| Title: | Determinants of environmental styrene exposure in Gulf coast residents |
| Author(s): | Werder EJ; Sandler DP; Richardson DB; Emch ME; Kwok RK; Engel LS; |
| Address: | "Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA. Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA. larry.engel@unc.edu. Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. larry.engel@unc.edu" |
| Journal Title: | J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41370-018-0098-x |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1559-064X (Electronic) 1559-0631 (Print) 1559-0631 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "BACKGROUND: In a previous study of exposure to oil-related chemicals in Gulf coast residents, we measured blood levels of volatile organic compounds. Levels of styrene were substantially elevated compared to a nationally representative sample. We sought to identify factors contributing to these levels, given the opportunities for styrene exposure in this community. METHODS: We measured blood styrene levels in 667 Gulf coast residents and compared participants' levels of blood styrene to a nationally representative sample. We assessed personal and environmental predictors of blood styrene levels using linear regression and predicted the risk of elevated blood styrene (defined as above the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 95th percentile) using modified Poisson regression. We assessed exposure to styrene using questionnaire data on recent exposure opportunities and leveraged existing databases to assign ambient styrene exposure based on geocoded residential location. RESULTS: These Gulf coast residents were 4-6 times as likely as the nationally representative sample to have elevated blood styrene levels. The change in styrene (log ng/mL) was 0.42 (95% CI: 0.34, 0.51) for smoking, 0.34 (0.09, 0.59) for time spent in vehicles and 1.10 (0.31, 1.89) for boats, and -0.41 (-0.73, -0.10) for fall/winter blood draws. Residential proximity to industrial styrene emissions did not predict blood styrene levels. Ambient styrene predicted elevated blood styrene in subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: Personal predictors of increasing blood styrene levels included smoking, vehicle emissions, and housing characteristics. There was a suggestive association between ambient and blood styrene. Our measures of increased regional exposure opportunity do not fully explain the observed elevated blood styrene levels in this population" |
| Keywords: | Adult Air Pollutants/analysis/*toxicity Environmental Exposure/*analysis Environmental Monitoring/methods Female Gulf of Mexico Humans Linear Models Male Nutrition Surveys Seasons Smoking/blood Styrene/analysis/*toxicity Surveys and Questionnaires United; |
| Notes: | "MedlineWerder, Emily J Sandler, Dale P Richardson, David B Emch, Michael E Kwok, Richard K Engel, Lawrence S eng Z99 ES999999/ImNIH/Intramural NIH HHS/ ZIA ES102945-03/ImNIH/Intramural NIH HHS/ Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural 2018/12/14 J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2019 Oct; 29(6):831-841. doi: 10.1038/s41370-018-0098-x. Epub 2018 Dec 13" |
