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Development of a total hydrocarbon ordinal job-exposure matrix for workers responding to the Deepwater Horizon disaster: The GuLF STUDY

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 28, pages 223–230 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

The GuLF STUDY is a cohort study investigating the health of workers who responded to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The objective of this effort was to develop an ordinal job-exposure matrix (JEM) of airborne total hydrocarbons (THC), dispersants, and particulates to estimate study participants’ exposures. Information was collected on participants’ spill-related tasks. A JEM of exposure groups (EGs) was developed from tasks and THC air measurements taken during and after the spill using relevant exposure determinants. THC arithmetic means were developed for the EGs, assigned ordinal values, and linked to the participants using determinants from the questionnaire. Different approaches were taken for combining exposures across EGs. EGs for dispersants and particulates were based on questionnaire responses. Considerable differences in THC exposure levels were found among EGs. Based on the maximum THC level participants experienced across any job held, ∼14% of the subjects were identified in the highest exposure category. Approximately 10% of the cohort was exposed to dispersants or particulates. Considerable exposure differences were found across the various EGs, facilitating investigation of exposure–response relationships. The JEM is flexible to allow for different assumptions about several possibly relevant exposure metrics.

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Acknowledgements

We express our appreciation for the invaluable support and feedback of the GuLF STUDY Scientific Advisory Board and the Exposure Assessment Working Group. We also thank Wendy McDowell and Caitlin Roush of McDowell Safety and Health Services, LLC and GuLF STUDY staff at Social & Scientific Systems, Inc who assisted with programming and analysis for this effort. This study was funded by the NIH Common Fund and the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (ZO1 ES 102945).

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Author notes

  1. Mark R Stenzel: Co-first author.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stewart Exposure Assessments, LLC, Arlington, Virginia, USA

    Patricia A Stewart

  2. Exposure Assessment Applications, LLC, Arlington, Virginia, USA

    Mark R Stenzel

  3. Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Gurumurthy Ramachandran

  4. Department of Biostatistics, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Sudipto Banerjee

  5. Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Tran B Huynh

  6. Department of Preventive Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA,

    Caroline P Groth

  7. Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), NIH, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA

    Richard K Kwok, Lawrence S Engel & Dale P Sandler

  8. Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Rockville, Maryland, USA

    Aaron Blair

  9. Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    Lawrence S Engel

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  1. Patricia A Stewart
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dale P Sandler.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology website

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Stewart, P., Stenzel, M., Ramachandran, G. et al. Development of a total hydrocarbon ordinal job-exposure matrix for workers responding to the Deepwater Horizon disaster: The GuLF STUDY. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 28, 223–230 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2017.16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2017.16

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