Update: May 16, 2007

A TRAIL OF DEATH and A PLEA FOR HELP!

By Pam Eastlick for THE DEEP on line

Welcome to The Deep science and technology column where we cover topics from the deep sea to deep space and beyond.

There’s been a lot in the news lately about all the pet food recalls.  I was confused because I couldn’t figure out why anyone in their right mind would grind up Melmac®, the kitschy 50’s dinnerware, and put it in pet food, because that’s what Melmac® is; it’s melamine. Then I discovered that since melamine is pure protein, it was probably being added to wheat gluten deliberately to raise the protein percentage.  The fact that it causes severe kidney damage in both animals and people doesn’t appear to have crossed the radar of the clever Chinese who added it to their wheat gluten.

Melmac® dinnerware

Guam’s animals were apparently saved by that infamous ‘slow boat’.  All the affected pet food was on the boat for at least two months, giving local retailers time to read the recall numbers and ensure that the tainted food never reached local shelves.  At least we hope so.  If you have pets and you love them, it’s probably a good idea to google ‘pet food recall’ and get those numbers for yourself.

Unfortunately, it isn’t just melamine and it isn’t just pet food.  I read a chilling story in the New York Times the other day about a different kind of contamination that has apparently killed thousands of people, human beings like you and me, and most of them have been children.  And this one doesn’t involved pet food; it involves poison in over-the-counter drugs.

The poison used is diethylene glycol and diethylene glycol and its close chemical relative, ethylene glycol are some of the deadliest poisons going because they have some really sneaky properties.  First of all, they’re both liquids that taste good.  They’re sweet and they disappear into soft drinks, and liquid cough syrup without a trace.  The second factor that makes both of them so deadly is that they’re incredibly easy to get.  You know both of them by another name: antifreeze.

I lost a beloved pet, Ozzie the dog; a couple of years ago because one of the neighbors decided my dog had killed a bunch of his very expensive fighting cocks.  Now why you’d leave your expensive fighting cocks unprotected where dogs could get to them is a question that was never answered, but shortly after his accusation, Ozzie developed the symptoms of antifreeze poisoning.  First the kidneys fail.  Then the central nervous system is affected and paralysis of the extremities begins.  The paralysis spreads, making breathing difficult, then often impossible without assistance.  In the end, most victims like my Ozzie, die.

But it isn’t just dogs.  In the past 20 years there have been at least EIGHT mass poisonings around the world that involved antifreeze and researchers estimate that thousands of people have died.  The contaminant in these instances is diethylene glycol, which has the same chemical properties as ethylene glycol and is also used as antifreeze.

Over the years, diethylene glycol has been detected into many varieties of medicine; including cough syrup, fever medication, and injectable drugs.  It was added by counterfeiters who profit by substituting the sweet-tasting solvent for a safer, more expensive syrup, usually glycerin, commonly used in drugs, food, toothpaste and other products.

In many cases, the precise origin of the poison has never been determined.  But records and interviews show that in three of the last four cases it was made in China, a major source of counterfeit drugs.  The latest incident of antifreeze poisoning was in Panama.  Last year, government officials there unwittingly mixed diethylene glycol into 260,000 bottles of cold medicine with devastating results.  Families have reported 365 deaths from the poison, 100 of which have been confirmed so far.  Toxic syrup has also caused mass poisonings in Haiti, Bangladesh, Argentina, Nigeria and India.

The US Food and Drug Administration is aware of the problem.  They’ve warned drug makers and suppliers “to be especially vigilant” in watching for diethylene glycol.  Their warning didn’t specifically mention China, and it said there was “no reason to believe” that glycerin in this country was tainted.  Even so, the agency asked that all glycerin shipments be tested for diethylene glycol, and said it was “exploring how supplies of glycerin become contaminated.”

Chilling stuff.  Are you putting your children at risk by giving them liquid medicine?  If you’re worried about it, I suggest that the next time you open a new bottle of cough syrup or other liquid medicine that you use your handy-dandy built-in poison detector on it before you give it to your children.  Don’t have a hand-dandy built-in poison detector you say?  Yes, you do and if you’re like me you curse it virtually every single day.

Just spill a drop of that sweet tasting syrup on your kitchen or bathroom counter.  If your house is like my house, in about 15 minutes, that drop will be black with ants.  And if the ants die, I’d tell Public Health real fast!  Are insects affected by diethylene glycol the same way mammals are?  Hmmm. sounds like a Science Fair project to me!

AN APPEAL FOR HELP
I like my articles for the Marianas Variety because they give me the opportunity to branch out into other branches of science, but many of you are aware that my primary job is Planetarium Coordinator at the University of Guam.  I’m Guam’s “Starlady” and I’ve been telling people about Guam’s astounding starry skies for over 15 years now.

Unfortunately, without your help, that may soon end.  I’ve been informed that because of the severe budget crisis that’s affecting all of GovGuam; I’m now responsible for finding outside sources of funding for the Planetarium’s entire operating budget (ca. $55,000 annually).  If I can’t generate that much money, the Planetarium will be closed and I will lose my job.

The public law that gave the funds for the Planetarium to the University prohibits charging admission, and unfortunately, the required skills to raise $55,000 a year weren’t a part of my job description.  Quite frankly I need help to generate the funds to keep the Planetarium open for the people of Guam.
I need funds; fund raising ideas, volunteers and people who have grant writing experience to help me.  Any and all help and suggestions will be greatly appreciated. 

If you can help, please e-mail me at stars@guam.net or uogstarlady@gmail.com or call me at 735-2783.  I can e-mail you a copy of a petition that you can sign.  You can also tell friends, business associates and anyone else you think might be interested in keeping the UOG Planetarium open. 
I love the night sky and astronomy and teaching children of all ages about our awesome universe.  Please help me keep the Planetarium open.