There’s a cool new way to die in Oklahoma—toxic organic pollutant exposure!
Okay, I wouldn’t exactly call that "new." It’s probably been around for a while, or at least ever since we started spreading literal shit across our fields and crops.
In what feels like the opening scene of a twisted dystopian HBO series—where toxic plumes of organic pollutants drift lazily into towns, coating everything in an invisible layer of hazardous dust and turning residents into mindless, flesh-eating mutant zombies who migrate west to California, leaving death and destruction in their wake—researchers at the University of Colorado have discovered a rare airborne toxin in northwestern Oklahoma that's never before been documented in the Western Hemisphere.
Or something like that.
Once in a while, scientific research resembles detective work. Researchers head into the field with a hypothesis and high hopes of finding specific results, but sometimes, there’s a twist in the story that requires a deeper dive into the data.
That was the case for CU Boulder researchers who led a field campaign in an agricultural region of Oklahoma. Using a high-tech instrument to measure how aerosol particles form and grow in the atmosphere, they stumbled upon something unexpected: the first-ever airborne measurements of Medium Chain Chlorinated Paraffins (MCCPs), a type of toxic organic pollutant, in the Western Hemisphere. Their results were published today in ACS Environmental Au.
“It's very exciting as a scientist to find something unexpected like this that we weren't looking for,” said Daniel Katz, CU Boulder chemistry Ph.D. student and lead author of the study. “We're starting to learn more about this toxic, organic pollutant that we know is out there and which we need to understand better.”
Yes, that’s right. Move over, tornadoes. Take a bow, earthquakes. Step aside, floods, inland hurricanes, and mountain lions.
While you’re hogging the headlines and stirring drama, Medium Chain Chlorinated Paraffins are silently sweeping down the plains like a twister on the dryline, joining the cocktail of other man-made pollutants already circulating through our atmosphere, food supply, and individual bodies.
According to the study’s authors, we apparently have our own shit to blame:
MCCPs are used in fluids for metalworking and in the construction of PVC and textiles. They are often found in wastewater and can end up in biosolid fertilizer, also called sewage sludge, created when liquid is removed from wastewater in a treatment plant. In Oklahoma, researchers suspect the MCCPs they identified came from biosolid fertilizer in fields near where they set up their instrument.
“When sewage sludges are spread across the fields, those toxic compounds could be released into the air,” Katz said. “We can't show directly that that's happening, but we think it's a reasonable way that they could be winding up in the air. Sewage sludge fertilizers have been shown to release similar compounds.”
Look, I don’t typically side with far-right pseudo-science conspiracy theorists, but one place we find common ground is opposing the use of factory-produced waste—especially the human variety—as fertilizer.
I’m pretty sure there’s a famous saying that goes “Don’t shit where you eat,” and I assume that includes not spreading human shit directly onto what you eat, either.
The study's results were published a few weeks ago on the University of Colorado's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences website.
As expected, our US Senator James Lankford—a man who's been bought by big manure and has openly advocated removing regulations on manure as fertilizer—has wasted no time ignoring the findings.
You’d think he’d be super concerned that airborne toxins were discovered in his state by legitimate scientific researchers, but he's busy chasing quack, politically motivated pseudoscience issues—like claiming abortion drugs are contaminating our water.
US Senator James Lankford (R-OK) and Congressman Josh Brecheen (R-OK) are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate environmental and public health risks from the abortion drug mifepristone, warning that chemical byproducts might contaminate the nation's water supply.
“The American people deserve to know what contaminants might be present in their drinking water and their potential impacts on public health,” stated Sen. Lankford in a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
“Federal regulators are rightfully eager to study the health effects of many chemicals in our water and septic systems, but they haven’t examined the environmental and public health risks of chemical abortion drugs like mifepristone,” Lankford continued. “Scientific research on the health effects of trace amounts of a chemical designed to end the life of a child in the womb shouldn’t be controversial.”
Listen. Are there legitimate concerns about pharmaceuticals—especially antibiotics and hormonal drugs—polluting our water supply? Yes. Is there a significant risk posed by mifepristone? Not at all. The drug quickly metabolizes in the human body, converting into harmless byproducts. Just like the billions of other pills people consume each day, it poses no meaningful threat.
But then again, what do I know? I’m just a guy with a computer and access to readily available information on the internet. I’m not a religious zealot trying to weaponize the EPA to ban abortion drugs.
Anyway, I’ve got to get back to my screenplay outline. Right now, I’m still debating whether I should call it “Attack of the Okies” or “Dust Bowl of Doom,” and if the first zombie horde attack should occur in Woodward or Watonga. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please let me know.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
