January 22, 2012 — There continues to be no evidence that harmful levels of chemicals from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill are in seafood, but initial study results show that former spill cleanup workers are carrying biomarkers of many chemicals contained in the oil in their bodies, and women and children along Louisiana's coast are reporting health effects believed linked to oil.
Those were some of the public health findings discussed Tuesday during the second day of the three-day Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference, which is aimed at understanding the effects of pollution resulting from the spill and its effect on natural systems in the Gulf and along the shoreline, as well as on the people who live and work there.
Several studies described Tuesday also indicate a significant percentage of coastal residents are reporting continued mental health problems related to the spill, ranging from anxiety and depression to post-traumatic stress syndrome.
The seafood safety issue has remained a bone of contention for some fishermen and coastal residents who have reported finding either deformed fish or evidence of hydrocarbons in shrimp or oysters.
Read the full story in the Times-Picayune