Fine particulate matter from burning oil and gas and associated neurological symptoms among Deepwater Horizon oil spill cleanup workers.

Burning and flaring of oil and gas following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill generated high airborne concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM). Neurological effects of PM have been previously reported, but this relationship has received limited attention in the context of oil spills. We evaluated associations between burning-related PM and prevalence of self-reported neurological symptoms during, and 1-3 years after, the DWH disaster cleanup.

Residential natural hazard risk and mental health effects.

Mental health effects are frequently reported following natural disasters. However, little is known about effects of living in a hazard-prone region on mental health. We analyzed data from 9,312 Gulf Long-term Follow-up Study participants who completed standardized mental health questionnaires including the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (depression=score≥10), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire-7 (anxiety=score≥10), and Primary Care PTSD Screen (PTSD=score≥3).

Residential air pollution, greenspace, and adverse mental health outcomes in the U.S. Gulf Long-term Follow-up Study.

Air pollution and greenness are environmental determinants of mental health, though existing evidence typically considers each exposure in isolation. We evaluated relationships between co-occurring air pollution and greenspace levels and depression and anxiety. We estimated cross-sectional associations among 9015 Gulf Long-term Follow-up Study participants living in the southeastern U.

Residential proximity to metal emitting industries and toenail metal concentration in the US Gulf States.

Objective: The US Gulf region is heavily reliant on metal-emitting petrochemical and manufacturing industries. We characterized the effect of residential proximity to metal-emitting sites and metal body burden in Gulf states residents with particular attention to potential differential exposure burden by race.

Methods: We measured toenail concentrations of arsenic, chromium, lead, manganese, mercury, and selenium using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry in 413 non-smoking men from the Gulf Long-term Follow-Up Study.

Ambient Air Pollutants and Olfaction among Women 50-79 Years of Age from the Sister Study.

Background: Poor olfaction is common in older adults and may have profound adverse implications on their health. However, little is known about the potential environmental contributors to poor olfaction.

Objective: We investigated ambient fine particulate matter [PM in aerodynamic diameter ()] and nitrogen dioxide () in relation to poor olfaction in middle-aged to older women.

Association between spill-related exposure to fine particulate matter and peripheral motor and sensory nerve function among oil spill response and cleanup workers following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Background: Burning/flaring of oil/gas during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response and cleanup (OSRC) generated high concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM). Personnel working on the water during these activities may have inhaled combustion products. Neurologic effects of PM have been reported previously but few studies have examined lasting effects following disaster exposures.

Exposure to volatile hydrocarbons and neurologic function among oil spill workers up to 6 years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Background: During the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) disaster, oil spill response and cleanup (OSRC) workers were exposed to toxic volatile components of crude oil. Few studies have examined exposure to individual volatile hydrocarbon chemicals below occupational exposure limits in relation to neurologic function among OSRC workers.

Objectives: To investigate the association of several spill-related chemicals (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, n-hexane, i.

Fine particulate matter and incident coronary heart disease events up to 10 years of follow-up among Deepwater Horizon oil spill workers.

Background: During the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) disaster, in-situ burning and flaring were conducted to remove oil from the water. Workers near combustion sites were potentially exposed to burning-related fine particulate matter (PM). Exposure to PM has been linked to increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), but no study has examined the relationship among oil spill workers.

Fossil-fuel and combustion-related air pollution and hypertension in the Sister Study.

Hypertension is a leading risk factor for disease burden, with more than 200 million disability-adjusted life-years attributed to high blood pressure in 2015. While outdoor air pollution is associated with cardiovascular disease, the joint effect of exposure to air pollution from combustion products on hypertension has rarely been studied. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis to explore the association between combustion-related air pollution and hypertension.

Assessment of Self-reported Sense of Smell, Objective Testing, and Associated Factors in Middle-aged and Older Women.

Importance: Poor olfaction is common in older adults and signifies multiple adverse health outcomes, but it often goes unrecognized.

Objective: To characterize the self-awareness of poor olfaction in women, including its prevalence, associated factors, reporting reliability, validity against an objective test, and factors associated with validity.

Design, Setting, And Participants: These cross-sectional survey data and a case-control subsample were taken from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences' Sister Study.

Ambient particulate matter, ozone, and neurologic symptoms in U.S. Gulf states adults.

Research on neurologic effects of air pollution has focused on neurodevelopment or later-life neurodegeneration; other effects throughout adulthood have received less attention. We examined air pollution levels and neurologic symptoms among 21,467 adults in US Gulf Coast states. We assigned exposure using Environmental Protection Agency estimates of daily ambient particulate matter 2.

Association of neighborhood deprivation with pulmonary function measures among participants in the Gulf Long-Term Follow-up Study.

