Essay On BP Oil Spill

The largest oil spill in the history of United States is the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, also known as the BP oil spill. The oil spill initially lasted eighty-seven days, and the after-effects are still happening today, almost seven years later, causing heart disease. The oil spills lasting effects have polluted many water habitats and is beginning to pollute our air. Because of its pollution in our air, people are beginning to have heart problems, such as heart disease and respiratory issues. A team of Stanford and Manchester scientists showed fish in pelagic regions of the waters affected by the BP oil spill have Phenanthrene in their cardiac cells. Phenanthrene is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon - PAH for short. The Phenanthrene was released from the oil and is a key factor of disrupting heart function. While the Phenanthrene released into the water immediately affected sea-life, it is now affecting humans. Now in the air, the substance is giving us these heart problems. Exposure to Phenanthrene (especially in large amounts) can make a heart weigh more, and cause cells to become enlarged. Phenanthrene was in the air even before the oil spill happened, but the BP oil spill led to excess amounts being put into the air. A PAH like Phenanthrene can enter out air through car exhaust, by burning
wood, oil, and other substances. Since the oil spill allowed for excess amounts of Phenanthrene to be put in our air, polluting it, the substances presence has led to more accounts of heart disease. Heart disease is a very important thing when it comes to health. Our hearts are the most important organ in our bodies, as it keeps us alive. Heart disease takes away approximately seventeen million people from the world. While that may not seem like much, considering we live on a planet with a population of about seven and a half billion people, it doesn’t make heart disease any less of a big deal. Heart problems are not the only effects of the oil spill, habitat destruction is an effect as well. On deep sea habitats in the 16,000 mile area affected, sea-lives were threatened by dispersants. Within the water column, some of the oil dissolved, impacting life. Contamination in the water column even impacted animals like birds, who eat fish from the area. Along the surface and Saragassum mats, the oil came in direct contact with organisms and contaminated the area. Near the shores, habitats weren’t only contaminated, but disturbed by clean-ups. The result of the oil spill posed large threats to life in habitats ranging from deep sea to on shore. In animals, the oil spill posed threat to life. Hundreds of species were exposed to the oil released from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion. Not only were lives threatened directly, but food sources as well as homes. Injuries in water mammals such as whales, dolphins, and the Florida manatee resulted in a higher death rate. The higher death rate resulted in the reproduction rate being reduced and disease rate going up. For animals such as turtles, suffered effects like dehydration and overheating, even death. For birds, most of the babies (fledglings) died before they could even fly, where as grown birds directly impacted died. The Deepwater Horizon (BP) oil spill of 2010, which initially lasted eighty-seven days, caused a lot of damage.
Affecting 1,600 miles of water including many different water habitats and animals, the oil spill was the largest recorded in U.S history. Now, seven whole years later, effects of the oil spill are continuing, affecting both humans and animals. Heart diseases are a large result on humans after the oil spill, as a result of the chemical Phenanthrene being released into the air. The air pollution of Phenanthrene is largely affecting the areas near the Gulf of Mexico, in states such as Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida along their
coastlines.