[StBernard] LSUHSC to study mid, long-term health consequences of oil exposure

[Westley Annis]

LSUHSC to study mid, long-term health consequences of oil exposure

LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Public Health is launching
the first study ever done of the mid- and long-term health consequences of
exposure to oil. With funding from the National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences, LSUHSC will enroll a total of 8,000 participants 4,000
women in the general population of seven parishes affected by the Deepwater
Horizon/BP oil spill (Orleans, St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson,
Lafourche, Terrebonne, and St. Mary), plus 2,000 wives of individuals who
were involved in the clean-up, as well as 2,000 children.

"We are interested in what women living in the most affected parishes
experienced in terms of exposure to oil and its clean-up, with the goal of
monitoring the physical, behavioral, social, and mental health effects over
time," notes principal investigator, Edward Trapido, ScD, FACE, LSUHSC
Public Health Associate Dean for Research, Professor and Wendell Gauthier
Chair of Cancer Epidemiology. "Only by doing a long term study can we truly
assess what the effects will be." LSUHSC will interview women over the
telephone, and biologic samples will be collected by members of the study
team to look for evidence of exposure to the compounds in the oil/dispersant
which have been considered to be dangerous.

The $3.5 million study will follow participants over a five-year period to
determine not only the physical and mental health effects, but also how the
oil spill affected them in terms of their family interactions and
connections in the community. The team will look at changes in eating
seafood, pregnancy issues, resiliency, and economic well-being in an area
that has suffered major natural and man-made disasters.

"We have focused on women and their children, because issues related to food
choices, family and neighborhood interactions, pregnancy concerns, and
family budgets often are dealt with by women in these parishes," explains
Dr. Trapido. "There is so much hear-say information about the oil spill, but
without a systematic research effort, we will never know the answers." Many
residents of the communities in Southeast Louisiana coastal parishes have
been affected by the oil spill, while still recovering from the devastation
of Hurricane Katrina and the levee failures.

LSU Health Sciences Center has contracted researchers from Columbia
University who have studied the effects of Hurricane Katrina in many of the
same parishes. "Having attended and participated in community meetings over
the past year, we have heard the concerns," says Dr. Trapido. "And working
with the communities, the LSUHSC New Orleans School of Public Health wants
to help provide answers."