How will UCLA assess acute exposure during the blowout vs. chronic exposure before or following the blowout? How will UCLA assess short-term and long-term impacts of the exposure?

For exposure, we will estimate short-term exposures using available datasets collected during the blowout to model and characterize emissions, understand how they traveled, identify were they landed during the disaster, and develop a detailed risk assessment. We will measure long-term exposures by conducting indoor/outdoor air quality monitoring and by monitoring methane emissions from the facility using new remote sensing techniques during normal operations.

For the health impact assessment, we will measure short-term impact by analyzing existing data on birth outcomes of the blowout for pregnant women who were exposed during their third trimester; the neonatal blood samples to examine impact of the blowout on newborns; and rates of hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and doctor visits during the blowout.

We will measure the long-term impact by conducting clinical assessments, examining the rates of hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and doctor visits after the blowout; surveys and focus groups of current and past residents; and likelihood of developing cancers associated with exposure to gas. We will use statistical methods to distinguish between short- and long-term effects, particularly when assessing health impact.