Proving Corexit Poisoning-Civil Engineer Marco Kaltofen-Gulf Oil Spill

[lovelplants]

i dont really like chemicals.. but the video is nice and very simple to understand why is that happen..

[CooldudeXXL]

And BTW, the corexit itself is deadly. END BP.

[TheRustyflame]

I was going to post a nice ranting comment but then I stopped and realized; this isn't my area, I don't actually have good scientific knowledge of this, how about I not make ridiculous claims and think that I know more than REAL scientists. Maybe everyone shouldn't be sucked in by the media's claims and think they know everything and better ways to solve such problems. Dilution = good.

[msbirdieblue]

The gulf is nasty and the seafood is unsafe. Please don't bring you families to the gulf. The gulf states tourism was given millions of dollars from BP to advertise"clean beaches,safe seafood" True lies. I was exposed to the Corexit. Spray from the air. I have rashes, wounds that won't heal, dizziness, can't sleep, hospitalized July 28,2011 for 8 days for rash and still no anwsers from the doctors.

[suthnautr]

They've totally F'd the environment, on purpose, for profit and greed. We need to go to war against BP. If terrorists were to blow up a well and drop that much corexit into the water we'd be over there killing them all right now. BP is an enemy of the US people.

[WhoDatBiloxi]

This is incredible. I live in Biloxi and just got off of Hwy 90 (Beach Blvd) and there are people everywhere on the beach. It's been 1 year 11 days since these people ruined our home and poisoned our friends and family. I'm moved beyond tears and hatred when I look at my 3 year old little boy and realize I'll never get to bring him fishing at Horn Island like my dad has done with me hundreds of times. We'd catch and eat fish and crabs all summer. Not anymore.

[FireofSekhmet]

Note: corexit has been known to bioaccummulate. We'll find small amounts now, but it will build up and store itself in sea animals who eat smaller contaminated prey. Excuse me while I never eat seafood again.

[lumeriam]

All who work for BP are sick evil bastards and you should all go to off this planet very soon.

[Phantess]

I feel sick.

[makwabid69]

So, here we have a chemist at WPI doing what BP and Nalco, its Corexit 9500 supplier have to have done in their own labs, demonstrating that the 'cure' is worse than than the injury. it should be obvious that the response to the disaster was a deliberate KILL of the Gulf ecosystem, its residents, the Gulf Stream. Congrats, England...the winter you are reaping is due at least in part to British Petroleum and its greed. Cheers!

[johnms1]

I disagree with this test as I see in that small glass beaker the issue. The amount of oil placed into the beaker vs. the amount spilled in the gulf was not proportional. The Gulf of Mexico has a estimated volume of 643 quadrillion gallons. The estimated total spill from the oil spill commission report was estimated at 200 million gallons. BP's reported that they used 1.9 million gallons of disbursement. False test. Also, dispersant went in at the point of the spill not added to top.

[nschearer]

@johnms1 - large quantities of Corexit were sprayed on the Gulf's surface, in addition to the underwater injection line used at the well site.

[nschearer]

@johnms1 - large quantities of Corexit were sprayed on the Gulf's surface, in addition to the underwater injection line used at the well site.

[academiccuriosity]

@siaic

"Use water soluble paint." Non sequitur. There's no such thing as a nonpolluting oil spill.

The oil spill didn't happen one day and then stop the next. So "skim then dilute" isn't an option. They were using dispersant to keep so much from ever reaching the top few dozen meters where the marine life is.

I remember the media making ridiculous unscientific claims that you're echoing, based on bad science like shown. Get an engineering degree and we'll talk in four years.

[TheRustyflame]

@academiccuriosity Thank you, someone who know what they're actually talking about.

[MrSnowCore]

Why hasn't this tested upfront, before throwing it into the ocean?

[academiccuriosity]

@siaic

If you breathe paint fumes (toxin) would you rather do it inside or out? More dilution is a GOOD thing. Surrounding droplets with nontoxic lipids (like soap does dirt in your shower) is a GOOD thing. Increasing surface area allows bacteria to eat faster (this happened by all accounts) which is a GOOD thing. Allowing mobility throughout ocean where nature releases tons daily already is a GOOD thing.

Easy to criticize from an armchair. If you could have done better, why didn't you?

[richardmilhousnixon2]

Only siths deal in absolutes.

[joecuki]

Yeah but if you DON'T use dispersants, no sunlight enters the water and the entire food chain dies. This is faux science created to make an emotional tug with the visual of "clean water" versus "dirty water".

