"Vitamin B" Contaminated a City: The Time a Vitamin Manufacturer Destroyed a Town, Caused Cancer, Birth Defects, Illness
"Vitamin B" Contaminated a City: The Time a Vitamin Manufacturer Destroyed a Town, Caused Cancer, Birth Defects, Illness
I guess making healthy supplements out of industrial waste isn't such a good idea after all?
Let me tell you a story, a story that was located in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, home to a company called Reilly Tar and Chemical. Chances are, you have never heard of Reilly, nor had I, so I did a little digging and within an hour I had unearthed a boatload of OMG’s, followed by What the Hells then WTFs, then I just sat there, dumbfounded, staring at my pc screen blankly. So, are you in the mood to learn some crazy untold history? Oh how I love when you say, “Yes!” to me.
So, Reilly’s story begins in the early 1920’s, back when their name was Republic Creosoting Company. Their company was involved in coal tar refining and wood treating activities. Within a matter of years they underwent their first of many name changes and officially became Reilly Tar & Chemical Company, and this is where the story begins…
HOW TO SELL YOUR INDUSTRIAL WASTE
In the 1930’s, the company expanded by opening a massive laboratory, like seriously huge, the property was 120 acres. It was at this lab that Reilly created a wonderful chemical compound from their coal tar called Pyridine (pronounced Peer-a-dean, for some stupid reason). Pyridine is a terrible smelling, colorless liquid that is hazardous, but it was super-duper great for pesticides, solvents… and shampoo… and mouthwash too…
Everything was going swimmingly for Reilly, so in the 1940’s they expanded more and began manufacturing chemicals on the lab property. YAY!
Next, it was discovered that wonderful Pyridine could be used in a lot more products, like in paint, adhesives and gosh, what else could we put this in? …
Yep, Vitamins… so, Pyridine began being used in the manufacturing process of B-Vitamins. That actually happened, and that was great for Reilly, just how the poisonous, fertility-reducing, population control milk chemical-fortification sham program was great for chemical Vitamin D and A manufacturers, cuz when you think about health, you think about chemicals...
Then, in 1955, some stupid citizen, who was probably a conspiracy theorist, living near the laboratory chemical factory, filed an official complaint with the government claiming some tinfoil-hat-nonsense about Reilly filling the air with nauseous odors and improperly disposing of chemicals, leading to contamination of local residents water wells.
The government took the conspiracy theorist very seriously and rushed to investigate! JUST KIDDING! The gov did nothing because, who cares if just one dude is bitching? He probably wears Don’t Tread on Me pajamas to bed, has a 1776 poster hanging in his garage and doesn’t like Open Borders, so nothing he says is of any importance. They probably chuckled as they wadded up his complaint and threw it toward the waste basket like LeBron James shooting a 3-pointer.
In the years that followed, complaints from the community came flooding in, so the government was forced to investigate. They sent Erin Brockovich (played by Julia Roberts) to address the taxpayers allegations. JUST KIDDING! They still did absolutely nothing because, what’s the rush? A little contamination never hurt anyone. I imagine, by this point, they hung a basketball net over the trash can to make throwing the complaints away more entertaining.
In 1964, after almost a decade of angry citizen complaints the gov was like,
THE INVESTIGATION
The investigators went to the property and found complete and total chaos. It was discovered that Reilly was dumping waste had such horrible waste disposal processes that they contaminated the soil with highly carcinogenic, mutagenic, deadly chemicals and creosoted timbers, pitch, coal and sludge.
But that’s not all. There was also distillation residues from chemical processes, including VOCs, SVOCs, NAPL and DNAPL too. I don’t know what that sh*t means either, but trust me, it was bad. Really bad. In fact, it was so bad that the groundwater was contaminated with benzene, ammonia and vitamin B! Pyridine! To make maters worse, a drainage ditch carried wastewater from Reilly’s petroleum production separator into the storm sewer and eventually into a nearby creek, contaminating, quite literally, everything with Vitamins.
