Locals Track Gulf Oil Spill's Health Impacts, Paving Way for Federal Study
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/08/19/19greenwire-locals-track-gulf-oil-spills-health-impacts-pa-41267.html
"That tracking work can be slow-going, as the group's volunteers station themselves in convenience stores, marinas, and bars where residents of the state's rural southern bayous congregate. The group's two-page survey, which focuses on unusual symptoms experienced following oil or dispersant exposure and attempts to control for over-the-counter medication use, has produced anecdotal reports of health problems that respondents did not initially realize.
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/08/19/19greenwire-locals-track-gulf-oil-spills-health-impacts-pa-41267.html
"That tracking work can be slow-going, as the group's volunteers station themselves in convenience stores, marinas, and bars where residents of the state's rural southern bayous congregate. The group's two-page survey, which focuses on unusual symptoms experienced following oil or dispersant exposure and attempts to control for over-the-counter medication use, has produced anecdotal reports of health problems that respondents did not initially realize.
But though the surveys may not yield a scientific conclusion about the oil leak's long-term fallout, local nonprofits such as the brigade -- one of several groups around the country that teach communities how to test for air toxics using little more than a bucket and a hand-held vacuum -- are poised to become key players as the federal government begins to track the health consequences faced by Gulf residents recruited into BP PLC's sprawling cleanup operation."
