Gulf Oil Spill Long-Term Health Effects: How Bad?

Still, there is the potential risk of toxic exposure to the oil and the chemical dispersants. Dr. John Howard, director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), told Congress this week that oil could be irritating to the skin or the lungs and could cause vomiting if swallowed but "is unlikely to have long-lasting health effects."
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Despite comments by Howard - and BP representatives - the reality is that we know far too little about the effects of oil spills on human health to have any confidence in the long-term ramifications. At the Institute of Medicine conference, Nalini Sathiakumar of the University of Alabama noted that of the 400 tanker spills that have occurred since the 1960s, only seven have been studied. And they provide reason for caution. Oil isn't just oil - it also contains volatile organic compounds like the carcinogen benzene. "Studies [of spills] have shown us consistent evidence for oracular, neurological and dermal exposure as a result of exposure to volatile organic compounds," said Sathiakumar. "Short-term lung, kidney and liver functions could be affected."
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Indeed, a retrospective study of cleanup workers involved in a 2002 oil spill on the coast of Spain - one far smaller than the Gulf catastrophe - found evidence of DNA damage, most likely from chemical or oil exposure, though it was of the sort that can be repaired by the body. If scientists hope to track spill workers and coastal residents who are currently encountering oil, studies must be launched right now. To that end, the Department of Health and Human Services has set aside $10 million to track oil-spill-related illnesses, while more than 14,000 BP spill workers - about half the total force - have volunteered for a NIOSH tracking system. "To be able to identify chronic effects, you have to start very early," Howard told Congress earlier this month.
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But independent scientists worry that these studies are too small and that the data is insufficient. They are also concerned about the reliability of the data, especially that for BP's workers, whose claims of illness are screened by a private medical service paid for by BP. Given the fact that any evidence of serious health effects could be used against the company in the countless lawsuits we'll see filed in the coming months and years, the potential conflict of interest is obvious.
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Workers also may fail to come forward out of fear of losing their job - they've already shown reluctance to talk to the press for the same reason. The researchers at the Institute of Medicine conference said they have already seen large gaps in the surveillance data to date. "It's kind of scary" that the cleanup response is being run by the company at fault, not the government, said Linda McCauley, dean of Emory University's school of nursing.
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The lack of transparency can further lead to a lack of trust in the communities affected by the spill - and that suspicion can have a long-lasting, corrosive impact. In the wake of the Exxon Valdez spill, the small Alaskan fishing port of Cordova saw a rise in domestic abuse, alcoholism and eventually suicide. Lawsuits eroded trust in the community, and clean data on the impact of the spill became almost impossible to get.
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Researchers worry that the BP spill, which is far larger, will have the same insidious effect on the psyches of Gulf residents, many of whom are just now recovering from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. "Anyone who says the people of this region do not need evaluation for mental-heath risks have no idea what is happening here," says Redlener of the Children's Health Fund, who visited Gulf residents earlier this week.
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It doesn't help that the spill is an unprecedented trauma, and a continuing one - nearly 70 days after the Deepwater Horizon sank, the spill is ongoing, and Gulf residents still have no idea when it will end. Adding to their frustration, shores they have cleaned of oil may be oiled again. And perhaps the greatest insult is that the company chiefly responsible for the ordeal, BP, is the one handling the response and handing out checks. As the reality of the spill sinks in - the fact that the Gulf Coast will be changed irrevocably - the anxiety will only worsen. And so William Allen Kruse may have been only the first in an unknowable number of casualties.Gulf Oil Spill Long-Term Health Effects: How Bad?Originally from: http://www.nursinglink.monster.com/news/articles/14366-gulf-oil-spill-long-term-health-effects-how-bad

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