Researchers to study spill's effect on women

From the article:

A new study aims to examine the oil spill's potential health effects on wives, sisters and mothers.

Tulane University's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine will take a close look at the spill's health impacts pregnant women and women of reproductive age in Louisiana's coastal parishes. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences provided $6.5 million to do the work.

It's the first long-term study to examine a major spill's effects on pregnant women and women's health, said Dr. Maureen Lichtvelt, chairwoman of environmental policy for Tulane and the study's lead researcher.

“Pregnant women are always a population of concern when there are environmental exposures,” Lichtvelt said. “The developing fetus may be vulnerable to even small doses of contaminants.”

The study will also look at the impact of repeated disasters on pregnancy outcomes and women's health.

The study will follow 500 pregnant and 500 women of reproductive age over five years. It will look at women in Lafourche, Terrebonne, Orleans, Plaquemines, Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes.

The National Institutes of Health, a federal research program, is conducting a long-term study to monitor the health of tens of thousands of oil-spill workers and volunteers. Three other schools also received grants totaling more than $17 million to study other oil-spill health issues, including an independent study into seafood safety.