oil spill

Oil Spill 2 years later

The 2 year anniversary of the Deep Water Horizon oil spill?á(pdf) was earlier this week.?á There are a number of studies being performed to determine the long term issues relating to the spill and it’s clean up.?á

LSUHSC is a member of the Deepwater Horizon Research Consortium, a network of community and university partnerships that will conduct research on the gulf coast over the next 5 years. Specifically, the LSUHSC School of Public Health is conducting the Women and their ChildrenÔÇÖs Health (WATCH) study, which will investigate the short and long term physical, mental and community health effects resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Additionally, LSU Baton Rouge is involved in measuring the economic and ecological impact of the spill.

GuLF Study: Participants Sought

Yesterday, the National Institutes of Health announced a new study which will follow tens of thousands of cleanup workers and volunteers who participated in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

“The GuLF STUDY (Gulf Long-term Follow-up Study) is the largest health study of its kind ever conducted among cleanup workers and volunteers, and is one component of a comprehensive federal response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The study is being conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health, and is expected to last up to 10 years Many agencies, researchers, outside experts, as well as members of the local community, have provided input into how the study should be designed and implemented.” from the press release

For more information: http://nihgulfstudy.org/

DHH & La Seafood

Since the safety of Louisiana seafood has been a big topic in the news lately, I was pleased to discover that the Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals, along with the departments of Wildlife and Fisheries, Environmental Quality, and Agriculture and Forestry have been issuing weekly Seafood Safety Surveillance Reports since July. The latest report was issued today.

Deadliest Occupation?

A recent USMMWR article ranked commercial fishing as one of the most dangerous occupation in the United States, even without oil spills and dispersants. This won’t come as a surprise to fans of the Deadliest Catch.

77 oilspill links (con’t)

Continued from here
Mental Health
69. Traumatic Incident Stress: Information for Deepwater Horizon Response Workers and Volunteers ÔÇô CDC

70. Mississippi Dept. of Mental Health ÔÇô oil spill resources

71. Alabama Dept. of Mental Health – Gulf Coast Oil Crisis Assistance

72. Louisiana Dept. of Mental Health

73. The Gulf Oil Disaster: Developing a Positive Outlook in the Face of Tragedy (American Psychological Association)

74. Shore Up Your Resilience to Manage Distress Caused by the Oil Disaster in the Gulf (American Psychological Association)

Mobile apps
75. Oil spill tracker & reporting tool for Android phones

76. MoGo: Mobile Gulf Observatory: Oiled wildlife tracker & reporting tool for iPhone

77. Deepwater Horizon Response Text Message Alerts

And for a little lagniappe, the best related t-shirt money can buy**:

** Solely the opinion of the author. LSUHSC-NO in no way supports, condones or authorizes the purchase of above product.

unhappy anniversary ya’ll. See you in 154 days.

77 oil spill links

courtesy NASA

1. Oil Spill Human Health Research Coordinating Group at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans

General public
2. CDC – Information for Coastal Residents – discusses the effect of the spill on food and water, and describes various oil smells and what health effects you may experience from inhaling them

3. CDC – Dispersants Quick Facts for Coastal Residents: Corexit 9500, 1,2-Propanediol, & other chemicals in the Gulf

4. Light crude oil and your health: CDC

5. Gulf Oil Spill Information for Pregnant Women (CDC)

6. Oil spill issues- Public information: what to do and why (FAQ from the Louisiana Dept. of health and hospitals) ÔÇô English

7. Oil spill issues-Public information: what to do and why (FAQ from the Louisiana Dept. of health and hospitals) ÔÇô Spanish

8. Oil spill issues-Public information: what to do and why (FAQ from the Louisiana Dept. of health and hospitals) ÔÇô Vietnamese

9. What you should and should not do in areas affected by the oil spill (Louisiana Dept. of health and hospitals) ÔÇô English

10. What you should and should not do in areas affected by the oil spill (from Louisiana Dept. of health and hospitals)- Spanish

11. What you should and should not do in areas affected by the oil spill (from Louisiana Dept. of health and hospitals) ÔÇô Vietnamese

12. Questions and Answers about the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf Coast (EPA)

13. Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill ÔÇô Texas Parks & Wildlife Department

14. Oil spill resources ÔÇô Louisiana Dept. of Public Health

15. Resources for individuals affected by oil spill ÔÇô Louisiana (food banks, support for children, BP claims/workforce assistance, homeowners insurance support and more )

16. Pubmed Search on oil spills and health

17. Odors from the BP Oil Spill (EPA) ÔÇô describes the different aromas & health effects, how to report

18. Table of Chemical Constituents Commonly Found in Crude Oil (CDC)

19. Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection ÔÇô Deepwater Horizon Response ÔÇô hotlines, FL response phone numbers, maps & surveillance

20. Disasterassistance.gov: file a BP claim

21. Gulf Oil Spill Health Hazards: chemicals and health effects (From Sciencecorps.org)

22. Crude Oil Spills and Health (National Library of Medicine)

23. Children and the oil spill ÔÇô American Academy of Pediatrics:

24. Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Update (FDA): seafood safety

25. Volunteer ÔÇô Louisiana

26. Volunteer ÔÇô Mississippi

27. Volunteer ÔÇô Florida
28. Volunteer – Alabama

29. What are tarballs and how do they form? (NOAA):

30. Health and Safety Aspects of In-situ Burning of Oil (NOAA)

31. Oil Well
Fires (U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine)

32. Exposure to Oil Fires/Oil Fire Smoke (U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine)

33. Shoreline Assessment (NOAA) Photographs demonstrating oil spill terminology: Oil distribution Surface oiling, Surface oiling types, Sediment types, Shoreline types, Cleanup methods

Response workers
34. Safety and Training of Oil Spill Response Workers (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences) awareness-level health and safety resource training tools in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese for response workers

35. Gulf Oil Spill 2010: Information for Response Workers (CDC)

36. Deepwater Horizon Guidance for Workers (NIOSH/OSHA)

37. Reducing Occupational Exposures while Working with Dispersants During the Deepwater Horizon Response (NIOSH/OSHA)

Maps
38. Beach advisories/status map ÔÇô Louisiana

39. Beach advisories/status map ÔÇô Florida

40. Beach advisories ÔÇô Alabama

41. Beach advisories-Mississippi

42. Beach advisories-Texas

43. Federal Fisheries Closure and Other Information (NOAA)

44. Where the oil is: A daily status of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (US Fish and Wildlife Service)

45. NOAA interactive map: Environmental response management application (ERMA) ÔÇô (Very, very cool!)

46. Air monitoring on the Gulf Coast (EPA) air quality maps, reports

47. Coastal Water Sampling (EPA): maps, location analysis

48. Coastal Sediment Sampling (EPA): maps, analysis

49. Oil spill trajectory hindcast/forecast (Ocean Circulation Group and the Optical Oceanography Laboratory at College of Marine Science, University of South Florida)

50. OSHA’s Efforts to Protect Workers: interactive maps showing OSHA presence and chemical sampling in the Gulf

51. Oil spill crisis map (Louisiana Bucket Brigade and Tulane University)

Surveillance
52. NIOSH Report of BP Illness and Injury Data (April 23 ÔÇô June 6, 2010)

53. Press Release: REPORTING OF OIL SPILL-RELATED ILLNESSES & INJURIES TO THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HOSPITALS (call 888-293-7020 or fax 225-342-8117)

54. Number of Patients Reporting Possible, Suspected, or Known Exposure to Oil in Baldwin and Mobile Counties (Alabama) by Week – link removed Jan.7, 2011
55. Monitoring and sampling information (BP)

56. The Oil Spill and Calls to Poison Centers – American Association of Poison control Centers (so far theyÔÇÖve received 621 exposure calls & 459 information calls. Louisiana has the highest number of calls):

57. Gulf oil spill health surveillance (CDC)

Chemicals and Dispersants
58. Oil Spill Dispersant (COREXIT ?«EC9500A and EC9527A) Information for Health Professionals

59. COREXIT?« EC9527A Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)

60. COREXIT?« EC9500A Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)

61. COREXIT?« EC9500A Technical Product bulletin (primary distributors, special handling information, physical properties like specific gravity, pH, toxicity, analysis for heavy metals etc )

62. COREXIT?« EC9527A Technical Product bulletin (primary distributors, special handling information, physical properties like specific gravity, pH, toxicity, analysis for heavy metals etc )

63. NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards

64. NIOSH Topic Page on 2-butoxyethanol (COREXIT EC9527A contains between 30-60% of 2-butoxyethanol, a dispersant chemical):

65. 2-butoxyethanol from the Hazardous Substances Databank: human health effects, emergency medical treatment, animal toxicity studies, environmental exposure, pharmacology, chemical properties, occupational exposure, etc.

66. 2-butoxyethanol from HazMap ÔÇô exposure assessment, adverse effects

67. Pubmed search on 2-butoxyethanol

68. Dispersants: a guided tour (NOAA)

Continue to #69-77, because our blogging software leaves much to be desired.

Meeting on Oil Spill Health Effects 6/22&23

I just received the following news release. The meetings are this week!
Oil Spill Health Effects to Be Explored at IOM Workshop, June 22-23
Scientists and government agencies are struggling to predict the potential health consequences of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico for those living and working near the region. At the request of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Institute of Medicine will host a public meeting to discuss the possible human health effects — both short- and long-term — resulting from the spill. Experts from the scientific community and academia, as well as additional stakeholders, will review lessons learned from similar disasters, identify groups most at risk for health problems as a result of the spill, and discuss how to prevent and monitor potential health consequences.
Details:
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CDT on June 22, and 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CDT on June 23, in the Queen Anne Ballroom of the Hotel Monteleone, 214 Royal St., New Orleans. Those who cannot attend may watch a video webcast of the event that will be available at www.national-academies.org. An agenda and registration information are available at www.iom.edu/oilspillhealth.

Local Surgeons & the Oil Spill

WWL-TV featured a story on a couple of local surgeons, including LSUHSC’s own Kamran Khoobehi offering some ideas on how to stop the oil leak, using surgical techniques. Love the out of the box thinking!

Seafood Safe?

School of Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Department Head, Jim Diaz appeared on WWL-TV on Friday night (April 30th) and stated that the general public does not need to be concerned that “with both the chemical sampling and taste testing that the experts do now, he does not think contaminated seafood will make it to your table.”

Crude Oil Spills and Human Health

The National Library of Medicine‘s Disaster Information Management Research Center
has created a new fact sheet on “Crude Oil Spills & Human Health.” The page is primarily an arranged group of links to other federal and state agencies.

Oil Slick in Gulf

Nasa’s satellite imaging photographed the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the drilling platform accident last week. It was featured in their Image of the Day Gallery on Monday.

Oil Slick in Gulf