So what is TILT or Toxicant-Induced Loss of Tolerance...

What can spark TILT? Dr. Claudia Miller, Assistant Dean and Professor at the University of Texas School of Medicine, San Antonio, is an expert in allergy/immunology and environmental health. She has devised and tested the Quick Environmental Exposure and Sensitivity Inventory, aptly nicknamed QEESI, to help researchers, doctors and patients identify their intolerances.

The exposure to the oil has triggered this awful reaction by workers who have had inadequate protection from the oil and are working in awful conditions but are relying on this work since they are unable to do what they used to do such as shrimp, etc. This is their life line and it's making them sick.

And now with the lack of safety gear by workers cleaning up this nightmare there can only be more illness and it will only slow down further clean up. This is the bonus for the little pay they get and the terrible conditions.

The clean up process has been plagued by a shortage of proper safety supplies for workers.

MOBILE, Ala. – As countless tar balls washed ashore on a beach along Alabama's Gulf Coast, cleanup workers sat and watched because they didn't have the proper plastic covers to protect their shoes. Elsewhere, a crew using shovels and garden rakes worked for hours on a long stretch of sand that a machine could have cleaned in minutes. Almost two months after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, shortages of government-required protective gear and cleaning equipment are slowing work to remove the sticky mess and keep beaches and marshes along the Gulf Coast safe and oil-free. BP says it's doing all it can to keep supplies stocked and has had to turn to foreign companies for help. But with demand so high for everything from plastic gloves, to oil-blocking booms and sand-sifting machines, finding enough items to outfit workers and protect the coast is an unending task. As the oil first stained the Alabama coast, officials say some people hired to pick up tar balls off the sand couldn't lift a finger because they didn't have the bright yellow boot covers that have since become ubiquitous on the beach. The workers eventually got the booties, and now, it sometimes seems like there are more of them on the sand than bare feet.

Keith Olbermann had a piece on TILT on his show just yesterday.

Toxicant-Induced Loss of Tolerance is also known as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. This is serious, this will be a lifelong issue for many of those cleaning up this mess and there is not enough money in the world to make this right for them. So many Victims and so much lost.

What are the symptoms? The possible list of symptoms of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is almost endless - varies from one patient to the next. Also worthy of mention here is the fact that there is no sharp demarcation between the symptoms of MCS and those of ME/CFS/CFIDS/PVFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis - chronic fatigue), but that most sufferers of MCS complain of at least several of the following:

burning, stinging eyes

wheezing, breathlessness nausea

extreme fatigue/lethargy

headache/migraine/vertigo/dizziness

poor memory & concentration

runny nose (rhinitis)

sore throat, cough

sinus problems

skin rashes and/or itching skin

sensitivity to light & noise

sleeping problems

digestive upset

muscle & joint pain. How does it start? Looking at the “toxic chemical” route first, this is often a single gross exposure or repeated exposures to one toxin which thereafter produces a true allergic reaction on repeated exposure to the same toxin. This is a true allergy otherwise known as “sensitization”. This toxin (excitant) could be one chemical, for example, formaldehyde, or one material, for example, wood dust. Other common triggers are listed above - and in our alphabetical trigger list - & the possibilities are endless – a new brand of cosmetics, for example, could be the culprit.

So, you see, the chemical culprit in this case could be anything from the oil itself to the large quantities of dispersants used in the ocean to the toxic mix of both, but these workers are being exposed to chemicals that are doing a vast amount of damage to their bodies, their immune systems and their ability to thrive.

And then what happens? It destroys your immune system and can lead to diseases like I have, such as Rheumatoid Arthritis or other issues that are so varied and that can attack different systems in your body. It's devastating. This is the byproduct of pesticides, chemicals and oil spills in this case, workers cleaning up an oil spill without the proper protection.

And it was reported today, Oil Spill Forces Animals To Flee To Shallow Water Off Coast, Scientists Warn Of 'Mass Die-Off'.

Dolphins and sharks are showing up in surprisingly shallow water just off the Florida coast. Mullets, crabs, rays and small fish congregate by the thousands off an Alabama pier. Birds covered in oil are crawling deep into marshes, never to be seen again. Marine scientists studying the effects of the BP disaster are seeing some strange phenomena. Fish and other wildlife seem to be fleeing the oil out in the Gulf and clustering in cleaner waters along the coast in a trend that some researchers see as a potentially troubling sign. The animals' presence close to shore means their usual habitat is badly polluted, and the crowding could result in mass die-offs as fish run out of oxygen. Also, the animals could easily be devoured by predators. "A parallel would be: Why are the wildlife running to the edge of a forest on fire? There will be a lot of fish, sharks, turtles trying to get out of this water they detect is not suitable," said Larry Crowder, a Duke University marine biologist.

People are getting sick, eleven have already died and so many animals are dying and attempting to escape the chemicals and oil for their very lives.

And we argue.

Do something.

I wrote a diary yesterday about the possible return of commercial whaling to the world's oceans, Reinventing the Whale - The Real Reason for Reviving Commercial Whaling. Do something positive tomorrow.

Take action and do something that we can prevent from happening now.

I know you are angry, I'm angry, and sad and this is not lost, we have so many battles to fight.

But I'm asking you to help the Whales. And help these workers and for us to do something now.

Here are some excerpts from the diary...

The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society released a new report today that outlines why whaling Countries are pushing for open commercial whaling and it's not innocuous nor is it about culture or sustainability. And we cannot allow it. Reinventing the Whale – released today reveals the real reason behind the whaling nations desire to lift the whaling moratorium – they have long-term plans to develop new commercial applications for whale oil including in pharmaceuticals and animal feed. ... And then of course, the question for me is, how can we say this is humane killing? In the US, factory farming has killing standards for animals (which are often found to be broken, but we have rules none-the-less and have even passed laws, such as Prop 2 in California, Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act). But if you have the stomach to watch this, Whale Wars filmed the killing of a minke whale by the Japanese whaling fleet that took a half hour for this poor animal to die. And they chased it with another whale for who knows how long, sixteen knots at see, chasing this animal and then harpooning it in the head, pulling her to the side of the boat and shooting it with a rifle, over and over until it finally died. What is not cruel about this? Please call President Obama, your Senators and let them know they we do not support lifting the ban on Commercial whaling for any reason. "I am asking President Obama to vote against lifting the ban on commercial whaling next week in Morocco".

White House (202)456-1111.



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