An ongoing study of workers participating in cleanup efforts following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 has found that many of those who were exposed to chemicals used to break down the oil slicks are more likely to experience a number of health issues.
The study, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and posted online on the Environmental Health Perspectives website, said individuals exposed to the chemicals, known as dispersants, were more likely to experience issues that include coughing, wheezing and tightness in the chest, as well as burning of the eyes, nose, throat and lungs, that those who were not exposed to the chemicals, an NIH release said.
"While symptoms are not disease, many people who worked on the oil spill underwent a stressful experience," Linda Birnbaum, director of the NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, said in the release.
The study is ongoing with the next round of interviews slated for later this year, the release said.