The damage was to such a serious degree that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was forced to label Reilly a Superfund and throw it on the National Priorities List, which basically means, “this is the worst of the worst contamination”, and also, “we need to get these vitamins chemicals cleaned up asap!”, which also meant, “let’s discuss it for a couple years, go ahead and keep making chemicals here for the time being.”
Above and beyond the devastation to the ecosystem, and literally poisoning the well, according to The Energy Library:
"5,200 residents within 3 miles of the site use ground water for drinking. Citizens have complained frequently of headaches, general ill health, and increased cancer and birth defects.”
(Note that it says “citizens complained frequently of cancer and birth defects” instead of saying, “The contamination caused cancer and birth defects”… what an asshole thing to say!)
Remember how I told you the first stupid conspiracy theorist complained about Reilly in 1955? Due to the swift speed of the EPA, a cleanup plan was promptly selected… in 1992. 37 years seems reasonable to me; tax dollars only stretch so far, you know? The cleanup plan included developing a landfill and prohibiting people from installing water wells. Oh, and if you had a well, don’t use it. From 1994 to 1997, the EPA would begin addressing soil contamination (Okay, so technically 39 years, but whose counting?).
The EPA decided that a fantastic way to solve the vitamin problem contamination problem was to cover it with soil then cement over it, which makes sense, because if you can’t see the poison, it’s not there, duh.
VITAMIN B
During this time, Reilly changed their name to Vertellus and continued to produce plastics, adhesives, inks, tires, pharmaceuticals and… vitamins. In fact, they became the largest global manufacturer of pyridine and picolines (more coal tar byproduct).
Using the pyridine and picolines, they proudly manufacture “vitamin B3 nutrition products”. If your Vitamin says “niacin” or “B3”, there’s a good chance your supported an Indiana business! Hooray for Made in the USA!
Not only is Pyridine B3 great for Vitamins, but it also makes a fantastic pesticide!
This means, if you have unwanted ants in your kitchen, just cut open some B3 pills and kill those mofos with health!
Vertellus also makes Thiamine (B1) from a product called “Grewe Diamine”, which is also a derivative of Coal Tar.
Then there’s Vitamin B6 from pyridine:
A far as I know, Pyridine can be used for all B-Vitamins, but B12 is extra special because this one can also be made sewer sludge waste. Actually, pretty much all Vitamins, even “Natural” Vitamins, are often made from waste, which we will be discussing next, so click it or miss it:
Back to the story: Vertellus would go on to change its name more times than Puff Daddy, P. Diddy… just Diddy? What do those court documents list him as? I can’t keep track. Anyway, Vertellus became Aurorium, followed by mergers and more name changes, which worked out well because people no longer associated them with that bad Reilly company who ruined the town.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
The government totally forgave Reilly Vertellus Puff Daddy Aurorium for completely ruining the land with vitamins toxins because they built a solar farm. The gov even gave them awards for it. True story. Let’s cut a ribbon on the town you poisoned…
It’s just so beautiful:
As of March 2024, it hasn’t went up in flames yet, so that’s a plus…
ORGANIC COAL TAR VITAMINS
So, that was the story of how coal tar, I mean Pyridine, became a vitamin ingredient. The awesome thing is, COAL TAR IS CONSIDERED ORGANIC! Yes sir! Who would have thought that refinery waste was so clean?! As Dr. Schierling points out, “by its ‘scientific’ definition, the term ‘organic’ can mean that it is a carbon containing substance, hence by that definition, all petroleum derivatives (hydro-carbons) are organic.” The doctor goes on to say, the vitamin manufacturer could sell, “a supplement made from grass, rocks, and purified manure, as ‘all natural’ because it is all natural”. Unfortunately, as I would come to discover, while writing this piece, the doctors statement came to fruition. We are literally being sold rocks and sh*t as “Vitamins”, but more on that in my next piece.
Remember that B3 we were just discussing? You know, the one made from coal tar that is also great as pesticide? Here’s Non GMO, Vegan, additive free, filler free, no preservatives coal tar Pyridine :
That’s 2.2 pounds of pure health right there! Now let’s discuss eating coal tar and Pyridine, for our longevity, of course…
HOW HEALTHY IS COAL TAR?