[Davelopper]

@joecuki except that you forget that everything is dead inside this kind of water

[joecuki]

@Davelopper Actually, dispersing the oil throughout the water column provides more mixing with nutrients flowing off the coast, allowing bacteria such as Alcanivorax to flourish and (hopefully) become temporary primary producers of the moderate to light hydrocarbons. I am in no way trying to defend BP, but the gross oversimplification of an entire gulf ecosystem into DISPERSANTS=BAD is poor science at best and deceptively incorrect at worst.

[Davelopper]

@joecuki you know what?let's put all the dispersant we got in all the oceans it's so friendly with the bacterias!!

birds, fishes and plants are dead but who cares?;)

[joecuki]

@Davelopper It's called making the best of a bad situation that should never have happened in the first place. Humans need salt to live, but go eat a pound of salt and you'll die. You obviously think that CLEAR WATER GOOD - DIRTY WATER BAD! Ever think maybe it's not that simple?

[Jcolinsol]

@joecuki

Isn't it true that there are natural oil spills? The ocean floor sometimes fissures and releases oil into the ocean? Wouldn't behave the same way, rise to the surface and get churned up on the tides?

If that's the case, then oil spills already factor in to the oceanic eco-system. It might not be such a good idea for us blundering monkeys to interfere with the process, adding chemicals and hoping for some desired effect. It's probably better to let the eco-system process it naturally.

[joecuki]

@Jcolinsol It is true that there are natural oil seeps underwater. It is also true that maybe we shouldn't mess with the ecosystem, but need as well as greed have driven to shoddy deep-water drilling with shallow-water techniques, and BP dropped the ball.

Given enough time, the ecosystem would deal with the oil, either through burial or through decomposition. On the other hand, humans caused the problem, and sinking the oil reduces damage to endangered estuarine coastal wildlife rapidly.

[Jcolinsol]

@joecuki

As humans, we have a minute understanding of what damage is. I posit that whatever the effects to wildlife, it would be healthier not to employ chemicals to interfere with the natural order.

[thegroundscloud]

Hey what's up ebaums world!

[hunterk2]

F BP

[ensurePlus1]

holy shit.

[MedievalSid]

When you didn't eject the tip of you pipette, to me, you lost any credibility you had up until now.

[phy6uva]

@MedievalSid - nice skills of observation - except the fact that you completely missed that he used two different pipettes.

[MedievalSid]

@phy6uva Thats awesome. Though he did that to both pipettes, ruining their calibration and now he will force some lab aid to toil forever trying to clean them; an avoidable mistake. Sloppy lab technique made me lose faith.

[phy6uva]

@MedievalSid - but what else would the lab aids have to do?



[JRCrowley]

@MedievalSid lol sloppy lab technique. give me a fucking break. and what would you call what BP did to the gulf? would you call that sloppy, too? shmuck.

[andnbsp]

@MedievalSid The fact that he didn't pop the tips doesn't affect anything. This isn't a quantitative analysis, and he was probably just doing it for convinience. Also, leaving the tips on won't change the calibration anyways unless it drips into the pipette itself.

Exactly what would go wrong with not popping the tips, in a qualitative OR quantitative analysis?

[Dinglebarriez]

How that stirrer works is fucking amazing!

[gal1go]

I think we can all agree that the BP Oil spill was and still is a terrible disaster, one which we are likely to be seeing the effects of for many years to come. Personally, I blame BP, but the true blame is on us for using so much fossil fuels in our daily lives. Now just think if Big Oil didn't have a vested interest in destroying and concealing new energy sources.

Upvote this to say no to Big Oil and support moving away from fossil fuels and move towards renewable sustainable energy sources.

[MrGiganticpanda]

I'm not sure if this experiment is very well controlled. Dispersant is meant to disperse no only light curde oil found on the surface but heavy crude found on the ocean floor. In addition, the purpose of the dispersant is to allow for easier bio-fixation by bacteria and other micro-organisms.

I'm chemical engineer, (the current head of the EPA, who authorized the use of dispersant is as well) and think there's more to this than just the immediate concentration the mid column of water.

[rumbaflex]

At least the beaches wil look better... Until someone takes a swim.

[WALancer]

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU­UUUCK

[jimmy202500]

I thought the idea of the dispersant was to make the oil sink where it degrades naturally without stopping oxygen entering the water. I suppose now that I think about it its probably not the best idea to use this stuff in a massive leak. You'll pollute to whole damn Gulf. But a small leak it would be ok.

[neotoy]

The whole point of using the dispersant in the gulf was to keep the oil off of the beaches and wetlands, which would have had a far more disastrous PR effect than a continent sized slick.

