Dr. McKenzie’s research has contributed to the understanding of how air pollutants and other exposures resulting from the unconventional development of petroleum resources may affect the public’s health. Her studies investigating associations between adverse birth outcomes and childhood cancers and proximity to oil and gas development are among the first epidemiological studies on this topic to appear in the published literature. Her sentinel human health risk assessment indicated the potential for respiratory, neurological, and developmental health outcomes resulting from exposure to air pollutants emitted during natural gas development. She has testified before the United States Congress and the Denver Metropolitan Regional Air Quality Council on the public health implications of natural gas development.
Areas of Expertise
- Environmental Epidemiology
- Exposure and Risk Assessment
- Air Pollution
- Child Health
- Oil and Gas Development
Courses
- EHOH 6990 Capstone Preparation
- PUBH 6691 Capstone Integration
- HSMP 6640 Leadership in Public Health Practice 2
- PBHL 3020 Undergraduate Introduction to Environmental Health
Research
- Exposures from oil and gas development and childhood leukemia risk: American Cancer Society Research Scholar Grant, Role: PI
- Consulting contract with Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers for Health Energy for updating California Geologic Energy Management Division’s update of public health and safety protections for communities near oil and gas production operations
- Measuring and Modeling Air Pollution and Noise Exposure Near Unconventional Oil and Gas Development in Colorado. Health Effects Institute Invited Submission, Role Co-PI
- Assessing the Effects of Unconventional Oil and Gas Development on Community Water Sources. Health Effects Institute Invited Submission, Role Co-PI
Publications and Presentations
- McKenzie, L.M., Allshouse, W.B., Daniels, S. Congenital heart defects and intensity of oil and gas well site activities in early pregnancy. Environment International, 2019, 132: 104949
- Allshouse, W.B., Adgate, J.L, Hughes, J., Blair, B., McKenzie, L.M. A spatiotemporal industrial activity model for estimating the intensity of oil and gas operations in Colorado. Environmental Science and Technology. 2017, 51 (17): 10243 -10250.
- McKenzie, L.M., Benjamin Blair, B., Hughes, J., Allshouse, W.B., Blake, N.J., Helmig, D., Milmoe, P., Halliday, H., Blake, D.R., Adgate, J.L. Ambient non-methane hydrocarbon levels along Colorado’s Northern Front Range: acute and chronic health risks. Environmental Science and Technology. 2018; 52 (8): 4514-4525
- Deziel, N.C., Mckenzie, L.M., Casey, J.A., McKone, T.E., Johnston, J.E., Gonzales, D.J., Schonkoff, S.B., Morello-Frosch, R.M. Applying the hierarchy of controls to oil and gas development. Environmental Research Letters, 2022, 17 McKenzie, L.M., Allshouse, W.B., Byers, T., Bedrick, E., Serdar, B., Adgate, J.L. Childhood hematologic cancer and residential proximity to oil and gas development in rural Colorado. PLoS One. 2017, 12 (2):e0170423
