Evidence mapPaperPMID 41564268Full record

ArticleAnnals of work exposures and health2026

Association of oil spill-related volatile organic compound exposure with CVD-related biomarkers in the Gulf Long-term Follow-up Study.

Opal P Patel, Jessie K Edwards, Anna M Kucharska-Newton, Eric A Whitsel, Kate Christenbury, W Braxton Jackson, Kaitlyn G Lawrence, Patricia A Stewart, Mark R Stenzel, Dale P Sandler and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Annals of work exposures and health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Opal P PatelDepartment of Epidemiology, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, 2104G McGavran-Greenberg Hall, CB #7435, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States.ORCID 0000-0001-7831-2758
Jessie K EdwardsDepartment of Epidemiology, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, 2104G McGavran-Greenberg Hall, CB #7435, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States.
Anna M Kucharska-NewtonDepartment of Epidemiology, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, 2104G McGavran-Greenberg Hall, CB #7435, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States.
Eric A WhitselDepartment of Epidemiology, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, 2104G McGavran-Greenberg Hall, CB #7435, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States.
Kate ChristenburySocial & Scientific Systems, Inc., A DLH Holdings Company, Durham, NC, United States.
W Braxton JacksonSocial & Scientific Systems, Inc., A DLH Holdings Company, Durham, NC, United States.
Kaitlyn G LawrenceEpidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, P.O. Box 12233, Mail Drop A3-05, 111 T.W. Alexander Dr., Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, United States.
Patricia A StewartStewart Exposure Assessments, LLC, 6045 N. 27th. St., Arlington, VA 22207, United States.
Mark R StenzelExposure Assessment Applications, LLC, 6045 N. 27th. St., Arlington, VA 22207, United States.ORCID 0000-0001-7840-234X
Dale P SandlerDepartment of Epidemiology, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, 2104G McGavran-Greenberg Hall, CB #7435, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States.
Lawrence S EngelDepartment of Epidemiology, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, 2104G McGavran-Greenberg Hall, CB #7435, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States.

Funding

Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of HealthNIEHS NIH HHS Z01 ES 102945
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDuring the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, oil spill response and cleanup (OSRC) workers were exposed to crude oil, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, and n-hexane (BTEX-H). Growing evidence links these exposures to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Lipid and C-reactive protein levels are used to assess CVD risk and may serve as mediators of the observed associations with CVD. However, few studies have assessed associations of oil spill cleanup-related exposures with blood levels of lipids and C-reactive protein (CRP).

objectiveThis study examined associations of oil spill cleanup-related exposure to each individual BTEX-H chemical, total (aggregate sum) BTEX-H, and the BTEX-H mixture with blood lipids and CRP among OSRC workers in the Gulf Long-term Follow-up (GuLF) Study.

methodsSubjects comprised 2,544 OSRC workers who completed a home visit (May 2011 to May 2013) and had CVD biomarker measurements. Cumulative exposures to BTEX-H (ppb-days) were estimated using a job-exposure matrix that linked air measurements with self-reported Deepwater Horizon work histories. Study biomarkers were lipids, including low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), total cholesterol, and high-sensitivity CRP (hsCRP), which were measured in blood samples collected during the home visit. Multivariable linear regression was used to estimate mean differences and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for associations of quartiles of BTEX-H with lipid and hsCRP levels. We log-transformed hsCRP due to a non-normal distribution. We used quantile g-computation to assess the joint effect of the BTEX-H mixture.

resultsEach BTEX-H chemical was associated with elevations in total cholesterol up to 3 yr after exposure, with the strongest effect estimates in the top quartile, ranging from 2.3 to 5.1 mg/dL. A one quartile simultaneous increase in the BTEX-H mixture was associated with a 1.7 mg/dL increase in total cholesterol. While trends were less consistent for hsCRP, most estimates were above the null and a one quartile increase in exposure to the BTEX-H mixture was associated with a 3% increase in hsCRP.

conclusionOur study suggests that oil spill cleanup-related BTEX-H exposures were associated with elevations in some CVD biomarkers.

Indexed as

Cardiovascular DiseasesOccupational ExposurePetroleum PollutionVolatile Organic CompoundsAdultBenzeneBenzene DerivativesBiomarkersC-Reactive ProteinFemaleFollow-Up StudiesGulf of AmericaHexanesHumansLipidsMaleBenzeneBenzene DerivativesBiomarkersC-Reactive ProteinethylbenzeneHexanesLipidsn-hexaneTolueneVolatile Organic CompoundsXylenesCRPenvironmental epidemiologylipidsoil spillvolatile hydrocarbons

Identifiers

PMID41564268
PMCPMC12822783

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.