As Oil Spill Reaches Shore, What to Expect

As the oil from the Gulf of Mexico explosion and spill spreads towards shore, it's undergoing profound chemical changes and experts are cautioning people to steer clear if they detect any signs of it on beaches.

As for what exactly constitutes "detecting" a beached oil spill that's easier than most people think, said Nils Warnock, the oiled wildlife transport and recovery supervisor for the California Oiled Wildlife Care Network, managed by the University of California at Davis.

"One of the first things is you'll smell petroleum products in the air," said Warnock. "If you smell it, that means you don't want to be there."

That's because crude oil contains a wide range of hydrocarbons, including all the toxic and volatile compounds found in gasoline, jet fuel and kerosene.

Among the plethora of poisonous chemicals that you can absorb into your body by just breathing or getting oil on your skin include benzene, toluene and xylene. These can cause everything from a quick sensation of drunkenness (coupled with hangover-from-hell symptoms), to cancers and other diseases of the kidneys, liver, bone marrow, lungs and central nervous system.

Even your skin isn't safe, because the oil can cause chemical burns, Warnock said.

"You don't want this on you," said Warnock. "You don't want to be breathing it."

Other sure signs the oil spill has arrived are a sheen on the water, sticky tar balls on the shore, oiled wildlife on the beach and rafts of debris caught up in the oil.

"As this oil comes along it's like a big, sticky sponge that's picking things up," said Christopher Reddy, oil spill researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. At the same time, every hour that the oil is exposed to the air and water, it is rapidly being "weathered," Reddy explained.

"Nature is changing and manipulating this oil as we speak," said Reddy. "Right now the biggest weathering process is evaporation. And that's a good thing."

The lightest components of the oil -- those that Warnock warned against breathing -- are escaping into the atmosphere, which reduce the quantity of the spill daily. Microbes are also at work breaking down the oil, but they do so more slowly and less predictably, said Reddy.

Among the most tragic signs that the oil spill has reached land will be the oil-soaked wildlife. Birds are particularly common on shores, says Warnock, because when oil gets in their feathers -- which serve as a bird's downy insulation from cold -- birds quickly get hypothermic and head for shore in an attempt to warm up.

But however harrowing and horrible an oil-soaked animal's situation might seem, people should resist the urge to rescue oiled wildlife themselves, Warnock warned.

"If you see oiled wildlife, report it, but don't get into that (petroleum)," Warnock said. "Leave them alone and report it. Get a good location (of the wildlife) and call the hotline (1-800-557-1401)."