Effects of the Oil Spill on Children

Disaster Stresses Children

The BP oil spill is responsible for health problems and financial hardship for Gulf Coast residents that may continue well after the cleanup work is finished, according to a team of researchers at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. The researchers found that one in five residents surveyed earn less money now than before the spill; 8% of the 1,200 people surveyed lost their jobs. Households with incomes of less than $25,000 suffered the greatest economic impact. The economic stress felt by the parents trickles down to the children; one-third of the parents surveyed reported that their children have become anxious or depressed since the oil spill occurred. In addition to the psychological stress, medical problems, such as respiratory ailments and skin irritations, are related to the spill. The Children’s Health Fund is sending mobile pediatric units to help. “There are literally no pediatricians in the lower two-third of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, one of the worst-hit areas,” according to Irwin Redlener MD, the lead researcher of the National Center on Disaster Preparedness. Sadly, these difficulties appear likely to continue long after the disaster has receded from the newspaper headlines. As a society, we have not yet come to grips with the long-term needs of disaster recovery.