Oh, Great
Via WEAR-TV: A barge that washed ashore on Perdido Key during Katrina contains a rather nasty cargo.
Escambia County Chief of Marine Resources Robert Turpin: “There’s a compound called dinaseb(sic) that’s a herbicide and it can be absorbed by the skin, so we are very concerned about the quantity of these materials.”
Actually it’s spelled “dinoseb” and according to the Extension Toxicology Network:
Regulatory Status: The use of dinoseb was cancelled in the U.S. in 1986. This action was based on the potential risk of birth defects and other adverse health effects for applicators and other persons with substantial dinoseb exposure. This pesticide is not commercially available in the U.S.
Dinoseb is a highly toxic compound. Prior to its ban, it was a Restricted Use Pesticide (RUP), and products containing dinoseb were required to be labeled with a DANGER Signal Word.
You have to assume it was manufactured at one of the chemical factories in the western Gulf and being shipped abroad to a country where it is still legal.
It has been sitting there for six months and no one knew what it was.
