Oklahoma may benefit from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico by way of grants that will aid the studying of the health effects of the oil, which will be a factor for decades to come, two researchers said Friday at the U. Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

The National Institutes of Health has issued grant-funding possibility for work involved in risk-assessment for individuals working on the Gulf oil spill, said Jay Hanas, who is researching the health effects on people from oil and fumes

“Hopefully there will be some research opportunities,” Hanas said. “There will be studies from not only human aspect but also the marine life aspect.”

Hanas said he and his ground has performed experiments that study the effects of oil when in contacts skin and when fumes from the oil are inhaled.

When the oil contacts the skin, Hanas said, there can be systemic organ distress.

“All the organs we looked at, we saw cellular damage, usually in the form of apoptosis, which is the term for cell death,” Hanas said.

Hanas said the other study, which dealt with inhalation of vapors form the oil, revealed that exposure caused the same type of systemic damage.

“Already the workers in the Gulf that are dealing with the clean up are experiencing health problems,” he said.

Robert Lynch, an environmental heath expert with the College of Public Health, said people who are working to clean up the spill face a large exposure to the harmful chemicals in the oil, which causes worker safety issues.

“You can’t just send anyone out there because this stuff is toxic,” Lynch said. “People need to be trained properly.”

Tourists who visit the Gulf need to be careful of exposure to oil, Lynch said.

“If it looks oily or smells oily, don’t go there,” he said.

Lynch said oil is easy to clean off it someone gets it on his or her hands.

“But the best solution is to stay away,” he said.