The following is a letter from Dr. Sharon A Croisant from the University of Texas Medical Branch announcing their new study, entitled Gulf Coast Health Alliance; Health Risks Related to the Macando Spill (GC-HARMS), that will help us to have a better understanding of the impacts of petroleum contamination in the Gulf region. It was recently funded by NIEHS. LEAN is proud to be a partner in this study!
The following is a letter from Dr. Sharon A Croisant from the University of Texas Medical Branch announcing their new study, entitled Gulf Coast Health Alliance; Health Risks Related to the Macando Spill (GC-HARMS), that will help us to have a better understanding of the impacts of petroleum contamination in the Gulf region. It was recently funded by NIEHS. LEAN is proud to be a partner in this study!
Associate Professor, Department of Preventive
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) became involved in the early response to the oil spill largely due to ongoing relationships established with coastal communities on various projects in the aftermaths of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Ike. A series of meetings with over two dozen community groups in the early days of the spill already revealed deep concerns over the lack of knowledge regarding the safety of petrogenic polycyclic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the oil, its disposition due to the use of dispersants, and persistent uncertainty over their long-term effects on the food web and their human health effects. This is clearly magnified by the fact that many coastal families not only subsist on Gulf seafood but also rely on its harvest for financial support. These concerns drove development of a consortium and subsequently, a U19 proposal utilizing a Community-Based Participatory Research approach focused upon gaining an understanding of the long-term health effects attributable to the Gulf oil spill. Our study, which was recently funded by NIEHS, will concentrate on the contamination of Gulf finfish and shellfish and the potential health effects in humans consuming tainted seafood.
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LEAN Technical Advisor, Wilma Subra, conducts sampling training aboard a shrimp boat for GC-HARMS. |
The GC-HARMS consortium consists of UTMB, the University of Pennsylvania, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Louisiana State University, and Gulf Coast communities impacted by the DWH Disaster. The coalition of community partners are represented by the Louisiana Environmental Action Network (Baton Rouge, LA), the Center for Environmental and Economic Justice (Biloxi, MS), the Mississippi Coalition for Vietnamese Fisherfolk (Gulfport, MS), the United Houma Nation (Houma, LA), South Bay Community Alliance (Coden, AL), the Zion Travelers Cooperative Center (Phoenix, LA), and Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing (Thibodaux, LA). The mission of the consortium is to explore the health impacts and community resiliency related to the DWH Disaster by fostering collaborative interactions amongst multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional basic and clinical investigators-supported by active participation of the community partners-to pursue both fundamental and translational research pertinent to the effects of the oil spill on human health.
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LEAN Technical Advisor, Wilma Subra, conducts sampling training aboard a shrimp boat for GC-HARMS. |
The overall theme of the GC-HARMS consortium is to understand and communicate the human health risks of exposure to potentially hazardous food-borne petrogenic PAH. Our goals developed in collaboration with our community partners are to, 1) assess PAH contamination of Gulf seafood caught by the subsistence fishing communities for personal consumption and commercial sale, 2) determine the toxicity of petrogenic PAH, 3) evaluate exposure and health outcomes in a longitudinal study involving the community partners measuring multiple stressor biomarkers, and 4) disseminate the findings to our community stakeholders.
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Surveying the first catch of the GC-HARMS project. |
Our program overall seeks to address the impact of the DWH Disaster on health, illness, and quality of life for the general population residing in the Gulf Coast region, and compile the scientific evidence needed to strengthen the resiliency of vulnerable populations along the Gulf Coast, enabling them to prepare for and recover from the effects of the man-made (e.g., oil spill) and natural (e.g., hurricanes) disasters. Our interest in ascertaining the current and future safety of the seafood upon which the coastal fishing communities rely directly addresses the issue of community vulnerability and resiliency following the DWH Disaster.
Progress to date has largely occurred behind the scenes. Because this involves human participants in clinical research, we must adhere strictly to federal guidelines. Our engaged community groups are now finishing their human subjects training, and we are finalizing our study instruments and Institutional Review Board application, which ensures the protection of people engaged in research. We have also established scopes of work for each of the communities, standard operating procedures, and initiated training with local fisherfolk who are to be engaged in seafood sampling with us. LEAN is providing this training We are in the process of ensuring protection of participants in our cohort as well as for those who assist with seafood procurement. This was identified as a risk by our participants who are concerned about issues that might arise if a third party demanded access to our data based upon the Open Records Act. We are thus doing two things, procuring Certificates of Confidentiality for participants and setting up the mechanism such that only the two medical doctors participating can identify subjects. Since they are covered by patient-provider privilege, they would not be required to release any identities even if requested to do so. We have compiled a directory of our community contacts and had a two-day training session in August to talk about the study and the steps required to move forward. We’ve also established reporting mechanisms that satisfy the federal requirements for preservation of documents. Bureaucratic issues, but critical if the science is to be both rigorous and credible, which is what the communities require if they are to be able to use findings to effect changes in health and policy related to the spill. Perhaps most importantly, we cannot begin the clinical study until we first identify local health resources (or lack thereof) so that if we do find someone who needs help beyond the scope of our project, he/she won’t be left without help. We have identified the list and are in the process of vetting it.
Next steps. Community coordinators are in the process of publicizing the project to allow for recruitment when the IRB approval is completed. The seafood sampling process began in August and will be conducted again in December.
- wilma subra
- bp oil spill
- ealert
- human health
- petroleum contamination
- UTMB
- GCHARMS
- riverkeeper