They Used To Use Tar for Psoriasis Treatment

The TV report was very low key. There was an assistant head of a shrimper's group who said he was really concerned about the his health, his wife's health, his kids' health, his brothers' health and the health of the people working, not in the normal trades, but in the massive oil spill cleanup breathing that air that smelled so bad. In his direct honest way, he plaintively asked why there was so little information from the government or anyone else about the health effects on people of the oil and its fumes. He said that the people in the area had poor insurance, if any, little access to health care facilities, and felt adrift.

Then another TV scene, this of a lot of doctors at a Louisiana meeting, not of a government agency but of an important-sounding institute group. Lots of uniforms, very somber people. Their words were as guarded as a lawyer's  before the U.S. Supreme Court. Nothing to cause panic or to even raise alarm.  The big issue was skin rashes from irritation from the petroleum floating in the water and filming the marshes.  If you listened carefully, there was only the slightest hint of concern expressed about long-term effects.  What was most significant was the silence about serious health issues. What was most significant was that there was no responsible response to the shrimper's pleas for information about the health effects of the oil and its benzene-containing fumes and what they could expect in the short term and out eight to ten years.

When I was in medical school, various tars (often from coal derivatives) were used to treat conditions such as psoriasis. I was surprised that no one, recorded by the TV cameras,  said "consider the "up" side: smear some tar on your psoriasis and your skin might improve.

Link to CDC site for professionals added 7/1/2010: