Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40120483›Full record

ArticleEcotoxicology and environmental safety2025

Skin conditions associated with dermal exposure to oil spill chemicals among Deepwater Horizon disaster response and cleanup workers.

Dazhe Chen, Kaitlyn G Lawrence, Patricia A Stewart, Melanie Gorman Ng, Mark R Stenzel, John W Cherrie, Kate E Christenbury, W Braxton Jackson Ii, Lawrence S Engel, Dale P Sandler

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Ecotoxicology and environmental safety, 2025. 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
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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

10 authors.

Dazhe ChenEpidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
Kaitlyn G LawrenceEpidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
Patricia A StewartStewart Exposure Assessments, LLC, Arlington, VA, USA.
Melanie Gorman NgCentre for Human Exposure Science, Institute of Occupational Medicine, Research Avenue North, Edinburgh, UK; School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Mark R StenzelExposure Assessment Applications, LLC, Arlington, VA, USA.
John W CherrieCentre for Human Exposure Science, Institute of Occupational Medicine, Research Avenue North, Edinburgh, UK; Institute of Biological Chemistry, Biophysics and Bioengineering, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK.
Kate E ChristenburyDLH, LLC, Bethesda, MD, USA.
W Braxton Jackson IiDLH, LLC, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Lawrence S EngelEpidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Dale P SandlerEpidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA. Electronic address: sandler@niehs.nih.gov.

Funding

Gulf Longitudinal Follow-up (GuLF) Worker StudyZIAES102945 · NIEHS · NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES · PI SANDLER, DALE P · 2010 to 2025
$15.3M
Intramural NIH HHS ZIA ES102945
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPrevious studies have associated oil spill response and cleanup (OSRC) work with skin symptoms, but evidence is lacking on the specific exposure agents that contributed to these skin effects.

objectivesWe investigated OSRC-related exposures, including dermal exposure to specific chemical agents, in relation to acute and longer-term skin conditions among the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) OSRC workers.

methodsAt GuLF Study enrollment, workers reported duration of work, jobs performed, and skin contact with crude oil/tar, dispersants, and decontamination chemicals. Cumulative dermal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from oil/tar was estimated based on the "GuLF DREAM model". We used Poisson regression with robust standard errors to evaluate associations of exposures with prevalent skin conditions during spill cleanup and at enrollment (1-3 years later) and incident eczema diagnoses after the start of OSRC work. We examined modification of associations between exposures and prevalent conditions by use of rubber/synthetic gloves.

resultsDuration of OSRC work was positively associated with skin conditions and eczema diagnoses (p-trend<0.01). Workers in operations, response, and decontamination jobs had higher skin condition prevalence (during cleanup: PR range=3.13-4.51; at enrollment: PR range=2.20-2.94) and eczema risk (RR range=1.44-1.89) compared to support workers. After adjusting for co-exposures, we saw associations of skin conditions during cleanup with dermal exposure to oil/tar (PR=3.41, 95 %CI: 3.14, 3.69), decontamination chemicals (PR=1.55, 95 %CI: 1.46, 1.64), dispersants (PR=1.44, 95 %CI: 1.33, 1.57), and PAHs (p-trend<0.01). These associations remained apparent at enrollment. Eczema diagnosis was associated with exposure to oil/tar (RR=1.56, 95 %CI: 1.20, 2.04) and PAHs (Tertile 3 vs. 1: PR=1.33, 95 %CI: 0.86, 2.07). Effect estimates were on average 21 % lower among workers who used rubber/synthetic gloves.

conclusionsDuration of work, working in non-support jobs, and dermal exposure to oil/tar, dispersants, decontamination chemicals, and PAHs were associated with acute and longer-term skin effects among the DWH OSRC workers.

Indexed as

Occupational ExposurePetroleumPetroleum PollutionSkin DiseasesWater Pollutants, ChemicalAdultDisastersEnvironmental Restoration and RemediationFemaleGulf of AmericaHumansMaleMiddle AgedPolycyclic Aromatic HydrocarbonsSkinPetroleumPolycyclic Aromatic HydrocarbonsWater Pollutants, ChemicalDermatitisEczemaIrritantsOil spillPetroleum pollutionPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Identifiers

PMID40120483
PMCPMC11998974

What OpenQuestion holds

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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 OpenQuestion graph.