Introduction: Individual-level socioeconomic status (SES) has been shown to be an important determinant of lung function. Neighborhood level SES factors may increase psychological and physiologic stress and may also reflect other exposures that can adversely affect lung function, but few studies have considered neighborhood factors.

Objective: Our aim was to assess the association between neighborhood-level SES and lung function.

Selenium modifies associations between multiple metals and neurologic symptoms in Gulf states residents.

Background: Metals have been shown to have a wide range of neurologic effects across the life course, but most studies consider neurodevelopment or neurodegenerative diseases in older adults. We investigated exposure to metals during adulthood in association with subclinical neurologic endpoints, considering the metals individually and as a mixture, and potential interactions among exposures.

Methods: We measured blood levels of cadmium, lead, mercury, manganese, and selenium in 1007 Gulf state residents and estimated cross-sectional associations between ranked levels of blood metals and the presence of self-reported neurologic symptoms.

Herbicide, fumigant, and fungicide use and breast cancer risk among farmers' wives.

Unlabelled: Evidence from epidemiologic and laboratory studies relating pesticides to breast cancer risk is inconsistent. Women engaging in agricultural work or living in agricultural areas may experience appreciable exposures to a wide range of pesticides, including herbicides, fumigants, and fungicides.

Methods: We examined exposure to herbicides, fumigants, and fungicides in relation to breast cancer risk among farmers' wives with no prior history of breast cancer in the Agricultural Health Study.

Blood BTEXS and heavy metal levels are associated with liver injury and systemic inflammation in Gulf states residents.

Introduction: Exposures to volatile organic compounds and metals have previously been associated with liver diseases including steatohepatitis, although more data are needed. Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, styrene (BTEXS) and metals were measured in blood samples collected between May 2012-July 2013 from volunteers participating in home visits for the Gulf Long-term Follow-up (GuLF) Study. This cross-sectional analysis evaluates associations of exposure biomarkers with serum liver injury and adipocytokine biomarkers in a sample of 214 men.

Blood BTEX levels and neurologic symptoms in Gulf states residents.

Background: The chemicals benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) are neuroactive. Exposures often co-occur because they share common sources. We examined neurologic effects of environmental BTEX exposure among U.

Environmental Styrene Exposure and Sensory and Motor Function in Gulf Coast Residents.

Background: Although styrene is an established neurotoxicant at occupational exposure levels, its neurotoxicity has not been characterized in relation to general population exposures. Further, occupational research to date has focused on central nervous system impairment.

Objective: We assessed styrene-associated differences in sensory and motor function among Gulf coast residents.

Determinants of environmental styrene exposure in Gulf coast residents.

Background: In a previous study of exposure to oil-related chemicals in Gulf coast residents, we measured blood levels of volatile organic compounds. Levels of styrene were substantially elevated compared to a nationally representative sample. We sought to identify factors contributing to these levels, given the opportunities for styrene exposure in this community.

Environmental styrene exposure and neurologic symptoms in U.S. Gulf coast residents.

Background: Styrene is an established neurotoxicant at occupational levels, but effects at levels relevant to the general population have not been studied. We examined the neurologic effects of environmental styrene exposure among U.S.

Predictors of blood volatile organic compound levels in Gulf coast residents.

To address concerns among Gulf Coast residents about ongoing exposures to volatile organic compounds, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, o-xylene, and m-xylene/p-xylene (BTEX), we characterized current blood levels and identified predictors of BTEX among Gulf state residents. We collected questionnaire data on recent exposures and measured blood BTEX levels in a convenience sample of 718 Gulf residents. Because BTEX is rapidly cleared from the body, blood levels represent recent exposures in the past 24 h.

Insecticide Use and Breast Cancer Risk among Farmers' Wives in the Agricultural Health Study.

Background: Some epidemiologic and laboratory studies suggest that insecticides are related to increased breast cancer risk, but the evidence is inconsistent. Women engaged in agricultural work or who reside in agricultural areas may experience appreciable exposures to a wide range of insecticides.

Objective: We examined associations between insecticide use and breast cancer incidence among wives of pesticide applicators (farmers) in the prospective Agricultural Health Study.

Wastewater Disposal Wells, Fracking, and Environmental Injustice in Southern Texas.

Objectives: To investigate race and poverty in areas where oil and gas wastewater disposal wells, which are used to permanently inject wastewater from hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations, are permitted.

Methods: With location data of oil and gas disposal wells permitted between 2007 and 2014 in the Eagle Ford area, a region of intensive fracking in southern Texas, we analyzed the racial composition of residents living less than 5 kilometers from a disposal well and those farther away, adjusting for rurality and poverty, using a Poisson regression.

Results: The proportion of people of color living less than 5 kilometers from a disposal well was 1.