Studying the Human Health and Ecological Impacts of the Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill Disaster: Introduction to This Special Issue of New Solutions

Abstract

Gulf Coast Health Alliance: Health Risks Related to the Macondo Spill (GC-HARMS) began in 2011 as a component project of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ (NIEHS) Deep Water Horizon (DWH) Research Consortia program. This Gulf-wide consortium created regional community-university research partnerships focused on addressing health impacts resulting from oil spill exposures. Findings from this trans-National Institutes of Health program have helped enhance and refine community disaster preparedness and reinforced local–regional disaster response networks. Focal points of individual projects included the following: effects of multiple stressors on individuals and vulnerable populations, exposure to contaminants associated with crude oil, and mental health impacts. This introduction to New Solutions Special Issue on the GC-HARMS response to the DWH disaster presents an overview of the project’s internal structure and relationship to the comprehensive NIEHS consortia response and lists articles and interviews featured currently with brief mention of additional articles slated for the next issue.