NIH to begin Gulf oil spill health study

The National Institutes of Health is expediting a multiyear study to examine the health effects from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Gulf Worker Study will examine how exposure to oil and chemical dispersants could affect respiratory, neurobehavioral, carcinogenic and immunological conditions. The research also will evaluate mental health concerns and other spill-related stressors on workers, such as job loss and disruption to family life.

"Cleanup workers are likely to be the most heavily exposed of all population groups in the Gulf Coast region," said Dale Sandler, chief of the epidemiology branch at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the study's lead researcher.

"We plan to enroll workers with varying levels of exposure," Sandler said. "We hope to recruit workers involved in oil burning, skimming and booming, equipment decontamination, wildlife cleanup and also those with lower exposure, such as shoreline cleanup workers."

Helping to fund the $20 million study is a $10 million contribution from BP through the company's Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative. The GRI is a 10-year, $500 million research program to mitigate potential consequences of the spill. BP, which was responsible for the spill, will have no say in how NIH spends the money, according to an agency statement.

Researchers are seeking input from Gulf Coast residents in how the study is designed and implemented, Sandler said.

Also informing the research will be the results of public workshops convened by the Institutes of Medicine in late June. IOM organized the meetings at the Health and Human Services Department's request, to explore the potential adverse health effects for at-risk populations living in the Gulf region, or assisting with cleanup activities.

Participants in the IOM workshops discussed monitoring activities, the types of research methods and data sources available, and options to consider when developing short- and long-term surveillance plans, as well as effective ways to communicate potential health risks to members of the public and to engage them in research on the spill's effects.

Researchers should have no trouble finding participants. In August, Columbia University's National Center for Disaster Preparedness released preliminary findings of a study of the disaster's impact on children and families living along the Gulf Coast. The researchers found 40 percent of the population living within 10 miles of the coast had experienced direct exposure to the oil spill, and one-third of parents reported their children had physical symptoms or mental health consequences.