Short- and Long-Term Health Impact of the Gulf Oil Disaster

Clean-up workers battling the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, along with local residents, are faced with a long list of serious physical and mental health dangers, including chemical dangers, heat stress and mental health problems like depression. Linda McCauley, Dean of Emory University's Nell Hogdson Woodruff School of Nursing, discusses these dangers. McCauley will participate in an Institute of Medicine (IOM) workshop exploring the long- and short-term health effects of the Gulf Oil disaster.


"Dangers to Clean-up Workers and Residents"




"Dangers of Chemical Dispersants"




"Potential Mental Health Catastrophe"




"Preparing for the Short and Long-Term Impacts"

About Linda McCauley

Linda McCauley, PhD, FAAN, RN, FAAOHN, is Dean of Emory University's Nell Hogdson Woodruff School of Nursing and a renowned environmental health expert. Her expertise includes the psychological stress of the spill and its toll on the population, the massive cleanup needed and the lack of preparation and education of the workers who will be called in to do this work, and the need to monitor exposures not only to the oil and its byproducts, but the chemicals that will be used to clean the environment. McCauley will participate in an Institute of Medicine (IOM) workshop exploring the long- and short-term health effects of the Gulf Oil disaster.