A team of researchers from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and David Geffen School of Medicine received a five-year, $21 million grant from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to study the health effects of the 2015–16 Aliso Canyon gas leak, expected to affect roughly 232,200 people. The gas blowout was recorded as the largest underground gas storage facility disaster to occur in U.S. history. Over a period of nearly four months, an estimated 109,000 metric tons of methane, oil and gas constituents were released into the atmosphere. As a result of the fumes, residents reported foul odors and oily mists along with problematic symptoms, including headaches, nausea, vomiting, nose bleeds, coughing and irritation of the eyes, nose and throat.

Read more about the gas storage disaster at UCLA Newsroom.

Image Source: Los Angeles County Department of Public Health