Three years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the
Gulf of Mexico, crude oil toxicity continues to sicken a sentinel Gulf Coast
fish species, according to new findings from a research team that includes a
University of California, Davis, scientist.
With researchers from Louisiana and South Carolina, the
scientists found that Gulf killifish embryos exposed to sediments from oiled
locations show developmental abnormalities, including heart defects, delayed
hatching and reduced hatching success. The killifish is an environmental
indicator species, or a “canary in the coal mine,” used to predict broader
exposures and health risks.