-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">
</A> -Cui Bono?-
Dave Hartley
http://www.asheville-computer.com/dave
http://news.excite.com/news/uw/000307/health-96
===================================================
Doctor says WTO gassing led to health problems
March 6, 2000
By Brian Hansen
Colorado Daily
U. Colorado
(U-WIRE) EUGENE, Ore. -- The chemical weapons that were used against
civilians during the tumultuous World Trade Organization conference in
Seattle three months ago have given rise to a number of mysterious and
potentially serious long-term health afflictions, says a medical doctor
who is studying the matter.
Dr. Kirk Murphy, an assistant clinical professor at the UCLA Medical
School and a representative of the group Physicians for Social
Responsibility, discussed the health-related consequences of the
gas-choked WTO meetings last weekend at the Public Interest Environmental
Law Conference in Eugene, Ore.
"What we saw happening in Seattle was the largest single application of
chemical weapons against civilians in the northern hemisphere," Murphy
said. "We've seen a range of symptoms arising from the Seattle
experience, including a subset of symptoms that are atypical for the
chemical agents that we've been able to confirm were used."
Law-enforcement officials maintain that four types of chemical agents
were used in the streets of Seattle during the WTO conference: OC, or
"pepper spray," as well as three varieties of gaseous irritants -- CN, CS,
and CX.
According to Murphy, people exposed to OC "normally" suffer from intense
burning sensations of their skin and/or eyes, and sometimes from rashes
and minor vision changes in the minutes and hours after exposure. And the
"normal" reactions to the three types of "tear gas" agents reportedly used
in Seattle, Murphy explained, commonly include eye, nasal and throat
irritation, and sometimes respiratory and digestive system problems.
Teams of street medics treated thousands of people exhibiting these types
of symptoms on Nov. 30, the first big day of protests against the WTO,
Murphy noted. But the following day -- after martial law had essentially
been imposed throughout downtown Seattle --the symptomatic effects of the
chemical weapons changed significantly, Murphy said.
"Starting on December 1st, we saw a set of symptoms that went beyond the
usual 'irritation' symptoms," Murphy said. "These came to be called the
neurotoxic set of symptoms."
People who were gassed on Dec. 1, when police stormed Seattle's Pike
Place Market and Capitol Hill neighborhood, suffered then -- and continue
to report now -- a mysterious and troubling set of afflictions, Murphy
said.
"We've collected several dozen reports of (women) who had an immediate
on-set of menstruation, and there's at least one report of a spontaneous
abortion," Murphy said. "One person who came in (to a street clinic) was
technically delirious ... and had symptoms consistent with shock. So, we
started asking questions that night about what additional agents could be
responsible for what we were seeing."
Law-enforcement agencies have denied allegations that "nerve gas" or
other military-grade chemical agents were used against WTO protestors and
other civilians in downtown Seattle, and Murphy acknowledged that there
is, at this point, no molecular evidence to support that charge.
But based on a symptomatic assessment of a host of medical reports -- as
well as a laboratory analysis of several spent chemical weapons containers
-- Murphy and his colleagues at the Los Angeles Office of Physicians for
Social Responsibility have come up with a hypothesis.
"Broadly speaking, we've raised a few different possible means or methods
by which the atypical symptoms might have come about," Murphy said.
One explanation, Murphy said, is that the atypical symptoms exhibited in
Seattle were in fact completely consistent with OC and the various tear
gasses -- but that no one -- including the manufacturers of the chemicals
and the police -- know that yet.
"A lot of the information that was developed (on chemical weapons) came
from the armed forces, where most of the people in the uniforms tended to
have male genitals," Murphy said. "So, we don't have a lot of information
from when thousands of women are exposed to these agents."
Another possibility, Murphy said, is that age or temperature had caused
some of the chemicals to break down during storage.
"There's a (spent) canister chasing around Eugene that was manufactured
in 1980," Murphy said. "There are a number of chemical reactions that one
could envision taking place over time in a stored sample."
A third possibility is that the so-called inert ingredients that are
present in the chemical weapons containers -- which are frequently toxic
and carcinogenic solvents -- independently caused the atypical symptoms
exhibited in Seattle, Murphy said.
"What we do know is that the solvents that are found to be present in CN
include something called methelyne chloride," Murphy said. "Methelyne
chloride is clearly associated with menstrual abnormalities; it is clearly
associated with miscarriages; and it is clearly associated with ongoing
neurologic problems, which include twitching, convulsions, and difficulty
with concentration.
Moreover, methelyne chloride is considered to be an endocrine disrupter,
which means that the serious biological damages it can cause can be passed
along from generation to generation.
"To put it colloquially, methelyne chloride is really nasty shit," Murphy
said.
Physicians for Social Responsibility will publicize its conclusions
regarding the medical consequences of chemical weapons exposure in Seattle
in the coming months, Murphy said. To file a medical report with the
group, or for more information, call (310) 458-2694, or contact them via
e-mail at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
============================================
Comments:
Methyl chloride is one of the toxic halogen element effects and is related
to similar effects with fluorine and bromine.
Methyl chloride was used in anesthesia for a long time, but was finally
banned due to long term health complications like these and also connected
to increased cancer risk.
The halogen elements, fluorine, chlorine, bromine, damage the cells in the
body and in this process they get into high concentrations in the lymph
nodes------many toxic metals also produce this same effect.
These related health effects seen in this WTO protest group give rise to
similar chemical connected effects seen around DOE gaseous diffusion
plants and even that seen in the Gulf War.
-----------------------------------------------------
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
