Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: Making a Difference
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The Gulf of Mexico experienced a large disastrous oil spill caused by an explosion April 20, 2010 on the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil platform located about 50 miles southeast of the Mississippi River delta (28.74°N, 88.39°W). Oil gushed for 87 days (until July 15th) into the gulf from the wellhead 5,000 feet (1,500 m) below the ocean surface at an estimated 20,000 - 40,000 barrels a day. The total amount spilled is estimated to be approximately 184,755,550 gallons, which is enough oil to fill 307 olympic-size swimming pools. This environmental disaster has been devastating to marine and wildlife habitats, as well as the Gulf of Mexico fishing and tourism industries, which have been the livelihood of these coastal communities. Within two weeks of the spill, EHSC investigator Dr. Kim Anderson and her lab were on the scene sampling air and water to measure specifically polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are a significant toxicological health concern. The Map shows the coastal locations of the air and water sampling.Anderson is using air and water passive sampler devices (PSDs) in the Gulf of Mexico before, during and post impact from the Deepwater Horizon Spill. She uses complementary bio-analytical tools that quantify bioavailability processes to understand disasters such as oil spill risk. View the video below to get a better idea of the sampling instruments and sites. This project is a collaborative effort between EHSC and the Superfund Research Program (SRP) at OSU. For more information, see the links below from the SRP site.
Dr. Kim Anderson and her lab discuss the research using bioanalytical tools to analyze PAHs in the environment on Green Science Oregon episode 9.1.
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