Introdução

Oil exploration involves high pollution potential activities that may impair water, soil and air quality and, consequentially, the quality of life of living beings. The world’s energetic dependence on this industry causes high exposure to environmental disasters in explored areas, which makes the intensification of researches in this field to be urgent. This review aims to identify studies on the deleterious effects on the environment and health of populations in oil spill disaster areas. The results show a relation between the exposure of individuals to oil spills and the consequent emergence of physical, psychological, genotoxic and endocrine effects on them. However, it is still necessary to develop in-depth studies aimed at establishing acute and chronic levels of contamination and their effects on human health, as well as strict processes environmental safety protocols, justified by the relatively high frequency of this type of disaster.