On 21 October, a team of oceanographers, chemists, and state officials visited the Todos os Santos Bay in Salvador, Bahia, to assess the impact of the oil's movement along the coast.
At this point, the spill had left a toxic trail for thousands of miles and begun degrading mangroves and corals; this contamination is hard to clean and will remain in the environment for years.

In addition to the risk to the ecosystem, there is the possibility for people to come into direct contact with contaminants that remain in the environment.
Harmful levels of contact could happen just from walking on a beach where oil has been in the sea, involuntarily touching oil residue or inhaling the gases released.
There is substantial risk for Brazil's mangroves, corals, and marine life as a whole, which will take decades to mitigate, and to humans, as the chemicals can also cause irritation and allergic reactions, especially on the skin, eyes, and mouth.
Birds have also been oiled and remain at risk, including migratory species.

To alert the population, the Rio Grande do Norte Institute for Sustainable Development and Environment (Idema), including the TAMAR project, developed educational materials showing procedures that should be followed in case of contact with oil for both humans and animals.
The Tamar Project also reported that while adult turtles were being killed, the oil slicks at beaches also prevented the newly hatching baby turtles from reaching the sea, counting 800 rescued babies.

The oil spill also hit some of the most frequented tourist beaches in the area, which received safety warnings from the tourism and fishing sectors by the end of October.
On 21 October, a team of oceanographers, chemists, and state officials visited the Todos os Santos Bay in Salvador, Bahia, to assess the impact of the oil's movement along the coast. At this point, the spill had left a toxic trail for thousands of miles and begun degrading mangroves and corals; this contamination is hard to clean and will remain in the environment for years.
In addition to the risk to the ecosystem, there is the possibility for people to come into direct contact with contaminants that remain in the environment. Harmful levels of contact could happen just from walking on a beach where oil has been in the sea, involuntarily touching oil residue or inhaling the gases released. There is substantial risk for Brazil's mangroves, corals, and marine life as a whole, which will take decades to mitigate, and to humans, as the chemicals can also cause irritation and allergic reactions, especially on the skin, eyes, and mouth. Birds have also been oiled and remain at risk, including migratory species.
To alert the population, the Rio Grande do Norte Institute for Sustainable Development and Environment (Idema), including the TAMAR project, developed educational materials showing procedures that should be followed in case of contact with oil for both humans and animals. The Tamar Project also reported that while adult turtles were being killed, the oil slicks at beaches also prevented the newly hatching baby turtles from reaching the sea, counting 800 rescued babies.
The oil spill also hit some of the most frequented tourist beaches in the area, which received safety warnings from the tourism and fishing sectors by the end of October.
2019 Northeast Brazil oil spill