The Gulf Long-Term Follow-Up Study (GuLF STUDY): Biospecimen collection at enrollment

Engel, Lawrence S.; Kwok, Richard K.; Miller, Aubrey; Blair, Aaron; Curry, Matthew D.; McGrath, John A.; Sandler, Dale P.

doi:10.1080/15287394.2017.1283274

Cited by 23 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…The Gulf Long-Term Follow-up Study (GuLF STUDY), is a large prospective cohort study of the health effects of the DWH disaster. The study includes 32,608 adults who participated in the oil spill response and cleanup (workers) or received safety training but did not work (non-workers) [25, 26]. All participants were first administered an enrollment questionnaire by telephone (March 2011-May 2013).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between Deepwater Horizon oil spill response and cleanup work experiences and lung function

Gam

Lawrence

Kwok

et al. 2018

Environment International

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Introduction: Oil spill response and cleanup (OSRC) workers had potentially stressful experiences during mitigation efforts following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. Smelling chemicals; skin or clothing contact with oil; heat stress; handling oily plants/wildlife or dead animal recovery; and/or being out of regular work may have posed a risk to worker respiratory health through psychological stress mechanisms. Objective: To evaluate the association between six potentially stressful oil spill experiences and lung function among OSRC workers 1-3 years following the Deepwater Horizon disaster, while controlling for primary oil spill inhalation hazards and other potential confounders. Methods: Of 6,811 GuLF STUDY participants who performed OSRC work and completed a quality spirometry test, 4,806 provided information on all exposures and confounders. We carried out complete case analysis and used multiple imputation to assess risk among the larger sample. Potentially stressful work experiences were identified from an earlier study of these workers. The lung function parameters of interest include the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1, mL), the forced vital capacity (FVC, mL) and the ratio (FEV1/FVC, %). Results: On average, participants in the analytic sample completed spirometry tests 1.7 years after the spill. Among workers with at least 2 acceptable FEV1 and FVC curves, workers with jobs that involved oily plants/wildlife or dead animal recovery had lower values of FEV1 (Mean difference: −53 mL, 95% CI: −84, −22), FVC (Mean difference: −45 mL, 95% CI: −81, −9) and FEV1/FVC (Mean difference: −0.44%, 95% CI: −0.80, −0.07) compared to unexposed workers in analyses using multiple imputation. Conclusions: Workers involved in handling oily plants/wildlife or dead animal recovery had lower lung function than unexposed workers after accounting for other OSRC inhalation hazards.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between Deepwater Horizon oil spill response and cleanup work experiences and lung function

Gam

Lawrence

Kwok

et al. 2018

Environment International

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“…The Gulf Long-term Follow-up (GuLF) STUDY had reported that exposure to low doses of benzene and other volatile organic compounds such as toluene, ethylbenzene, oxylene, xylene, and styrene is associated with adverse hematologic effects in study participants ( 10 ). The GuLF STUDY is currently conducting further research to examine oil spill-related adverse health effects utilizing biological specimens from study participants ( 11 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Development of Long-Term Adverse Health Effects in Oil Spill Cleanup Workers of the Deepwater Horizon Offshore Drilling Rig Disaster

