Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 15, 2026
Chemical Analysis of Water-accommodated Fractions of Crude Oil Spills Using TIMS-FT-ICR MS
Published on: March 3, 2017
Exposure to Oil Spill Chemicals and Lung Function in Deepwater Horizon Disaster Response Workers
Kaitlyn B Gam1, Richard K Kwok, Lawrence S Engel
1Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina (Ms Gam, Drs Kwok, Engel, Sandler); Department of Global Environmental Health Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana (Ms Gam, Dr Lichtveld); Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Dr Engel); Social & Scientific Systems Inc., Durham, North Carolina (Mr Curry, Mr McGrath, Mr Jackson II); Stewart Exposure Assessments, LLC, Arlington, Virginia (Dr Stewart); Exposure Assessment Applications, LLC, Arlington, Virginia (Mr Stenzel); Pulmonary Division, University of Utah and Intermountain Medical Center, Salt Lake City, Utah (Dr Jensen); Office of the Director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland (Dr Miller).
Objective:
The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between total hydrocarbon (THC) exposures attributed to oil spill clean-up work and lung function 1 to 3 years after the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) disaster.
Methods:
We used data from the GuLF STUDY, a large cohort of adults who worked on response to the DWH disaster and others who were safety trained but did not work. We analyzed data from 6288 workers with two acceptable spirometry tests. We estimated THC exposure levels with a job exposure matrix. We evaluated lung function using the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1; mL), the forced vital capacity (FVC; mL), and the FEV1/FVC ratio (%).
Results:
Lung function measures did not differ by THC exposure levels among clean-up workers.
Conclusion:
We did not observe an association between THC exposure and lung function among clean-up workers 1 to 3 years following the DWH disaster.
Related Concept Videos
01:29Applications of GIS: Disaster Management and Emergency Response
01:26Pharmacokinetic–Pharmacodynamic Relationship: Exposure, Response and Effect
02:41Responses to Drought and Flooding
01:21Schwarzschild Radius and Event Horizon
The minimum speed required to launch a projectile from the surface of an object to which it is gravitationally bound so that it eventually escapes the object’s gravitational field is called the escape velocity. The escape velocity is independent of the mass of the object. Merging the idea of escape...
01:47Lung Capacity
02:52Chemical Formulas