[MrGiganticpanda]

I'm not sure if this experiment is very well controlled. Dispersant is meant to disperse no only light curde oil found on the surface but heavy crude found on the ocean floor. In addition, the purpose of the dispersant is to allow for easier bio-fixation by bacteria and other micro-organisms.

I'm chemical engineer, (the current head of the EPA, who authorized the use of dispersant is as well) and think there's more to this than just the immediate concentration the mid column of water.

[BaileysBeads]

@MrGiganticpanda Oil on the ocean floor does less damage than being solved in the sea water. Once you go deeper than the coral depths, ocean floors are ecologically pretty uninteresting places,

[xTheSixeRx]

@BaileysBeads

Actually, they are one of the most interesting places. There are hundreds of species that are capable of surviving those depths where there is absent of light and hundreds of pounds of force exerted per square inch,

[JoshReflek]

@BaileysBeads your comment is horribly misinformed.

[fishyboy111]

@BaileysBeads You seriously need to read books, the deep ocean floor is one of the most interesting places on the planet. Full of life when most biologists thought it would be devoid of all life, life which has evolved to withstand enormous pressure and heat. Life you do not see anywhere else.

[BaileysBeads]

@MrGiganticpanda @fishyboy111 (no idea if this works)

Yes, I'm not denying the ocean floor has rare species and is scientifically very interesting. But there's far less biomass as well as biodiversity present than in the water and at coral depth. The ecosystem on the bottom is also pretty isolated while our corals and "surface" sea life stand in direct connection with the ecosystems on land.

The choice is pretty easy, let the shit stick to the bottom where it causes less harm.

[GuyGallium]

@MrGiganticpanda I'm sure the head of the EPA has nothing better to do then watch youtube and troll the comments

[ehrichard]

@GuyGallium - @MrGicanticpanda was not claiming to be the head of the EPA. He said that the head of the EPA is also a chemical engineer.

[JoshReflek]

@MrGiganticpanda you're full of it, cite some sources for these lofty claims.

[trab1925]

it's sad this video doesn't have more views, we need to make people aware of this! it's not too late for justice!

[kaakoo]

The main problem I have with the video is that the creator does not seem to understand the point of a dispersant. Generally, oil will eventually be metabolized by microorganisms in the water. The dispersant is used to break up the oil droplets into much small droplets which are easier for the organisms to deal with (surface area vs. volume kind of thing). Additionally the oil is moved away from the surface into the water column which lessens the impact on shorlines, marine birds and the like.

[perishingflames]

@kaakoo Is that not where skimming comes in...?

[academiccuriosity]

The dispersant works exactly like it's supposed to, by surrounding the oil in a a hydrophobic environment which allows it to be dispersed in the aqueous environment.

Thanks, Marco, for totally ignoring how micelles work and suggesting to your audience that the oil is just "in the water." I hope someone at WPI holds you to more scientific rigor than this video demonstrates before you get your PhD. My opinion of your school has suffered significantly.

[AtalayaC]

@academiccuriosity No shit. He is demonstrating exactly what is going on. The dispersant allows more oil to be mixed into the water rather than to allow it to pool at the surface.

[dunsedog]

@academiccuriosity Because I'm not good with chemistry, why does what you have said affect the whole issue of the BP using the dispersant and the dispersant's effects.

[academiccuriosity]

@dunsedog

There are several reasons the disp. was used, all of which is ignored. 1) greater surface area allows bacteria to eat faster; happened faster than any oil spill ever, 2) micelles surround oil so it's everywhere surrounded by nontoxic lipids (like soap bubbles dissolve dirt in shower), 3) dilution DECREASES concentration i.e. I'd rather breathe poison outside than in my house if I must be exposed 4) mobile oil can go throughout ocean where earth already adds much more (safe level)

[dunsedog]

@academiccuriosity Thanks, I've got admit, everything you say sounds logical, so I wonder why there is such an uproar about this issue. Reading through comments it seems to be the belief that BP are fined by a measure of how much oil is at the surface which, I've got to admit, is a pretty naive view of how scientists measure oil content in liquids

[academiccuriosity]

@dunsedog

I don't know if it's always been this way because I'm young, but I can't understand how everyone thinks he has a degree in chemical or environmental engineering and can understand nature without ever bothering to study it. Did BP f up? Absolutely. But the f up came BEFORE the spill occurred, not after. They did *everything* they could to clean up and every single expert in the world agrees. These people missed the South Park joke of "Captain Hindsight."

[parrotnine]

were sorry

[nirakara]

WPI you rock.

[subcontraoctave]

Stay classy BP.

[HeroOfXanadus]

good game.