D’Andrea¹,

Reddy²

2018

Front. Public Health

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BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to assess the long-term adverse health effects of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil spill exposure in workers who participated in its cleanup work.MethodsMedical charts of both the oil spill exposed and unexposed subjects were reviewed. The changes in the white blood cells, platelets, hemoglobin, hematocrit, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate amino transferase (AST), alanine amino transferase (ALT) levels, as well as their pulmonary and cardiac functions were evaluated.ResultsMedical records from 88 subjects (oil spill cleanup workers, n = 44 and unexposed, n = 44) were reviewed during initial and 7 years follow up visits after the disaster occurred. Compared with the unexposed subjects, oil spill exposed subjects had significantly reduced platelet counts (×103/µL) at their initial (254.1 ± 46.7 versus 289.7 ± 63.7, P = 0.000) and follow-up (242.9 ± 55.6 versus 278.4 ± 67.6, P = 0.000) visits compared with the unexposed subjects (254.6 ± 51.9 versus 289.7 ± 63.7, P = 0.008). The hemoglobin and hematocrit levels were increased significantly both at their initial and follow-up visits in the oil spill exposed subjects compared to the unexposed subjects. Similarly, the oil spill exposed subjects had significantly increased ALP, AST, and ALT levels at their initial and follow-up visits compared with those of the unexposed subjects. Illness symptoms that were reported during their initial visit still persisted at their 7-year follow-up visit. Notably, at their 7-year follow-up visit, most of the oil spill exposed subjects had also developed chronic rhinosinusitis and reactive airway dysfunction syndrome as new symptoms that were not reported during their initial visit. Additionally, more abnormalities in pulmonary and cardiac functions were also seen in the oil spill exposed subjects.ConclusionThis long-term follow-up study demonstrates that those people involved in the oil spill cleanup operations experiences persistent alterations or worsening of their hematological, hepatic, pulmonary, and cardiac functions. In addition, these subjects experienced prolonged or worsening illness symptoms even 7 years after their exposure to the oil spill.

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“…For a small subset of participants in selected counties/parishes in Alabama and Louisiana, a vacuum dust sample was also collected. Additional details about biological and environmental specimen collection, processing, handling, shipping, and storage are available elsewhere (Engel et al, in press). …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The GuLF STUDY: A Prospective Study of Persons Involved in the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response and Clean-Up

Kwok

Engel

Miller

et al. 2017

Environ Health Perspect

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108

101

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Background:The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster led to the largest ever marine oil spill. Individuals who worked on the spill were exposed to toxicants and stressors that could lead to adverse effects.Objectives:The GuLF STUDY was designed to investigate relationships between oil spill exposures and multiple potential physical and mental health effects.Methods:Participants were recruited by telephone from lists of individuals who worked on the oil spill response and clean-up or received safety training. Enrollment interviews between 2011 and 2013 collected information about spill-related activities, demographics, lifestyle, and health. Exposure measurements taken during the oil spill were used with questionnaire responses to characterize oil exposures of participants. Participants from Gulf states completed a home visit in which biological and environmental samples, anthropometric and clinical measurements, and additional health and lifestyle information were collected. Participants are being followed for changes in health status.Results:Thirty-two thousand six hundred eight individuals enrolled in the cohort, and 11,193 completed a home visit. Most were young (56.2% ≤ 45 years of age), male (80.8%), lived in a Gulf state (82.3%), and worked at least 1 day on the oil spill (76.5%). Workers were involved in response (18.0%), support operations (17.5%), clean-up on water (17.4%) or land (14.6%), decontamination (14.3%), and administrative support (18.3%). Using an ordinal job exposure matrix, 45% had maximum daily total hydrocarbon exposure levels ≥ 1.0 ppm.Conclusions:The GuLF STUDY provides a unique opportunity to study potential adverse health effects from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.Citation:Kwok RK, Engel LS, Miller AK, Blair A, Curry MD, Jackson WB II, Stewart PA, Stenzel MR, Birnbaum LS, Sandler DP for the GuLF STUDY Research Team. 2017. The GuLF STUDY: a prospective study of persons involved in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response and clean-up. Environ Health Perspect 125:570–578; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP715

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The Gulf Long-Term Follow-Up Study (GuLF STUDY): Biospecimen collection at enrollment

Cited by 23 publications

References 42 publications

Association between Deepwater Horizon oil spill response and cleanup work experiences and lung function

Association between Deepwater Horizon oil spill response and cleanup work experiences and lung function

The Development of Long-Term Adverse Health Effects in Oil Spill Cleanup Workers of the Deepwater Horizon Offshore Drilling Rig Disaster

The GuLF STUDY: A Prospective Study of Persons Involved in the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response and Clean-Up

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