Research Priorities for Assessing Health Effects from the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill A Letter Report (2010) / Chapter Skim
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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The committee's recommendations are included in this report. The committee believes that it is important to study health effects from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill for three reasons: • To learn about the impact of oil spills on human health, • To improve mitigation efforts, and • To prevent adverse health effects from occurring in individuals affected by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and in future disasters.
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Overall, the IOM is tasked with providing periodic independent review of the federal response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill as it relates to the surveillance and monitoring of workers and volunteers involved in efforts to stop the spill and environmental cleanup efforts and the affected public for acute and longterm physical and behavioral health effects. BACKGROUND On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon, a semisubmersible offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, exploded, killing 11 workers.
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RATIONALE FOR STUDYING HEALTH EFFECTS FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO OIL SPILL The committee believes that it is critical to study health effects from oil spills for three reasons: to learn about the impact of oil spills on human health, to improve mitigation efforts, 1 The version of the GuLF study protocol that the workshop participants provided comments on can be accessed at http://iom.edu/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/PublicHealth/FedResponseOilSpill/GuLF%20Study%20Protocol%2 0DRAFT%20to%20IOM%202010-09-17.pdf. Additional details of the GuLF study can be accessed at http://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/od/programs/gulfworkerstudy.cfm.
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The committee believes that studies of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill will inform researchers about how to establish a more effective, faster, and less expensive research framework for responding to future disasters, including oil spills. POPULATIONS TO STUDY The committee believes that it is important not only to study the health effects of the oil spill on cleanup workers (as will be under way in the GuLF study)
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STUDY DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS The committee believes that to effectively conduct studies of the health effects of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill there should be • Improved coordination across federal, state, local, and tribal government entities; • Increased fostering of cross-cultural communication and community engagement efforts, including the involvement of community health workers and organizations and assessments of the concerns of local communities; and • National and local capacity building to develop a framework for a research response to a disaster that can be rapidly put into place as soon as a disaster strikes. Coordination of Information Sharing At the September 22, 2010, IOM workshop, participants pointed out that several existing resources housed by different federal, state, or local agencies and institutions could enable more accurate and complete exposure assessments and provide better documentation of the health effects of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
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. Lessons can also be learned from the National Children's Health study, which dealt with the complexities of having multiple IRBs involved by giving local IRBs the option of ceding their authority to the central National Institutes of Health IRB.2 To facilitate studies of the health effects of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the committee believes improved coordination across federal, state, local, and tribal government entities and among IRBs is needed.
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The committee believes that all studies on the health effects of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill should be conducted with adequate community engagement and communication, which includes collaboration on the study design, discussion and clarification of expectations and the consent process, and communication of study results. Such engagement will be critical at every
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RESEARCH PRIORITIES Many potential avenues of research for assessing health effects from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill were discussed during the IOM workshop and public session on September 22 and 23 and among the committee members during their subsequent deliberations in closed session. On the basis of the evidence reviewed, along with the committee members' expertise and judgment, the committee narrowed the list of possible research opportunities to those that it believes should be considered priorities.
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. Therefore, the most immediate and visible behavioral health impacts of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill for which the population should be evaluated include an increase in psychiatric disorders, particularly PTSD, depressive disorders, generalized anxiety disorder, and substance abuse.
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The committee recommends that priority be given to research that is designed to generate evidence about the psychological and behavioral effects of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Policymakers and health officials can use such evidence to guide efforts to improve the health status of individuals affected by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, as well as contribute to the prevention and treatment of similar health outcomes in future disasters.
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3 Tap Bui, Mary Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corporation, presented information on community concerns about the safety of seafood following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill during the September 23, 2010, public session in Tampa, Florida.
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The committee recommends that priority be given to assessing seafood safety in both the near term and long term and clearly communicating results to the affected communities. The committee recommends the following specific actions: • Determining the safety of fish caught by subsistence or recreational fishers and harvested by major commercial operations; • Coordinating and synthesizing data between federal and state agencies and acquiring baseline data available before the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, such as FDA's spot testing of seafood in markets to delineate the types and levels of chemicals in seafood before the oil spill (In synthesizing results, researchers should consider the adequacy of the sampling and testing methods used and should cross-check information between different data sources.
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, are particularly relevant to assessing health effects from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Communication is an essential component of engaging the affected communities in research.
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and with the local community; • Continue developing interinstitutional agreements about data sharing so that in future situations governmental agencies would be able to share information with other groups, such as centers in disaster research (At the September 22, 2010, IOM workshop, representatives from a number of governmental agencies talked about their efforts to make data related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill available to each other as well as to other organizations. In addition, the National Institutes of Health hosted an interagency meeting on August 19, 2010 to gain a fuller understanding of governmental efforts to respond to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
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Presentation to the IOM Committee to Review the Federal Response to the Health Effects Associated with the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill. September 23, 2010, Tampa, FL.
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1993. Community patterns of psychiatric disorders after the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
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