Top Kill Fails

Oil spill impacts on local businesses as top kill is a failure. It is
reported that BP will pay up to 25 billion dollars to businesses
across the coastal lines that has been affected.
We have a serious problem now. A lot of seafood companies will be shut
down and may never return again. President Obama was asked if he was
confident that the top kill would have worked
and he stated that he has to look at both sides of the situation and
that all the great minds are hard at work to resolve this problem. No
1 can really predict the
damage that the oil spill is doing or what's been released in the
water by dead animals dead at the bottom of the ocean. This is the
biggest oil spill in human history.
B p is moving on to custom made caps for oil well.

-Spoken w/ Vlingo (http://www.vlingo.com)

www.tinyurl.com/th3rdye5

Operation "Top Kill"

Robert, La.-The gusher off the coast of Louisiana has spilled at least 7 million gallons of crude into the sea since an oil rig explosion April 20 that killed 11 workers. Dozens of witness statements obtained by The Associated Press show a combination of equipment failure and a deference to the chain of command aboard the rig impeded the system that should have stopped the gusher before it became an environmental disaster.If the risky procedure, known as a top kill, stops the flow, BP would then inject cement into the well to seal it. The top kill has worked above ground but has never before been tried 5,000 feet beneath the sea. BP pegged its chance of success at 60 to 70 percent. BP hoped to know as early as Thursday afternoon( May 27) if a stream of mud will finally end its Gulf of Mexico oilspill, a five-week disaster that was putting other U.S. offshore drilling projects on hold as far away as Alaska.

Study: A Link Between Pesticides and ADHD

Bernd Vogel / Corbis

Ok.... I came across this article and i thought i would share it.... Its an article from Time Magazine..... I feel sometimes ADHD comes from the loss of interest by the person on what they are doing....but this article thinks otherwise....

 Studies linking environmental substances todisease are coming fast and furious. Chemicals in plastics and common household goods have been associated with serious developmental problems, while a long inventory of other hazards are contributing to rising rates of modern ills: heart disease, obesity, diabetes, autism.

Add attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to the list. A new study in the journal Pediatrics associates exposure to pesticides to cases of ADHD in the U.S. and Canada. In the U.S. alone, an estimated 4.5 million children ages 5 to 17 have ever been diagnosed with ADHD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and rates of diagnosis have risen 3% a year between 1997 and 2006. Increasingly, research suggests that chemical influences, perhaps in combination with other environmental factors -- like video gaming, hyperkinetically edited TV shows and flashing images in educational DVDs aimed at infants -- may be contributing to the increase in attention problems.

Led by Maryse Bouchard in Montreal, researchers based at the University of Montreal and Harvard University examined the potential relationship between ADHD and exposure to certain toxic pesticides called organophosphates. The team analyzed the levels of pesticide residues in the urine of more than 1,100 children aged 8 to 15 years old, and found that those with the highest levels of dialkyl phosphates, which are the breakdown products of organophosphate pesticides, also had the highest incidence of ADHD. Overall, they found a 35% increase in the odds of developing ADHD with every 10-fold increase in urinary concentration of the pesticide residues. The effect was seen even at the low end of exposure: kids who had any detectable, above-average level of the most common pesticide metabolite in their urine were twice as likely as those with undetectable levels to record symptoms of the learning disorder.

"I was quite surprised to see an effect at lower levels of exposure," says Bouchard, who used data on ADHD from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a long-term study of health parameters of a representative sample of U.S. citizens.

Bouchard's analysis is the first to hone in on organophosphate pesticides as a potential contributor to ADHD in young children. But the author stresses that her study uncovers only an association, not a direct causal link between pesticide exposure and the developmental condition. There is evidence, however, that the mechanism of the link may be worth studying further: organophosphates are known to cause damage to the nerve connections in the brain -- that's how they kill agricultural pests, after all. The chemical works by disrupting a specific neurotransmitter, acetylcholinesterase, a defect that also been implicated in children diagnosed with ADHD. In animal models, exposure to the pesticides has resulted in hyperactivity and cognitive deficits as well.

"I am very confident in the correlation in this study, because we controlled for quite a few things that we thought could play a role," says Bouchard. "Adjusting for those things did not change the results very much. Which indicates that there is very little potential for confounding in this association between pesticides and ADHD."

The results also call for additional studies to determine exactly which foods and which residential uses of pesticides may be most likely to lead to harm in children. Although Bouchard's study did not determine the exact method of exposure in the participants, youngsters are most likely to ingest the chemicals through their diet -- by eating fruits and vegetables that have been sprayed while growing -- according to the National Academy of Sciences. The study also raises the possibility of setting a national threshold for safe levels of exposure; the study authors note that according to the U.S. Pesticide Residue Program report, organophosphates were detected in 28% of frozen blueberries, and in 19% of celery samples tested for pesticides. It is not clear whether those levels pose a threat to cognitive function in children, the current study's findings suggest it may be wise to figure it out.

In the meantime, Bouchard suggests that concerned parents try to avoid using bug sprays in the home, and to feed their children organically grown fruits and vegetables, if possible. (Otherwise, parents should be careful to scrub all produce to reduce residues.) While pesticide-free fruits and greens may be more costly, Bouchard says they may be worth the price in terms of future health.

The Gulf Has A Real Problem

This oil leak that is occuring in the Gulf of Mexico doesn't look to good. Oil is flowing closer and closer to the beach shores of Louisiana and Mississippi. That's gonna damage the fish market industry. Since April 20 we have been watching this catastrophe unfold in front of our eyes without a clue on how to stop it. It has been said that the "smartest people in the world" are being brought together to come up with a solution. We can't afford to damage the planet anymore then what we are doing right now. All states on the Gulf's coast should wisely use and drink their water. Stack up on water and/or invest in a water purifier. I have faith that we will find a way to solve this problem. I say throw massive dirt on it... Lol

Enjoy your Day....