Toxicology: Cajun Style.

The return of the Society of Toxicology’s Annual Meeting to New Orleans is met with mixed emotions. Of course, it is great to be back for our seventh visit after an 11-year hiatus, yet the reason for the interlude still lingers. In 2005, months after our last meeting in New Orleans the hurricane Katrina made landfall in the heart of the city. The levees designed to protect the city were overwhelmed by the storm surge, submerging much of the city under a mix of seawater and debris. The complex natural and societal disaster upended the city. Thousands of families were relocated, homes were destroyed, and lives lost. The city was forever altered. As New Orleans was recovering from Katrina, it was impacted by another Gulf Coast disaster. In 2010, an explosion on the British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon drilling rig caused the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Communities and industries that relied on the Gulf of Mexico for their livelihoods were devastated and left to deal with a scourge of oil. However, in the wake of both tragedies it was clear that New Orleans would continue to be New Orleans. The traditions, the music, the people, the food; their absence was merely temporary. New Orleans has bounced back in a tremendous way. Just a few years after Katrina, the Superdome, which had served as an emergency shelter during the storm, was home to a Super Bowl Champion football team. The Saints’ resurgence was symbolic of the city’s recovery. Hurricane Katrina revealed the importance and utility of the field of toxicology. The floodwaters churned up decades of persistent chemicals that had been deposited on the bottom of Lake Pontchartrain from the variety of industries and plants in the surrounding area. The breeched levees allowed water to saturate the city for weeks, promoting excessive mold growth with its associated toxins. Even the response to the disaster had a toxicological connection. The Federal Emergency Management Agency delivered hundreds of mobile homes to provide shelter to the city’s refugees. These newly manufactured homes were found to have considerable levels of formaldehyde, which led to the mobilization of toxicologists. Toxicologists from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control, and from neighboring and distant universities were brought in to evaluate the dangers. Their expertise was marshaled to evaluate the shortand long-term impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. Research on the toxicological implications of both incidents continues to this day. While many toxicologists do not view their work as disaster preparedness and response, the scientific knowledge the field accumulates is crucial in such situations. Communities around the world benefit from the collective wisdom of the field of toxicology and New Orleans is just one notable example. Fortunately, the occasion for the thousands of toxicologists descending on New Orleans this month is not a natural or manmade disaster, but rather a spirited intellectual gathering. The Annual Meeting allows us to stay abreast of the latest scientific advances, reconnect with colleagues, and discuss future experiments. I hope to see much of that exciting science submitted to Toxicological Sciences. Being hosted by New Orleans is an honor. The city and the French Quarter are superb examples of how diverse cultures can add figurative and literal flavor to life. The resilience of the community is commendable and we can do our part to contribute to the ongoing recovery of New Orleans: visit the local businesses, spend money, tip your servers, buy souvenirs, visit Bourbon street, listen to some jazz, and savor the local cuisine. I am already craving the crawfish etoufee and beignets.