Gulf Spill Health Problems Mimic Other Oil Disasters
As cleanup efforts of the BP blown-out oil well continue in the Gulf of Mexico, some of the workers involved in that operation are beginning to experience health problems and are slowly trickling into Gulf Coast hospitals seeking medical help.
They are exhibiting "a pattern of symptoms" that could have been caused by the burning of crude oil or from noxious fumes from the oil or dispersants dumped in the water to break up the oil, according to Damon Dietrich, MD, who has treated a handful of oil workers in the emergency department at West Jefferson Medical Center in New Orleans.
Some of the workers are complaining of flu-like symptoms similar to those reported by workers at the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. U.S. Coast Guard and BP officials say dehydration, heat, food poisoning and other unrelated factors may have caused the symptoms, according to a recent AP article..
Nonetheless, the current medical situation is being monitored closely as it should be.
Still, we need to keep some facts in perspective. The number of workers involved in the operations and the size of the spill are far smaller than the number of people exposed to an even worse oil catastrophe in Kuwait and the Persian Gulf during Desert Storm in 1990-1991.
Many of the 700,000 U.S. troops in that combat zone were exposed to potential toxins from various sources. The most visible were fumes from 605 burning wells set ablaze by Iraqi forces.
Not to be overlooked, however, is the damage created when Iraqi forces deliberately dumped 11 million barrels of crude oil into the gulf waters off the coast of Kuwait, creating an oil slick far greater than the one created by the current BP well explosion, according to Middle East energy experts writing for the Grid.
Problems faced by clean-up crews today mimic those of 20 years ago.
Based on the Kuwait experience, we learned that medical and environmental concerns were not as bad as originally feared, partially because local wind and weather conditions reduced the impact of the smoke on military populations, and oil dissipation has a life of its own.
Considerable records on short- and long-term effects of the Kuwait experience are currently available through the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses on the Web site Gulflink.
Some of the problems that surfaced during Desert Storm involved exacerbations of existing respiratory conditions including asthma and bronchitis. Short-term symptoms included coughing, black mucous in nasal discharge, eye and throat irritations, skin rashes, and shortness of breath.
Not all the problems can be blamed on the burning oil, DoD experts argue, because background factors like existing dust and sand impact lifelong residents at all times. About 18 percent of the civilian population in Kuwait has some type of respiratory complaint, primarily asthma, under normal conditions. Combined with smoke and soot, the problems of military personnel were not considered more severe than normal for that region.
Contact with crude oil causes no significant acute medical problems other than mild irritation when in contact with the eyes, explain medical experts.
Still, it is dangerous to be too cavalier in attitude. The oil washing ashore and the chemicals used in the clean-up may pose a health risk for those with existing respiratory diseases, according to environment allergy-asthma expert Jonathan Bernstein, MD, a spokesman for the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. He warns that people with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can be at risk, particularly from the oil-dispersing chemicals.
"Since the spill is now coming ashore, adults and children with respiratory diseases need to keep a close eye on their breathing, stay inside, and call their allergist if they feel ill," he advised. "The oil-dispersing chemicals could also be harmful because we don't know what they are or whether they have a strong odor that may trigger symptoms."
Respiratory therapists may well expect to treat a somewhat heavier caseload of patients in the days ahead as the oil starts to come ashore in coastal states. Unfortunately, it will be years before we know the long-term health effects from the current catastrophe. But a look at the past does offer some good clues for what we can expect.