BP: Here's to Your Health

Dale Sandler, chief of the epidemiology branch of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, did a pretty good job Monday of talking up her agency's planned study of the health effects of the BP oil spill. "The study is a good thing for Gulf Coast residents," she said during a conference call with reporters. "It will allow Gulf Coast communities to gain needed data."

It's true that the oil well blowout which fouled the Gulf of Mexico last spring and summer left many wondering about its possible health effects on area residents. It's also true that an in-depth study to separate rumor from reality, anxiety from actuality, may be warranted.

But we doubt this study will put people's worries to rest.

The NIEHS intends to mail out thousands of letters asking folks to take part in health surveys. About half the participants will be asked to undergo physical tests at home; experts will gauge respiratory functions and take samples of blood, hair and so on. The participants will also fill out health profiles every two or three years.

That's the first problem.

This study will go on for a long, long time. Reviews of cancer rates will take even longer. Physicians, insurance companies and local governments hoping for a succinct answer to a basic question — Did the oil spill make people sick? — will have to wait quite a while.

Another problem is that the study will focus on people who actually worked on the spill response, such as those on cleanup crews. Many of the health-related complaints we've heard are from people who DIDN'T patrol beaches or handle oil-dispersing chemicals.

Our gravest concern, however, has to do with money. The NIEHS study is funded by the National Institutes of Health, which "received some funding as a gift ... from BP," Dr. Sandler said. She asserted that BP will not influence the study's findings.

That may be true, and we certainly hope it is, but the fact that BP is helping pay for this study will inevitably taint the project. Who will believe that a review of the oil spill's health impact will proceed fairly and impartially if the company that CAUSED the spill is writing a check for the review?

We're happy to see the NIEHS study get under way. But we're not expecting much from it.

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