Environmental Toxicologist and Public Health Expert, Susan Shaw Talks About the Oil Spill and Water Pollutants

WINGS Fellow, Dr. Susan Shaw continues to work with scientists across the country to assess the short and longterm impacts of the Gulf Oil Spill.  

Bar Harbor Times Soup- October 6, 2010

Feds tap Blue Hill scientist for gulf spill working group
Blue Hill — Dr. Susan Shaw, a local marine toxicologist and the director of the Marine Environmental Research Institute in Blue Hill, is one of 10 top scientists from around the nation to be appointed by the Department of the Interior to the Strategic Sciences Working Group.
The SSWG is charged with assessing the consequences of this summer's BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and with recommending policy actions and interventions to reduce health, environmental and socio-economic stresses in the Gulf.
Shaw was the first toxicologist to experience the spill firsthand, diving into the murky mix of dispersants and oil in Gulf waters. Her observations were published in a New York Times Op-Editorial entitled “Swimming Through the Spill”.
In July, Shaw authored a Scientists’ Consensus Statement objecting to the use of dispersants in the Gulf, which was signed by many prominent ocean scientists.
Of major concern is the chain of consequences resulting from the application of nearly 2 million gallons of chemical dispersants in a deep water environment.
One consequence was the formation of large plumes of dispersed oil in the water column, posing a health threat to some 15,000 marine species residing in and migrating through Gulf waters.
The group has relied on Shaw’s expertise to understand the spill’s health impacts on wildlife and people.
According to Shaw, "There is no safe level for exposure to carcinogenic, mutagenic chemicals in oil."
“Because of the massive dispersant use, there are huge residual stores of bioavailable oil and hydrocarbons in the system. Dispersed oil has been found feet-thick on the seafloor,” said Shaw. “In marine sediments, this oil will not degrade for decades and can be re-released by storm events. Exposure to the toxic hydrocarbons in oil will be an ongoing health concern for many years.”

Due to closures and restricted access to impacted areas, little independent research has been conducted thus far. By collaborating with the Gulf Restoration Network and other local groups, MERI’s Gulf EcoTox Project was able to obtain more than 150 samples across the region — from water to phytoplankton, shellfish and fish.
Shaw said, “It is critical that we were able to get into these areas and collect samples during the time of highest exposure.” Now MERI and its partners are seeking funds to analyze their samples and expand the project.
Given that the Deepwater Horizon well has been capped, anxious inhabitants of the Gulf Coast face a looming question: What are the long-term impacts on the health and livelihood of their region? The independent group of scientists is being asked to directly advise government policy during an ongoing environmental disaster.
In May, the SSWG conducted a rapid scientific assessment of the spill’s potential consequences and published its initial findings in the journal Science. The group recently reconvened in New Orleans to go a step further and provide policymakers with the information they need to accelerate the region’s recovery.
The Marine Environmental Research Institute, located at 55 Main St. in Blue Hill, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the marine environment and human health through scientific research and education. For information about the GET Project and other programs, visit MERI online at meriresearch.org.
 

Watch her most recent  TEDXOILSpill talk: The Oil Spill's Toxic Trade-off

Break down the oil slick, keep it off the shores: that's grounds for pumping toxic dispersant into the Gulf, say clean-up overseers. Susan Shaw shows evidence it's sparing some beaches only at devastating cost to the health of the deep sea.
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Susan Shaw at TEDxOil Conference:  Exploring new ideas for our energy future and how we can mitigate current crisis in the Gulf.

Read about here work in these recent stories and blogs:

E Blast Susan Shaw and MERI, Sunday May 30

Dear Friends,

MERI is definitely in the news! As you may know, Dr. Susan Shaw recently travelled to the Gulf of Mexico with a crew from the London Times to get a first hand look at the oil spill and the effects of the chemicals used to remedy it. Diving into the oil slick, she was shocked by what she saw. Today The New York Times has published Susan’s Op-Ed describing her dive in the Gulf oil slick, and why she thinks BP’s cure may be worse than the spill. The article will be syndicated all over the country.  To read more:  New York Times Op-Ed by Susan Shaw, May 30, 2010  Swimming Through the Spill...by Susan Shaw)

Dr. Shaw is now traveling to Hong Kong to deliver keynote addresses on ocean pollution at international forums. While in Hong Kong, she will be doing a live interview with CNN International from their studios. Watch for the interview on international news media in the next few days.

To read more in the London Times: Susan Shaw Interview; Times Online, May 25, 2010 by Frank Pope,  Oil Spill Brings Death in the Ocean from top to bottom, 

Listen to Susan’s BBC Radio interview.

PLEASE HELP
For more information or to donate to MERI’s work to protect the oceans, contact us: info@meriresearch.org or 207-374-2135, www.meriresearch.org.

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