Gulf Coast Poison Centers respond to oil spill
June 4th, 2010 - 3:18 am ICT by BNO NewsALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA (BNO NEWS) – More than 100 people have called Gulf region poison centers since the Deepwater Horizon oil platform caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, the American Association of Poison Control Centers said Thursday.
People have been contacting the centers either to receive information or to report side effects from the resulting oil spill, as Dr. Mark Ryan, managing director of the Louisiana Poison Center, said he expects to see that number rise as the oil continues to leak and spread.
So far, the most common symptom reported to centers has been throat irritation, followed by headaches. Other callers have reported symptoms including nausea, chest pain, dizziness and coughs. Most calls so far have involved inhalation of fumes.
“Louisiana is a particularly difficult area to clean because the marshes are grassy with muddy bottoms that have very low oxygen content,” he said. “It’s not conducive to breaking oil down. We may be dealing with this for decades.”
The U.S. Coast Guard and the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals are among the agencies urging those exposed to toxins related to the spill to call their local poison center for guidance, and the Louisiana center is working with the state’s Center for Epidemiology and Environmental Toxicology to gauge the number of poison exposures related to the spill. “We are collaborating to obtain the most comprehensive picture of the exposures that are occurring,” Ryan said.
As of June 2, Gulf region centers reported a total of 45 calls reporting a poison exposure related to the spill. An additional 64 callers have contacted their poison center to seek medical information about the spill.
“Poison centers are perfectly poised to be a go-to health care resource during a disaster,” said Jim Hirt, executive director of the American Association of Poison Control Centers. “There’s a reason that state and federal health agencies are relying on information from Gulf region poison centers – these centers provide an invaluable public health service.”
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