The long-term objectives of research project 2 are to bring affected communities and susceptible/sensitive members in those communities into the risk analysis process, improve community members' perception, prioritization, and management of environmental health risks, and improve the efforts of scientific and regulatory stakeholders in the risk assessment and management process following disaster events.
The aims of the project are 1) to determine demographics, DWH knowledge, and knowledge of local health risks experienced or perceived by women of reproductive age in two unique and culturally distinct communities in southeast Louisiana, 2) to determine pre- and post-DWH disaster attitudes towards environmental conditions and determine patterns of seafood consumption behavior as a function of the DWH disaster, 3) to determine levels of petroleum-related hydrocarbons in paired indoor/outdoor air samples as well as petro- and pyrogenic hydrocarbons in locally harvested seafood and estimate exposures using a Monte Carlo approach and population-specific parameters in the assessment models, and 4) to assess and characterize risks posed by hydrocarbons including any crude oil hydrocarbons and characterize the influence of tailored, community-specific analyses of risk on perceptions of risk that are objective or subjective. For all participants, surveys and questionnaires will be used to gather population data, knowledge of the DWH event, environmental health concerns, seafood consumption and dietary behaviors, and knowledge of risks (real and perceived) pre- and post-DWH. For all participants, PAHDNA adducts will be determined by an ELISA method. For 50% of the participants, analytical chemical methods will be used to quantify airborne hydrocarbons sampled using passive samplers and pyro- and petrogenic hydrocarbons in locally harvested seafood. Air and seafood hydrocarbon data will be used to model and assess potential health risks. Air and seafood hydrocarbons and PAH-DNA adducts will be used to examine effects on birth outcomes (Project 1). Predictive relationships between survey data, risk assessment results, and risk perception will be examined.

Public Health Relevance

Following disasters such as the DWH, health risk analyses are conducted to identify environmental risks and mitigate such risks with the goal of protecting public health. Current approaches are often perceived to be inadequate by individuals in vulnerable, affected communities. This project seeks to improve on current approaches by directly involving susceptible members in such communities in the environmental health risk assessment process.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Type
Research Program--Cooperative Agreements (U19)
Project #
5U19ES020677-05
Application #
8846604
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZES1)
Project Start
Project End
2017-04-30
Budget Start
2015-05-01
Budget End
2016-04-30
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2015
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Tulane University
Department
Type
DUNS #
053785812
City
New Orleans
State
LA
Country
United States
Zip Code
70118
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Harville, Emily W; Shankar, Arti; Zilversmit, Leah et al. (2017) Self-Reported Oil Spill Exposure and Pregnancy Complications: The GROWH Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health 14:
Jones, Christopher W; Gambala, Cecilia; Esteves, Kyle C et al. (2017) Differences in placental telomere length suggest a link between racial disparities in birth outcomes and cellular aging. Am J Obstet Gynecol 216:294.e1-294.e8
Zilversmit, Leah; Wickliffe, Jeffrey; Shankar, Arti et al. (2017) Correlations of Biomarkers and Self-Reported Seafood Consumption among Pregnant and Non-Pregnant Women in Southeastern Louisiana after the Gulf Oil Spill: The GROWH Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health 14:
Mundorf, Christopher; Shankar, Arti; Peng, Terrance et al. (2017) Therapeutic Relationship and Study Adherence in a Community Health Worker-Led Intervention. J Community Health 42:21-29
Lichtveld, Maureen; Goldstein, Bernard; Grattan, Lynn et al. (2016) Then and now: lessons learned from community- academic partnerships in environmental health research. Environ Health 15:117

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