Washington - Oil is no longer spewing from the ruptured BP oil well, but the disaster is far from over for families who live along the US Gulf coast, and their children in particular, a major study said on Tuesday.
Of 1 200 coastal residents surveyed last month by researchers at the National Centre for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) at Columbia University, a third said their children have developed mental, behavioural or physical problems because of the spill.
The problems ranged from respiratory problems and rashes to feelings of sadness or nervousness, difficulty socialising with other children, or trouble getting to sleep, parents told the researchers.
More than 70 percent of parents said their children were doing less swimming, boating and playing in the sand, and around one in five said their children were spending less time outdoors.
"Our survey, done after the well was capped, shows there is a significant and persistent public health crisis underscored by the large number of children with medical and psychological problems related to the oil disaster," said Irwin Redlener, director of the NCDP.
"Over the last few days we are seeing an effort by officials who are suggesting that, as the oil is less visible on the surface, the crisis is over. Clearly, this is far from the case."
In addition to worrying about their children's wellbeing, Gulf residents are concerned about everything from declining property values, the loss of their way of life, and the long-term health impact of the spill on themselves, the study says.
In the wake of the oil spill, more than a quarter of all residents and nearly four in 10 of those who earn less than $25 000 a year said they might move away from the area, unconvinced by the message that the capping of the gushing well meant the end of the crisis for them.
Children whose parents were thinking about moving away were almost three times more likely to have mental health distress than children whose parents were not considering upping stakes and going.
In a separate study conducted in June by researchers at Louisiana State University, seven in 10 Louisianans said they were worried they would have to move away from the area, where 60 percent of the respondents had lived all their lives and another 20 percent had lived for at least 20 years.
More than 80 percent of the LSU study respondents said they were worried about how their family, friends, and neighbours will make a living over the next couple of years because of the oil spill.
People who lived within 15km of the Gulf of Mexico coast in Louisiana and Mississippi were interviewed by phone for the Columbia survey between July 19 and July 25. The well that had been spewing oil into the Gulf since April was capped on July 15.
One in five of those surveyed said their household income had fallen because of the spill, and poor residents - those who earned less than $25 000 a year - felt the pinch more than the well-off.
"Much as Hurricane Katrina had its greatest effect on those with the least, the oil spill is also having a greater impact on those coastal residents who are economically vulnerable," said David Abramson, director of research at NCDP.
More than eight in 10 coastal residents said they are doing less fishing in the Gulf, a highly popular pastime for both residents and tourists, and a backbone of the local economy that is deeply ingrained in the Gulf way of life.
Two-thirds of the people surveyed said they were not sure local seafood was safe to eat, even though local authorities have re-opened large tracts of state waters to fishing and federal officials have said they are confident Gulf seafood is safe. - AFP