If you're wondering what the long-term effects to humans or to the environment from the recent Gulf of Mexico oil disaster might be, the answer is, "no one knows." Because we have not had to deal with something so massive in our lifetimes and because deep-water drilling is still in its early days, there are no recorded cases of such a spill ever occurring and we really have no way to know what will happen. We know that full recovery from the Exxon-Valdez spill in has yet to occur. We also know that in 1991, 11 million barrels of oil were dumped into the Persian Gulf. Without a lot of cleanup effort in the latter case, the oil just entered the marshland and stayed there.
Short-term effects on humans have included throat irritation, headaches, nausea, cough and dizziness. Breathing in oil mist can cause respiratory problems in children and adults who suffer from asthma or whose health is already compromised. Touching oil can lean to skin irritations. The oil spill can also affect mental health. Anxiety, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and depression are definitely possible. Of course, all of these may be temporary.
The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals has so far reported 143 cases of oil spill related illness since April 20. 108 of those cases were either oil rig workers or oil spill clean-up personnel. 35 of the cases were from the general public.
http://www. dhh.louisiana.gov/
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