Coal tar is a thick dark liquid which is a by-product of the production of coke (fuel) and coal gas from coal. As mentioned previously, Pyridine and other Vitamin ingredients are made from coal tar.
The traditional method to make pyridine from coal tar is to use a strong alkaline and acidic solution to create acid-based reactions, but it’s super bad for the environment, so although they use this method, it is frowned upon a little. A better method is sulfuric acid and sodium carbonate. Either way, hazardous chemicals are needed to make our coal-tar-derived B-Vitamins, cuz Health!
SAFETY DATA FOR EATING COAL TAR
Here’s where it gets interesting: It is hard to locate safety data for consuming coal tar products (I can’t believe I just typed that. It’s like saying, “It’s hard to find safety data on eating thumbtacks and glass shards”). However, I was able to discover that KC 261 is an alias (synonym) for coal tar and here we can see safety data from the Manufacturers Safety Data Sheet (MSDS):
It is listed as Toxic, May Cause Cancer:
Cancer.gov agrees it’s a carcinogen, and they state, coal tar inhalation or ingestion, “increases the risk of skin cancer”, as well as, “other types of cancer, including lung, bladder, kidney, and digestive tract cancer”, but, according to Cancer.gov, that’s only if you work in the coal tar industry (“Occupational Hazzard”). If you’re just eating it as Vitamins, you shouldn’t have too many problems… right? And the FDA says it’s, “generally safe” because the United Nations says so, and if there’s one entity I want food advice from, it’s the UN.
My next question was, “how do we tell if this sh*t is in our products?”…
OTHER NAMES FOR COAL TAR AND PYRIDINE
I discovered, when it comes to coal tar, if a product contains less than .5% of it, there’s no need to list it as an ingredient. And because the entire Vitamin and Supplement industry is unregulated, nobody is checking, so labels rely on, “the honesty policy”. Even when products are discovered to be toxic, like in the case of baby lotion, there’s nothing the FDA can do, which kind of makes you wonder what exactly the purpose of the $5.9 billion-dollar-a-year entity is… (MUST SEE 1 minute 13 second video)
With that being said, if you want to know if coal tar or pyridine is in your products, and if the amount is above .5%, and if they decide to put it on the label, all you need to do is remember this small list of code words for it:
Pyridine
Pyridine, suitable for hydroxyl value determination, >=99.5%
Pyridine, Pharmaceutical Secondary Standard; Certified Reference Material
Pyridine, puriss. p.a., ACS reagent, reag. Ph. Eur., >=99.5% (GC)
0.25 M Hyacinth BMT solution BMT in anhydrous Acetonitrile, NC-0102 emp Biotech GmbH
Pyridine, puriss., absolute, over molecular sieve (H2O <=0.005%), >=99.8% (GC)
Pyridine, puriss., Reag. Ph. Eur., dried, >=99.5% (GC), <=0.0075% water
Solvent Mix Pyridine in ACN (V / V = 60 : 40) NC-0612, GL45 thread emp Biotech GmbH
Pyridine for oligo synthesis (Water content < 30 ppm) NC-0604 2.5 L GL45 thread emp Biotech GmbH
BENZIN B70
BR 45
BROWN COAL, TAR
BROWN-COAL, LIGNITE TAR
COAL
COAL TAR
COAL TAR EXTRACT
COAL TAR OINTMENT
COAL TAR, BROWN
COAL, BROWN, TAR
COAL TAR SOLUTION
COAL TAR SOLUTION USP
COKE-OVEN TAR
COKING TAR
ESTAR
ESTAR (SKIN TREATMENT)
EX 1500
EX 50
HIGH NAPHTHA
HIGH SOLUTION NAPHTHA
IMPERVOTAR
KC 261
LAVATAR
LIGNITE TAR
NAPHTHA
NAPHTHA DISTILATE
NAVAL STORES, TAR
PETROLEUM BENZIN
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS, TAR
PETROLEUM TAR
PICIS CARBONIS
PIXALBOL
SOLVEX-TAR
SOLVEX-TAR LIGHT
SUPER SOLVEX-TAR
TAR
TAR, BROWN-COAL, LIGNITE
TAR, COAL, COLORLESS PURIFIED
TAR, COAL, PURIFIED COLORLESS
TAR, COKING
TAR, LIGNITE
TAR, LIQUID
TAR, [FLAMMABLE LIQUID]
TARCRON 180
TARCRON 180L
TARCRON 230
TARMAT
TARS, LIQUID
WOOD TAR
WOOD TARS
And more. Thousands more. Each of these words has another list of synonyms.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I am not telling you not to take Vitamins, as I have said in all of my pieces exposing supplement fraud, if you feel it is helping you, GREAT! TAKE IT! But, you might want to read the next couple post I have coming…
Coming Next: THE NATURAL VITAMIN SCAM.
