The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill of April 20, 2010, is considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry, with an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil expelled into the Gulf of Mexico from a seafloor well leak. The quantity of oil discharge and the duration of time in which it flowed were considerably greater than any previously studied marine spill event. During the cleanup program that ensued, 108 worker-related and 35 resident spill-exposure cases were reported to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. Concerns escalated regarding the potential toxicity of oil-related chemicals not only to the cleanup crew but to residents on the coast who had been impacted by the spill.
The GuLF Study
In response to these exposure reports, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services implemented the GuLF Study, run by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, which consists of a decade-long follow up evaluation of the health of 33,000 cleanup workers. The study focuses specifically on individual exposure to oil and dispersant products and the potential health consequences of that exposure such as respiratory, neurobehavioral, carcinogenic and immunological conditions. The study also evaluates mental health concerns and other oil-related stressors such as job loss, family dislocation and financial uncertainties.
Inception and History of the GuLF Project and Role of Call Center/Field Locator Staff
A coordinating center for the study was established, implementing a comprehensive communications and community outreach plan to recruit and enroll study participants, collect baseline and follow-up data, and organize the retrieval and delivery of bio-specimens. Nearly 11,000 home visits in the Gulf region have now been completed and much of the collected data has been analyzed by statisticians and epidemiologists in past and ongoing publications.
Headway in Research provided call-center and field locator support from mid-2013 until the fall of 2015, supplying staff to conduct detailed follow-up telephone interviews of 11,000 workers. In addition, 20,000 study participants are being actively monitored via telephone interviews every two to three years.
Results Thus Far and Ongoing Efforts
The GuLF study has enabled scientists to construct a job-specific exposure matrix that allows them to predict variable exposure to oil-related chemicals for certain cleanup jobs at various times in various locations. By utilizing this relative exposure information, in conjunction with interview data from cleanup workers, researchers are now able to characterize the oil spill exposure of the study participants.
One of the most critical lessons learned as a result of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, is that researchers need to become involved early in the response efforts to facilitate the collection of vital health information, including samples of air, water, and other materials and contaminants. NIEHS worked with the National Library of Medicine as well as other agencies to develop the Disaster Research Response Project, the goal of which is to create a disaster response platform that consists of readily utilized data collection tools and scalable research protocols. This platform will enable a network of environmental health researchers nationwide to carry out a prompt and efficient research response. While it is hoped that a disaster of the magnitude of Deepwater Horizon will not occur in the future, it is critical that researchers be prepared for it if it does.
Article Sources:
https://disaster.nlm.nih.gov/dimrc/dr2/disasterresearchrespfs_01_2015.pdf
https://www.s-3.com/images/documents/posters/Hypertension_Gulf_Jackson.pdf
https://www.s-3.com/images/documents/posters/GuLF_STUDY.pdf
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/materials/oil_spill_response_and_research_508.pdf
https://gulfstudy.nih.gov/en/GuLF_2015_Newsletter_Final_508.pdf
https://gulfstudy.nih.gov/en/index.html
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