A news crew from ABC's "Good Morning America" had just one question for researchers from Texas Tech University.
Is the seafood coming out of the Gulf contaminated with petroleum?
You'll be happy to know that the researchers found the answer is no. At least for now.
Watch Texas Tech's video of the process here.
The news crew caught fish and crustaceans and then sent them to the university, where scientists tested the samples using mass spectrometers, devices that analyze and identify the chemical makeup of substances.
Though the samples were clean, they represent a very small slice of what's in the gulf.
More research is necessary before the full picture can be seen, Ron Kendall, director of Texas Tech's Institute of Environmental and Human Health, said on the school's research blog covering the oil spill.
"We believe sampling and analyses should continue, and that independent science-based research needs to continue,” Kendall said.
The scientists were looking for petroleum hydrocarbons; specifically, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, some of which are known carcinogens.
"Good Morning America" reporter Matt Gutman sent the samples from Bastian Bay, La., where he is reporting.
Watch the ABC crew fish for contaminated seafood below.
“It is an area where we've found oil on the sediment," Gutman said. "We filmed it all, including the bagging. The fishermen used a net, but found no evidence of oil directly on any of the samples.”
The news crew wanted the seafood tested before federal regulators opened the Gulf to fishing.
According to Texas Tech, the whole process took five days to complete and was done without support from either BP or the federal government.
Image courtesy of Flickr.
Tags: Animal Science, Conservation, Pollution, Water
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