Links to read my vitamin investigations are below, but first:
NEXT READ
SOURCES, NOTES & OTHER SH*T
I don’t use all of the sources in this section, but I leave them here in case someone is pursuing the same line of research:
Coal tar is a thick dark liquid which is a by-product of the production of coke and coal gas from coal. This industrial waste has many uses, such as sealing pavement, an industrial binder in the graphite industry, manufacturing paints and dyes, rubber softening, explosives (because it’s highly flammable) … and body care, perfume and Vitamins…
Published 1925 https://rupress.org/jem/article/42/2/221/9416/THE-RELATION-OF-THE-VITAMINS-TO-THE-REACTION
Coal Tar skin treatment ingredients: Water, Xanthan Gum, Aloe Vera, Glycerin, Propylene Glycol, Safflower Oil, Dimethicone, C12/15 Alkyl Benzoate, Emulsifying Wax, Glycerol Stearate, Peg 100 Stearate, Cetyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Butylparaben, Propylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Polyacrylamide, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Laureth-7, Hydrocortisone, Triethanolamine, Burdock Root, Tea Tree Oil, Lavender Oil, Chamomile Extract. F,D,and C Yellow # 5
https://doctorschierling.com/blog/more-on-the-debate-over-whole-food-or-synthetic-nutrition
https://doctorschierling.com/blog/more-on-the-debate-over-whole-food-or-synthetic-nutrition
https://cameochemicals.noaa.gov/chemical/12724
https://semspub.epa.gov/work/HQ/100003348.pdf
https://www.efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/efsa_rep/blobserver_assets/ndatolerableuil.pdf
https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/59775
https://app.scientist.com/providers/vertellus-specialties-inc
https://indyencyclopedia.org/reilly-tar-chemical-corporation/
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Pyridine#section=MeSH-Entry-Terms
Wouldn’t you be thrilled to find out that Rilley Tar and Chemical has been the biggest supplier of “Food Grade” B-vitamins for the past several decades? In fact, Vertellus still makes products like “Niacinamide, Feed Grade” (synthetic niacin). That’s right. The B-Vitamins found in your multi-vitamin supplement or B-Vitamin supplement (One-a-Day by Bayer, Centrum by PFIZER, 5 Hour Energy, along with thousands of others) are synthetic compounds which are actually a byproduct of the manufacturing process of certain petroleum products.
Believe it or not, the synthetic form of Thiamine (Vitamin-B1) comes from a product called “Grewe Diamine” —- a derivative of Coal Tar —— and is processed with several harsh chemicals including ammonia and formaldehyde. And Vitamin B-12; it may be worse. The synthetic form comes from “Activated Sewage Sludge” (see this 1954 STUDY from the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry — plants absorb it from manure).
<a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/industrial-pollution-environment-cartoon-vector_4997219.htm#fromView=search&page=1&position=43&uuid=784a7559-828c-4019-876e-46d379ea749f">Image by vectorpocket on Freepik</a>
In the 1960s, those of us with dandruff eagerly purchased Coal Tar Shampoo as a cure .... And no, it was not a restricted product, even a kid could buy it OTC.
Mother Fuckers