NIH/NIEHS Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill Research: Overview and Future Research Needs

Each environmental or man-made disaster, such as the Deep Water Oil Spill, with its attendant health consequences is unique. However, valuable lessons can be learned from each one that can inform responses to future disasters.  As such, NIH and NIEHS intramural and extramural funded investigators, in partnership with workers and numerous community groups, are engaged in an array of research efforts regarding the impacts of the oil spill including large-scale exposure reconstructions, toxicology research into mixtures of polycyclic aromatic compounds, seafood analyses, mental health and resiliency research, education and training, and improvements in disaster science preparedness. Additionally, epidemiologic investigations of at-risk community populations, as well as the GuLF Study of over 32,000 clean-up workers, are well under way. While these efforts provide an essential foundation for critical health research, the overarching strategy moving forward will be to build on this platform to further our understanding of the long-term effects on established cohorts, risk factors and markers, including genetic & epigenetic, of susceptibility and disease, and the complex stressors and interactions that contribute to community and individual resiliency or vulnerability.

Leveraging of these, and other DWH research investments, through ongoing partnerships and new multidisciplinary collaborations will help to reduce adverse health effects and better prepare us for the future.