The early psychological impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Florida and Alabama communities.

BACKGROUND: Although public concern has focused on the environmental impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the public health impact on a broad range of coastal communities is minimally known. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine the acute level of distress (depression, anxiety), mechanisms of adjustment (coping, resilience), and perceived risk in a community indirectly impacted by the oil spill and to identify the extent to which economic loss may explain these factors. METHODS: Using a community-based participatory model, we performed standardized assessments of psychological distress (mood, anxiety), coping, resilience, neurocognition, and perceived risk on residents of fishing communities who were indirectly impacted (n = 71, Franklin County, Florida) or directly exposed (n = 23, Baldwin County, Alabama) to coastal oil. We also compared findings for participants who reported income stability (n = 47) versus spill-related income loss (n = 47). RESULTS: We found no significant differences between community groups in terms of psychological distress, adjustment, neurocognition, or environmental worry. Residents of both communities displayed clinically significant depression and anxiety. Relative to those with stable incomes, participants with spill-related income loss had significantly worse scores on tension/anxiety, depression, fatigue, confusion, and total mood disturbance scales; had higher rates of depression; were less resilient; and were more likely to use behavioral disengagement as a coping strategy. CONCLUSIONS: Current estimates of human health impacts associated with the oil spill may underestimate the psychological impact in Gulf Coast communities that did not experience direct exposure to oil. Income loss after the spill may have a greater psychological health impact than the presence of oil on the immediately adjacent shoreline.

Evaluation of postharvest-processed oysters by using PCR-based most-probable-number enumeration of Vibrio vulnificus bacteria.

Postharvest processing (PHP) is used to reduce levels of Vibrio vulnificus in oysters, but process validation is labor-intensive and expensive. Therefore, quantitative PCR was evaluated as a rapid confirmation method for most-probable-number enumeration (QPCR-MPN) of V. vulnificus bacteria in PHP oysters. QPCR-MPN showed excellent correlation (R(2) = 0.97) with standard MPN and increased assay sensitivity and efficiency.

Analysis of Sulfites in Shrimp Using Rapid Distillation Followed by Redox Titration 1.

The use of rapid steam distillation followed by redox iodine titration provides a rapid and accurate determination of total sufite residual in shrimp. Values obtained for sulfite-treated shrimp using the rapid distillation method gave comparable results to those of the officially recognized Monier-Williams method. Values for the rapid distillation method ranged from 6 to 212 ppm while those of the Monier-Williams procedure ranged from 6 to 241 ppm for untreated and treated shrimps, respectively. Statistical analysis using two-sample Student's t-test indicated that there were no significant differences (p>0.05) for residual levels below 100 ppm but the values obtained by the rapid distillation method and the Monier-Williams procedure were significantly different (p<0.05) at concentrations near and above 100 ppm.