GULF OIL SPILL: IMPLICATIONS TO HUMAN HEALTH · Implications of the Gulf Oil Spill to the Marcellus...

GULF OIL SPILL: IMPLICATIONS TO HUMAN HEALTH

Bernard D. Goldstein, MDCenter for Health Environments and 

CommunitiesCommunitiesGraduate School of Public Health

University of Pittsburgh

bdgold@pitt.edu

Major ThemesMajor Themes• The unity of human health and the environment; • We are now better able to predict the public healthWe are now better able to predict the public health consequence of disasters, including the social and cultural issues that affect health ‐ but we have a long 

d d d l f hway to go and we need to develop further expertise; • In the shorter and longer term, the mental and social health consequences of the Gulf Oil blowout willhealth consequences of the Gulf Oil blowout will  predominate

• The majority of the expertise needed for disaster j y presponse, just as the majority of the impact, will always be local. 

AP Photo/Derick E HingleAP Photo/Derick E. Hingle

Image: Patrick Semansky/AP

Issues in Ecotoxicological Testing of a Dispersant in the GulfDispersant in the Gulf

• Fate and transportH d• Hazard– To individual species– To ecosystem

• Concentration• Persistence• Salinity• Salinity• Temperature• Pressure• Degradation products 

– Of chemical– Of crude oil following interaction with chemicalOf crude oil following interaction with chemical

• Impact on Dead Zone

Algal Blooms Affecting Human HealthAlgal Blooms Affecting Human Health

• Ciguatera Toxin

d id (b i )• Red Tide (brevetoxins)

• Cyanobacteria

• Pfiesteria piscicida (?)

Direct Toxicological Effects of E t C d OilExposure to Crude Oil

• Anticipated Effects (all short-term)– Non-specific dermatitis– Neurophysiological symptoms: e.g.,

headache, nausea, weakness; dizzyness– Irritation of eyes and upper respiratory tract;

(transitory decline in pulmonary function; possibly asthma attacks)

Direct Toxicological Effects of E t C d OilExposure to Crude Oil

• Effects of Reasonable Concern– Cancer (benzene; PAHs)– Reproductive and developmental effects:

endocrine disruption

COREXIT 9500 MSDS: NALCO(edited)

2 COMPOSITION/INFORMATION ON2. COMPOSITION/INFORMATION ON INGREDIENTS

Our hazard evaluation has identified the following chemicalOur hazard evaluation has identified the following chemical substance(s) as hazardous:

Hazardous Substance(s) (w/w)( ) ( / )

‐ Distillates, petroleum, hydrotreated light     10.0 ‐ 30.0%

‐ Propylene Glycol                                                   1.0 ‐ 5.0%

‐ Organic sulfonic acid salt  (Proprietary)          10.0 ‐ 30.0%

Corexit is a Poster Child for reform of th US T i S b t C t l A tthe US Toxic Substances Control Act

OLD TOXICOLOGICAL ADAGE

“rats don’t retch”rats don t retch

Image: Chris Wilkins/AFP/ Getty Images

Image: Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council

Effects of the Exxon Valdez Oil SpillEffects of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

“When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound it spilled oil into a social asWilliam Sound, it spilled oil into a social as well as a natural environment”

Palinkas, LA et al.  Human Organization 52:1‐13, 1993

Social Determinants of Health( ld l h i i )(World Health Organization)

“ the circumstances in which people are born…the circumstances in which people are born, grow up, live, work and age, and the systems put in place to deal with illness Theseput in place to deal with illness.  These circumstances are in turn shaped by a wider set of forces: economics social policies andset of forces: economics, social policies and politics”

(see Satcher, D. Public Health Reports 125:6‐7, 2010

Environmental Justice Indisputable truisms

• There are more environmental hazards in disadvantaged communitiesdisadvantaged communities

• There are more individuals with poor health in di d d i idisadvantaged communities

• Individuals with poor health tend to be more susceptible to environmental pollutants

