 |
|
|
|
|
June 17th, 2010
07:51 PM ET
Should you worry about burning the oil spill?
By Caleb Hellerman As cleanup workers burn off oil from BP’s ruined Deepwater Horizon well, the black clouds of smoke soaring skyward are carrying questions about health risks, along with a thick helping of soot, volatile gases and other toxic byproducts. The most immediate risk is to cleanup workers or others in proximity to the burn, according to Dr. Phil Harber, head of the division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. However, depending on the eventual scope of the burn, and length of the cleanup effort, others on shore could be affected, says Harber. “People with asthma, or who are very young, or who have cardiac disease, are much more likely to be sensitive the released pollutants.” Federal officials with the Occupational Safety and Health Agency have issued a memorandum insisting on proper safety equipment and training for all cleanup workers. When reached by CNN, spokespeople for two companies helping with the effort – Global Industries, and Boots and Coots - would not say if workers were taking special precautions to protect against the smoke. More than 12,600 workers are helping with the overall cleanup effort, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The black cloud is largely made up of small particles that can lodge deep in the lungs. It also contains gases such as sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, and volatile compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which at high exposures are considered a trigger for cancer, says Harber. Of course, because of the volatile compounds it gives off, the spilled oil poses some health risk, simply sitting on the surface. OSHA has been monitoring air in the main clean up area, and posting some results on its website. The Environmental Protection Agency also has air monitoring stations around the Gulf, with results posted on this website. According to data posted on June 15, the EPA says that air-quality levels for ozone and particulates on the Gulf coastline are no different from usual, for this time of year. However, the gases swirling around the spill do seem to be having at least some health effect. Hospitals have reported several dozen cleanup workers who complained of symptoms including headaches, nausea and dizziness. Long-term, the potential impact is unclear. John Howard, director of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, told a congressional panel Wednesday, “We have very scant information, in general, about oil spills.” With reporting from CNN intern Trisha Pasricha. Editor's Note: Medical news is a popular but sensitive subject rooted in science. We receive many comments on this blog each day; not all are posted. Our hope is that much will be learned from the sharing of useful information and personal experiences based on the medical and health topics of the blog. We encourage you to focus your comments on those medical and health topics and we appreciate your input. Thank you for your participation. |
  About this blog
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the latest stories from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and the CNN Medical Unit producers. They'll share news and views on health and medical trends - info that will help you take better care of yourself and the people you love.
 |
|
|
|
maxifort zimax mexico maxifort 50 mg
maxifort zimax sildenafil 50 mg maxifort zimax 100 mg
overnight shipping on viagra pills canadianhealthandcaremallreviews.com viagra muy barata
buy viagra montreal North West Pharmacy viagra professional
buy maxifort maxifort zimax 100mg
maxifort zimax mexico buy maxifort
What's up every one, here every person is sharing such
know-how, thus it's fastidious to read this blog, and I used to pay a
quick visit this web site all the time.
how to buy viagra online Canadian Health Care Mall Pharmacy best price 100mg generic viagra
cheap generic viagra Click Here buy real viagra
You should be a part of a contest for one of the highest quality sites on the internet. I am going to recommend this website!
https://extraproxies.com/nudez-com-nsfw/
maxifort zimax sildenafil 50 mg maxifort 50 mg
maxifort zimax 100 mg maxifort zimax mexico
maxifort zimax mexico maxifort zimax 100 mg
canadian pharmacy cialis 20mg
buy maxifort maxifort zimax 100 mg
Pretty section of content. I simply stumbled upon your weblog and in accession capital to say that
I get actually loved account your weblog posts.
Any way I'll be subscribing to your augment
and even I success you get right of entry to constantly quickly.
I know this if off topic but I'm looking into starting
my own blog and was curious what all is needed to get setup?
I'm assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty
penny? I'm not very internet savvy so I'm not 100% positive.
Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Hi! I've been reading your weblog for a long time now and finally got the
bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from
Kingwood Texas! Just wanted to say keep up the fantastic job!
maxifort 50 mg maxifort online
maxifort zimax mexico maxifort online
My brother suggested I might like this website.
He was entirely right. This post actually made my day.
You can not imagine just how much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!
canadian pharmacy cialis
maxifort 50 mg maxifort zimax 100 mg
maxifort zimax 100 mg maxifort zimax sildenafil 50 mg
maxifort 50 mg buy maxifort
healthy man viagra scam
healthy male viagra
usa pharmacy no script canadian pharmacy online no script
canadian pharmacy canadian online pharmacy
Loving the information on this site, you have done great job on the posts.
healthy man
Hey there! Would you mind if I share your blog with my myspace group?
There's a lot of folks that I think would really appreciate your
content. Please let me know. Thank you
healthy man viagra pills
canada pharmacy 24 hour drug store sky pharmacy online drugstore
247 overnight pharmacy canadian canadian pharmacy no prescription
buy maxifort maxifort
canada pharmacy 24 hour drug store canadian pharmacy
on line pharmacy
healthy man viagra
canadian pharmacy cialis 20mg cialis canadian pharmacy
online pharmacies canada
maxifort zimax 100 mg buy maxifort
canadian pharm support group
onlinepharmacy on line pharmacy
I was curious if you ever thought of changing the layout of your blog?
Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a
little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better.
Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or 2 images.
Maybe you could space it out better?
4 corners pharmacy on line pharmacy
on line pharmacy canada pharmacy 24 hour drug store
healthy man viagra offer
canadian pharmacy 24h canada pharmacy 24 hour drug store
canadian pharmacy cialis canadian pharmacy cialis