until 1992.

Last week the Guardian revealed the then-government was privately warning of the dangers of exposure to even low doses of the chemical and criticising the safety measures offered by manufacturers, yet publicly criticising farmers who refused to use the chemical.

Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham called it a “major scandal” and demanded a Hillsborough-style disclosure of what was known, by whom and when. He has now been backed by MPs from the Liberal Democrats, Labour, Conservatives and Democratic Unionist Party, as well as a number of peers.

The list of supporting MPs includes former environment minister Michael Meacher who said he wanted a fully independent inquiry led by a judge or senior lawyer, and four members of the environment, food and rural affairs select committee.

Labour MP Jessica Morden said that if re-elected she would apply for a parliamentary debate on organophosphates and sheep dips, which would have to be addressed by a government minister.

“The fact that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was aware as far back as 1991 of the health risks associated with organophosphate use is shocking, particularly given that such knowledge has been denied for decades,” said Gene Matthews, a partner at the law firm Leigh Day.

“Had this HSE evidence been released shortly after it was written those individuals allegedly affected by OPs would have had an increased chance of holding the government, and the relevant companies, to account for the harm they claimed to have suffered,” he added

The difficulty in directly linking chronic ill health and the use of OP chemicals has seen previous legal claims fail. The only successful court settlement in the UK was brought by a farm worker John Amos Hill in 1997. He won a compensation claim against his employer after suffering chronic ill health after using OPs, having not been given adequate warnings of the health risks of using the chemical or protective clothing.

A Sheep Dip Sufferers Support Group has recently been set up by Lancashire farmer Tom Rigby to help campaign for recognition for victims still alive today, many of whom have to pay for private treatment because the NHS does not officially recognise OP poisoning as a medical condition.

The full list of supporting MPs and peers calling for an inquiry or debate includes: Andy Burnham, Jamie Reed, Jessica Morden, Edward Leigh, Margaret Ritchie, Jim Shannon, Russell Brown, John Thurso, Lindsay Hoyle, Roger Williams, Neil Parish, Mary Glindon, Jesse Norman, Andrew George, Michael Meacher, Margaret Mar and Paul Tyler.

As an aside, throughout the 90s I received many calls most days from people who had been told they had ME, but were then ignored by their doctors. I was very struck by one of the factors most had in common: they had had a major exposure to OP pesticide either through farming; had been caught in OP sprays or had used it repeatedly as flea or head lice treatment where it is put on the hair. A number of others had been exposed to organochlorines in woodwork treatment, as was I.The London Hazards' Centre (I think it may have closed now) wrote a fascinating book that I purchased named Toxic Treatments (I think that was the title..................I have it in my bookcase so would need to check the name for accuracy). The book told the stories of those who had been exposed to such wood treatment in their homes such as pentachlorophenol, lindane, and dieldrin and who either died or developed the symptoms of ME. Again this information appears to have been buried.

My house, which was timber-framed, was soaked in it as were those of my neighbours. A number of us became chronically ill, some were admitted to a nursing home and some died. One who died was my cousin who handled the timbers on a regular basis and I heard recently that the company who produced the timber legally acknowledged that the organochlorines were responsible for his death.

As we know, people also become ill after flying and a number of airline develop ME aka as aerotoxic syndrome on account of the OPs that circulate in the plane from the engines.

This link takes you to one of the documents produced by the Aerotoxic Association and refers to the Zuckerman report of 1951 that was circulating in the 90s when there was an epidemic of OP poisoning/ME

http://aerotoxic.org/information/reports-and-evidence/zuckerman-reports-toxic-chemicals-agriculture/


This subject also involves the story of Mark Purdey who lived near me and who became very involved in our ME support group which the many farmers joined after falling sick. Mark, as many of you know, fought hard to highlight not only the association between CJD and OPs but also the association between ME and OPs, but was seriously harassed by certain shadowy individuals. It is a murky story.

I do hope the truth is revealed............but I expect it will disappear again as it will trigger so many compensation claims and it is very difficult after so many years to prove such an association, especially when the illness continues to be ignored by the medical profession here.

 

[Countrygirl]

Just on a tangential note, an uncle of mine died of Motor Neurone Disease back in the 90s. He was a farmer, and I know he had organophosphate exposure in an era when the dangers were unknown (outside government circles). For some reason, even at the time I found myself suspecting a link. I see there is some support for this idea. To my layperson's mind, MND seems to have an awful lot in common with ME

In my post above I mentioned that a cousin of mine received compensation after being exposed to the OPs that were associated with/caused ME. His official diagnosis was MND.

 

[SilverbladeTE]

Standard Operating Procedure for the UK government, is to lie, bury things in huge mountains of bureaucracy, and dig in deep with denial, waiting until the victims have mostly died off.
it costs the country MORE doing that, vastly more, than admitting a problem, research, treatment

High time politicians and bureaucrats got jailed or executed for this kind of crap.