The 2007 Hebei Spirit oil spill (HSOS), the largest in the national history, has negatively impacted the entire environment and ecosystem along the west coast of South Korea. Although many studies have reported the damages and impacts from the HSOS, quantitative assessment evaluating the recovery time and status have not been documented. Here, we first address the recovery timeline of the HSOS, by comprehensive analyses of 10-years accumulated data in quantitative manner. Concentrations of residual oils in seawater, sediments, and oysters rapidly dropped to backgrounds in 16, 75, and 33 months, respectively. Also, damaged benthic communities of intertidal and subtidal areas were fully recovered only after ~6 years. The present results collectively indicated unexpectedly fast recovery of the damaged environment and ecosystem from such a huge oil spill. The high tidal mixing (~9 m tidal height) and intensive human cleanup (~1.2 million volunteers) at the initial cleanup period might have contributed to rapid recovery; cf. 4-5 times faster than the Exxon Valdez oil spill. However, potential risk to human health remains unclear. Thus, it is warranted to conduct more in depth epidemiological studies to address chronic health effects associated with the cleanup volunteers as well as the local residents who have been living nearby the oil spill impacted sites.

中文翻译：

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快速恢复的沿海环境和生态系统对河北精神溢油的影响。

2007年河北精神溢油事故（HSOS），是美国历史上最大的一次溢油事故，对韩国西海岸的整个环境和生态系统造成了负面影响。尽管许多研究报告了HSOS的破坏和影响，但尚未记录评估恢复时间和状态的定量评估。在这里，我们首先通过定量分析10年累积数据的方式来解决HSOS的恢复时间表。海水，沉积物和牡蛎中的残留油浓度分别在16、75和33个月内迅速降至本底。此外，潮间带和潮下带受损的底栖生物群落仅在约6年后才完全恢复。目前的结果共同表明，从如此巨大的漏油事件中，受损环境和生态系统的恢复速度出乎意料地迅速。在最初的清理期，高潮汐混合（约9 m的潮汐高度）和密集的人类清理（约120万志愿者）可能有助于快速恢复。cf. 比埃克森·瓦尔迪兹（Exxon Valdez）漏油速度快4-5倍。但是，对人类健康的潜在风险仍然不清楚。因此，有必要进行更深入的流行病学研究，以解决与清理志愿者以及生活在漏油影响地点附近的当地居民相关的慢性健康影响。比埃克森·瓦尔迪兹（Exxon Valdez）漏油速度快4-5倍。但是，对人类健康的潜在风险仍然不清楚。因此，有必要进行更深入的流行病学研究，以解决与清理志愿者以及生活在漏油影响地点附近的当地居民相关的慢性健康影响。比埃克森·瓦尔迪兹（Exxon Valdez）漏油速度快4-5倍。但是，对人类健康的潜在风险仍然不清楚。因此，有必要进行更深入的流行病学研究，以解决与清理志愿者以及生活在漏油影响地点附近的当地居民相关的慢性健康影响。