Oil refineries and strokes

Does living near an oil refinery increase the risk of having a stroke?

A team of scientists, from Yale and Brown universities in the United States and Seoul National University in South Korea, conducted a study on the matter whose results give a disturbing answer: apparently, yes.

The process of refining oil is known to emit multiple pollutants that have been linked in previous research to diseases that lead to stroke. However, the relationship between stroke risk and exposure to these pollutants when living near oil wells and refineries has not been well studied until now.

Byproducts of oil production and refining include a mix of pollutants that can affect air quality, soil quality, and drinking water quality in populated areas.

To investigate the association between exposure to chemicals from refineries and the number of strokes in adults, Honghyok Kim’s team focused on the southern United States, an area where it’s easy to research strokes because there’s a high concentration of oil wells and refineries.

The risk of suffering a stroke may be increased by the mere fact of living near an oil refinery, according to the conclusions reached in the new study. (Photo: IOP Publishing. CC BY)

The team took data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from seven southern US states and looked at areas within 2.5 kilometers or 5 kilometers of oil refineries. In these areas, there is a high presence of sulfur dioxide, a chemical that can increase the risk of stroke and is a typical pollutant from oil wells and refineries.

The influence of this sulfur dioxide makes, according to the calculations of the study authors, that living near oil refineries is the cause of 5.6 percent of strokes in adults. This percentage differs by state and also by sector within each state. The record is held by a section of Texas in which 25.3 percent of strokes are apparently attributable to oil refineries.

The study is titled “Residential exposure to petroleum refining and stroke in the southern United States.” And it has been published in the academic journal Environmental Research Letters. (Font: NCYT by Amazings)