Policy Implications of the Three TruismsPolicy Implications of the Three Truisms

• Environmental health research should be focused in disadvantaged communitiesg

• To be successful, environmental health research requires the cooperation ofresearch requires the cooperation of disadvantaged communities

Three Levels of Community Participation in d i hAcademic Research

1) We will tell you the outcome of our study affecting your community

2) We will let you participate in the study

3) Working with you, we will together decide h h h ld b d d h dwhat research should be done and how to do 

it

Factors Affecting the Impact of the G lf Oil Bl tGulf Oil Blowout

• Economic impacts, including job lossp g j• Perceived lack of credibility of

authoritiesauthorities• Prior traumatization from Hurricane

Katrina

Factors Affecting the Impact of the G lf Oil Bl tGulf Oil Blowout

• Uncertainties and loss of control concerning long term consequences

• Pre existing health status and• Pre-existing health status and vulnerabilities

• Oil Spill health concerns

Factors Affecting the Impact of the G lf Oil Bl tGulf Oil Blowout

• Threat to way of life• Threat to way of life• Threat to integrity of

multigenerational communities

Alcoa Lost Workday Performance1987‐2004

Impediments to obtainingImpediments to obtaining information relevant to the health effects caused by this disaster and rele ant to thedisaster – and relevant to the 

next disaster

Impediments• Lack of background information • Failure to ask the right questions earlyFailure to ask the right questions early enough

• Urgency of environmental/economic issuesUrgency of environmental/economic issues• Failure to seek and engage local expertise• Failure to evaluate actions and outcomes• Failure to evaluate actions and outcomes• Multisectorial, multidisciplinary, multi‐governmental multi‐everything elsegovernmental, multi‐everything else

• Unwillingness to say “I don’t know”B i d b liti ti• Barriers caused by litigation

Dr John Snow and the Broad St PumpDr John Snow and the Broad St Pump

• John Snow is famous as the “founding father”John Snow is famous as the  founding father  of epidemiology because of his scientific investigation of a disastrous cholera epidemicinvestigation of a disastrous cholera epidemic in London in 1853 which led to identification of cholera as a water‐borne diseaseof cholera as a water borne disease.  

• He is credited with removal of the pump handle from the water source that washandle from the water source that was causing the cholera outbreak

Dr John Snow and the Broad St PumpDr John Snow and the Broad St Pump

• In fact Dr Snow did not remove the pumpIn fact, Dr Snow did not remove the pump handle.  Instead, he convinced the local public health authority who had it removedhealth authority who had it removed. 

Wi h h i f hi l l bli h l h• Without the action of this local public health authority, Dr Snow’s scientific achievements 

ld d b li l h fwould today be little more than a footnote.  

Implications of the Gulf Oil Spill to the ll h lMarcellus Shale

‐Worker health and environmental health are linked by the culture of the workplace‐ Independent governmental oversight is necessarynecessary‐ TSCA reform is required to better balance the protection of the environment and public healthprotection of the environment and public health with business needs‐ Psychosocial health impacts of energy extraction 

b i di h l h ffcan be as important as direct health effects.

Implications of the Gulf Oil Spill to the ll h lMarcellus Shale

‐ It is highly likely that over time all theIt is highly likely that over time all the nation’s oil and gas sources will be tapped.  So what’s the rush?‐ The only certainty is that there will be law suits.   As a corollary, it is in everyone’s best interest to determine the potential environmental and  human health impacts of 

i i l h henergy extraction prospectively, rather than retrospectively.

Five Unanswered QuestionsAb t th G lf S ill

NewsweekBy Ian YarettAugust 03, 2010About the Gulf Spill

Many important unknowns remain…

August 03, 2010

y p

Exactly how much oil has leaked?

Where has all the oil gone?

Does the wellbore have good integrity?

Are underwater seeps from old wells common?

Wh 't th d d i l ?Why aren't there more dead animals?