4.6 Article

Exposure to Total Hydrocarbons During Cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Risk of Heart Attack Across 5 Years of Follow-up

Journal

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
Volume 188, Issue 5, Pages 917-927

Publisher

OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwz017

Keywords

coronary disease; myocardial infarction; occupational exposure; occupational health; petroleum pollution

Funding

  1. National Institutes of Health Common Fund
  2. National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences [Z01 ES102945]
  3. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences [T32 ES007018]
  4. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES [ZIAES102945] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER

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Exposure to total hydrocarbons (THC) and volatile organic compounds from air pollution is associated with risk of coronary heart disease. THC exposure from oil spills might be similarly associated, but no research has examined this. We assessed the relationship between THC exposure during the response and cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (Gulf of Mexico) and heart attack risk among 24,375 oil spill workers enrolled in the Gulf Long-Term Follow-up Study. There were 312 first heart attacks (self-reported physician-diagnosed myocardial infarction, or fatal coronary heart disease) ascertained during the study period (2010-2016). THC exposures were estimated using a job-exposure matrix incorporating self-reported activities and personal air measurements. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate hazard ratios, with inverse-probability weights to account for confounding and censoring. Maximum THC levels of >= 0.30 parts per million (ppm) were associated with heart attack risk, with a 1.8-fold risk for exposure of >= 3.00 ppm versus <0.30 ppm (hazard ratio = 1.81, 95% confidence interval: 1.11, 2.95). The risk difference for highest versus lowest THC level was 10 excess cases per 1,000 workers. This is the first study of the persistent health impacts of THC exposure during oil spill work, and results support increased protection against oil exposure during cleanup of future spills.

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