我们报道，据美国食品安全新闻网8月11日消息，在美国国内大规模恢复被原油泄漏所影响的墨西哥湾渔业的同时，美国卫生与公共服务部部长授意医学研究所召开一个研讨会，对墨西哥湾原油泄漏对健康的影响进行了研究讨论。本周，该研究所发布了一份研讨的摘要，其中强调了原油泄漏对健康潜在影响的复杂性，以及仍需要更多的研究及相关数据才能得到结论。
英国石油公司在墨西哥湾的原油泄漏将如何影响人体健康？答案很简单：我们也不知道。受命负责针对此问题进行调查的医学研究所称：墨西哥湾原油泄漏是史无前例的，从泄漏点向环境中泄露的原油的量，泄露所持续的时间，以及自然界的动态变化，这些因素都使墨西哥湾原油泄漏对人体健康影响的研究具有挑战性。
在进行了一周的会议通知之后，今年6月，37名专家及一些公共卫生官员等300多人，在新奥尔良市参加了本次研讨会。与会者就该如何衡量及减轻原油泄漏对公共健康的影响进行了讨论。根据该简报，与会专家的讨论涉及的主题范围之广泛，从生态系统的水质到高危人群，但是每个议题都有一个共同之处：科学家无法对全方位的健康影响做出预测。
报告称墨西哥湾原油泄漏对生理、心理、及社会经济可能会造成的潜在的影响。以及在影响区域内，海湾清理对人体健康的长期及短期的影响不明，而被影响的人群包括陆地及沿海的负责清理原油的工作人员、渔民、其他商业人员、居民、游客以及整个社区。
一位环境放射学专业的研究人员强调：食物污染的风险并不一定局限于海鲜，在墨西哥湾地区，潜在的毒素进入食品供应是一个需要考虑的特别问题。他建议有必要进行广泛的监控。报告中称，需要通过收集包括食物、空气、水质等不同的样品进行监测，才能了解在墨西哥湾地区潜在的毒素是否对食品供应造成影响。并且食品抽样不仅只限于海鲜检测，对捕鱼捕虾的装置器械也应当进行监控，此外，对水质的调查也应该加强对当地应用水源的监控等等。 此外，一位公共卫生学教授对自然存在的细菌表示了担心，因为有类细菌能够吸收分解一些石油化工品，而这些代谢石油的细菌需要氧气，若它们要分解大量的原油，则可能会导致一个更大的物种死亡（编者注，可能此处指与海藻鱼虾争夺更多的氧气，从而造成了鱼虾等的死亡），这对人类的健康可能会造成间接的后果。
该报告称：这次研讨会仅仅是对这件事情的长期的（可能几十年之久）讨论的一个开端，公共卫生官员、科学工作者以及社区领导，必须有充分的努力来克服原油泄漏对健康的影响。
How will the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico impact human health? The short answer: we don't know.
At the direction of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the Institute of Medicine recently held a workshop on the health effects of the Gulf oil spill. This week, the group released a summary of the discussion, which emphasized the complexity of potential health impacts and the need for more data and research.
"The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is unprecedented," according to the Institute. "From the origin of the leak, to the amount of oil released into the environment, to the spill's duration and ongoing nature, the Gulf oil spill poses unique challenges to human health."
With a week's notice, 37 experts and public health officials and over 300 participants gathered in New Orleans for the workshop in June to begin the discussion on how to measure and mitigate the public health impact of the spill.
According to the report, the expert discussion touched on a wide variety of topics, from water quality to ecosystems to at-risk populations, but there was one unifying theme: scientists cannot predict the full range of health consequences.
"The potential physical, psychological, and socioeconomic impacts of the Gulf oil spill and clean-up response on the short- and long-term health of individuals in the affected region--including land- and sea-based clean-up workers, fishermen, and other commercial workers, residents, visitors, and communities as a whole--are unknown," reads the report.
William Farland, a researcher at Colorado State Unviversity in environmental and radiological science, emphasized that food contamination risks were not necessarily limited to seafood. "The potential for toxins to enter the food supply is a particularly important issue to consider in the Gulf," reads the summary of Farland's presentation.
Farland said he believes widespread monitoring will be necessary.
"Understanding the source-to-receptor pathways in the Gulf, including toxicity in the food supply, will require gathering several types of data through various types of monitoring activities, including food, air, and water sampling," said the report.
"Food sampling should involve not just seafood testing but also creel surveys and game monitoring, given that there are local populations of subsistence hunters and fishermen," the report continues. "With respect to water sampling, while it is unlikely that contamination will move far enough inland to affect underground water systems, it is important to ensure that disposal plans for various items (e.g., used personal protective equipment) address the issue of potential contamination of local wells."
Dr. Bernard Goldstein, a professor at University of Pittsburgh's school of public health, discussed naturally existing bacteria being able to ingest and break down some of the oil chemical compounds. "These oil-metabolizing bacteria require oxygen," reads the summary. "An increase in their numbers caused by a large food source could result in an even larger dead zone, which has potentially indirect consequences for human health."
"As elaborated throughout the workshop, there are many unanswered questions about at-risk populations, potential hazards (including exposures) to human health, the potential effects of these hazards, and how best to minimize hazards," says the report.
According to the Institute of Medicine, some of the uncertainty "stems from the enormity and unprecedented magnitude and scope of the disaster."
As the report notes, the workshop was just the beginning of a long, perhaps decades-long, discussion that public health officials, scientists, and community leaders will need to have to fully grapple with the health effects of the spill.
原文地址：http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/08/iom-issues-report-on-oil-spill-health-consequences/
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