Journal article
Estimates of Inhalation Exposures among Land Workers during the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Clean-up Operations
Annals of work exposures and health, v 66(Suppl 1), pp i124-i139
07 Apr 2022
PMID: 34368831
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster, thousands of workers and volunteers cleaned the shoreline across four coastal states of the Gulf of Mexico. For the GuLF STUDY, we developed quantitative estimates of oil-related chemical exposures [total petroleum hydrocarbons (THC), benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, and n-hexane (BTEX-H)] from personal measurements on workers performing various spill clean-up operations on land. These operations included decontamination of vessels, equipment, booms, and personnel; handling of oily booms; hazardous waste management; beach, marsh, and jetty clean-up; aerial missions; wildlife rescue and rehabilitation; and administrative support activities. Exposure estimates were developed for unique groups of workers by (i) activity, (ii) state, and (iii) time period. Estimates of the arithmetic means (AMs) for THC ranged from 0.04 to 3.67 ppm. BTEX-H estimates were substantially lower than THC (in the parts per billion range). Both THC and BTEX-H estimates were substantially lower than their respective occupational exposure limits. The work group, 'Fueled engines' consistently was one of the higher exposed groups to THC and BTEX-H. Notable differences in the AM exposures were observed by activity, time and, to a lesser degree, by state. These exposure estimates were used to develop job-exposure matrices for the GuLF STUDY.
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Details
- Title
- Estimates of Inhalation Exposures among Land Workers during the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Clean-up Operations
- Creators
- Tran B Huynh (Corresponding Author) - Drexel UniversityCaroline P Groth - West Virginia UniversityGurumurthy Ramachandran - BloombergSudipto Banerjee - University of California, Los AngelesMark Stenzel - Product Innovation and Engineering (United States, Saint James) - LLCAaron Blair - National Cancer InstituteDale P Sandler - National Institute of Environmental Health SciencesLawrence S Engel - University of North Carolina at Chapel HillRichard K Kwok - Office of the DirectorPatricia A Stewart - Product Innovation and Engineering (United States, Saint James) - LLC
- Publication Details
- Annals of work exposures and health, v 66(Suppl 1), pp i124-i139
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Grant note
- R01ES030210-01 / NIEHS NIH HHS 1R01ES027027-01 / NIEHS NIH HHS ZIA ES102945 / Intramural NIH HHS K01OH011191 / ACL HHS
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Environmental and Occupational Health
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000756650500001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85124127925
- Other Identifier
- 991019330628404721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Public, Environmental & Occupational Health