Oil Spills

Aerosols are tiny solid and/or liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere from natural and man-made sources. They can be directly emitted into the atmosphere by volcanoes, wind lifting dust, sea spray, and evaporating compounds, to name a few. In fact, an aerosol phenomenon was observed during the Gulf Oil Spill that unlocked a mystery about air pollution. When heavy evaporating oil particles and air combined as a result of sun, wind and wave action, aerosols were created that became the source of long lasting air pollution.
Scientists at the spill noticed that much of the crude oil quickly dissipated by evaporation[...]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified the Louisiana coastal areas of Venice and Grand Isle as air quality monitoring sites that have elevated pollutants in the air. The EPA has found increased levels of ozone and particulates that raise the EPA Air Quality Index from "good" to "unhealthy for sensitive groups." This means the EPA recommends that chemically sensitive people should avoid prolonged and heavy exertion. These locations are just 50 miles from the oil spill wellhead.
The EPA offers little definition on airborne contaminants. They did not link the reduced air quality to the BP oil spill, crude oil[...]

A little over a month ago, reports suggested that several dozen oil cleanup crew members had fallen ill. Authorities suggested that the illnesses were caused by heat exhaustion and possibly fumes from the oil. In the past week or so, reports say over 160 oil spill crew members were suffering from flu-like systems. Also, over 400 beach visitors and residents in Escambia County, Florida went to medical care facilities complaining of upper or lower respiratory problems, headaches, nausea, and eye irritation. Within a month, illness cases went from 24 to 560 with most, if not all suffering from the[...]

Flying in sky between New Orleans and Pensacola, a vast slick of oil-darkened waters hundreds of miles in diameter atop of the Gulf waters can be seen. On the south side of the oil slick, there is a long thin stream close to, if not at the entrance of the loop current, a naturally occurring Gulf current that flows south towards Key West. The loop eventually turns into the Gulf Stream, a river of warm water that heads up the east coast of Florida up past the Carolinas and then out to sea towards the United Kingdom, the home of British[...]

By now, many of us have heard that the Gulf crude oil emits Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) including Benzene, a known cancer causing carcinogenic. When the oil hits the seawater surface, it begins to evaporate. Studies show that concentrations within these vapors as small as five parts per million can get you sick and endanger your health. Cleanup crew members have been reporting feeling sick from the fumes. Symptoms include nausea, headaches, and light-headedness similar to a flu. This is the body reacting to the toxins in the air.
What happens after the evaporation is over and crude oil begins to[...]