Ethical Issues in Environmental Health Research Related to Public Health Emergencies: Reflections on the GuLF STUDY.

BP Deepwater Horizon Explosion & Oil Spill, 2010 -- Environmental aspects; ENVIRONMENTAL health research; ETHICS; RESEARCH evaluation; PUBLIC health; CONFIDENTIAL communications; CONFLICT of interests; ENVIRONMENTAL health; INFORMED consent (Medical law); MEDICAL emergencies; MINERAL industries; NATURAL disasters; WATER pollution; OCEAN; PETROLEUM; RESEARCH ethics; RISK assessment; INSTITUTIONAL review boards; HUMAN research subjects; PSYCHOLOGY of human research subjects; ECONOMICS

Summary: Health research in the context of an environmental disaster with implications for public health raises challenging ethical issues. This article explores ethical issues that arose in the Gulf Long-term Follow-up Study (GuLF STUDY) and provides guidance for future research. Ethical issues encountered by GuLF STUDY investigators included a) minimizing risks and promoting benefits to participants, b) obtaining valid informed consent, c) providing financial compensation to participants, d) working with vulnerable participants, e) protecting participant confidentiality, f ) addressing conflicts of interest, g) dealing with legal implications of research, and h) obtaining expeditious review from the institutional review board (IRB), community groups, and other committees. To ensure that ethical issues are handled properly, it is important for investigators to work closely with IRBs during the development and implementation of research and to consult with groups representing the community. Researchers should consider developing protocols, consent forms, survey instruments, and other documents prior to the advent of a public health emergency to allow for adequate and timely review by constituents. When an emergency arises, these materials can be quickly modified to take into account unique circumstances and implementation details. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]