Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Oil Spills
Oil spills often happen because of accidents, when people make mistakes or equipment breaks down. Other causes include natural disasters or deliberate acts. Oil spills have major environmental and economic effects.
Oil spills can also affect human health. These effects can depend on what kind of oil was spilled and where (on land, in a river, or in the ocean). Other factors include what kind of exposure and how much exposure there was. People who clean up the spill are more at risk. Problems could include skin and eye irritation, neurologic and breathing problems, and stress. Not much is known about the long-term effects of oil spills.
It sits within Poisoning, Toxicology, Environmental Health and Disasters.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Oil Spills
1 study isregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Gulf Long-Term Follow-Up StudyNational Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Learn More
- Effects of Oil Spills on HumansNational Academies
- Federal Emergency Management AgencyFederal Emergency Management Agency
- GuLFSTUDY (Gulf Long-term Follow-up Study)National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
- How Do Oil Spills Impact People?National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- Oil SpillsNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- What to Do If You See a SpillDepartment of the Interior
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Petroleum Pollution. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Oil Spills, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.