Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Exposures and Long-term Self-rated Health Effects Among Parents in Coastal Louisiana. (23rd February 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Stroope, Samuel; Slack, Tim; Kroeger, Rhiannon A.; Keating, Kathryn Sweet; Beedasy, Jaishree; Sury, Jonathan J.; Brooks, Jeremy; Chandler, Thomas
• Is Part Of: Disaster medicine and public health preparedness. Volume 17(2023)
• Publication Date: 2023-02-23
• Subjects: parents -- deepwater horizon -- oil spill -- public health -- Louisiana; Disaster medicine -- Periodicals; Emergency management -- Planning -- Periodicals; Public health -- Periodicals; 363.34
• DOI: 10.1017/dmp.2022.223
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1935-7893

Abstract

Abstract: Purpose: To assess whether exposure to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DHOS) was related to parents' self-rated health over time. Design: 3 waves of panel data were drawn from the Gulf Coast Population Impact study (2014) and Resilient Children, Youth, and Communities study (2016, 2018). Setting: Coastal Louisiana communities in high-impact DHOS areas. Participants: Respondents were parents or guardians aged 18 - 84, culled from a probability sample of households with a child aged 4 to 18 (N = 526) at the time of the 2010 DHOS. Measures: Self-rated health was measured at each wave. Self-reported physical exposure to the DHOS, economic exposure to the DHOS, and control variables were measured in 2014. Analysis: We used econometric random effects regression for panel data to assess relationships between DHOS exposures and self-rated health over time, controlling for potentially confounding covariates. Results: Both physical exposure ( b = − 0.39 ; P < 0.001) and economic exposure (b = −0.34; P < 0.001) to the DHOS had negative associations with self-rated health over the study period. Physical exposure had a larger effect size. Conclusion: Parents' physical contact with, and economic disruption from, the 2010 DHOS were tied to long-term diminished health.