[TomsGuns]

i thought this was obvious, but scientific proof is always good

[Harmonproductions]

Welp. There goes the Oceans.

[benjaminchodroff]

What about bacteria? Excuse my ignorance but would it be possible that the dispersant would allow some light to penetrate the surface and allow natural bacteria to break down the oil? Thanks for this video!

[bigscoach]

And yet again and again, BP/DP keeps fucking up.

[maximiliam3000]

Th Gulf will never recover from this. This is a tragedy not only for that area and the persons directly affected, but for the world as a whole. Shame on all of us for letting this happen.

[ArtyWildmaker]

All the spin and lies and duping of the residents of the gulf and waiting for them to die before they can collect any of the funds they need to replenish their lives and continue living becomes evident with this scientific study. BP and our government have again caused complete damage, though unseen and misunderstood by most, to one of the richest cultures in the world. These corporations must be stopped from more genocide and injury of nature.

[Hawruss]

This is the most important video on the BP Oil Spill / Gulf Poisoning that anyone will ever see. Proof that this disaster is now an ecological catastrophe made worse by Corexit. Those responsible should be in jail for life - all of them!

[mpgarate]

@Hawruss what's worse: I learned this in my middle school science class years ago.

[laziefrannie]

also wanted to say thank you for this video.. thanks.. i wish the world can just see how the use of this chemical to our gulf has only had the ONE BENEFICIAL EFFECT... AND THAT WAS SHOWING THE WORLD THE WATER WAS CLEAN FROM ABOVE.. AND BP COULD CUT THERE LOSSES.. after all its what one sees that makes a difference in this world.. they have destroyed the gulf of mexico by sinking this oil and not dealing with the issue at hand and skimming it.. all for the sake of money and greed..

[redshiftdevelopment]

@laziefrannie Actually, there is still a lot of oil on the water down there. I flew over the area about 6 weeks ago, and the slick is very visible and incredibly huge.

[laziefrannie]

fb group/website OIL FREE FUTURE and i ask you all to join and share and get our forces together.. the complacency and apathy is what will kill us in the long run if we don't start transitioning to other available known sources of energy NOW.. if you care at all and can just share and invite friends and we can share the information and knowledge out there.. hopefully we can put our ELECTED officials to task.. we all have so much to offer .. lets keep sharing info and supporting each other!

[anne48503]

I don't get why anyone would want to sink the oil?? It is completely irrational. We have no equipment to clean the ocean bottom or equipment to filter water to clean it? The only thing I can rationally think is that people are poisoning US on purpose. They are not only doing that but they are killing the Gulf Loop Current by dispersing this oil with corexit. This is so crazy. Someone told me once they were bored with this 'story' even before the oil had stopped flooding the ocean :(

[MrMagazgz]

25:1 and I still see a lot of oil on the surface yet BP wants me to believe a ~100:1 ratio worked(sunk) on the whole spill...

would love to see this same test done with a ratio of 100:1 then 10:1 on a slightly bigger scale

[tracyheyer]

thank you for this

[BeachN58]

Please find email addresses of all the reps and send it to them and ask your friends to do the same.. They have ruined our beautiful Gulf Forever...We still have folks fishing and eating their catch because main stream media is not letting others know what we are dealing with.

[BeachN58]

Thank you so much to whoever preformed this...We, along the coast, need a lot of help like that to prove our case to the officials. This is something I can send to Congress and senate ...Please help me distribute this to all political officials...I beg you ...please? Many of us have this mess showing up in our blood and no one will listen...

[BeachN58]

BASTARDS!!!

[JMoff67]

This is very telling - thanks for posting. I am wondering how you calculated the volume of crude and dispersant per volume of sea water? Did you use relative estimates based on the gulf spill?

[nschearer]

Aesus, 9527A was used and ought to be tested, however use of 9500A was overwhelmingly more prevalent.

[devi2600]

wow. just wow. The "race" on the sides pretty much gives us an idea of what the citizens along the Gulf breathed in for over 3 months DURING the spill, and every since the spill was "capped" as they continue to drop dispersant on the oil surfacing at the shore line of Mississippi and Florida now, in particular.

[Aesus1]

Why do all of these tests show Corexit 9500A when 9527A was also used?

[blondster104]

See what the government is doing to us now.! Feeding us all food that is grown ...with GM seeds and poisoned with weed and bug killer and poisoning our waters with oil and Now poisoning our air with dispersants to kill off the rest of us with low immune systems. You know lower the population drastically.

I am afraid that they have went to far though and that the earth is losing her ability to supply us with clean water, food and air. You know, the essentials we need to live.

[star5977]

Thank you for providing this very interesting demonstration. I have a question...