Thursday, July 21, 2016

Deepwater Horizon Still Kills

Six years after the event that set a record for US oil spills, the Deepwater Horizon blowout and fire is still killing wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico.  Ultraviolet light is transforming remaining oil suspended in the water into compounds much more toxic to fish, causing cardiac development abnormalities in a wide range of fish species.  Researchers from the University of California, Riverside, South Carolina Medical University and University of Miami exposed embryos of mahi-mahi to weathered oil and compared changes in the RNA to embryos exposed to oil from the 2010 spill.  Embryos exposed to weathered oil developed impaired eye and neurological functions, reduced heart rates and pericardial edema.