About

Dr. Nicole Deziel is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology in the Environmental Health Sciences department at Yale School of Public Health. She also serves as Co-Director of the Yale Center for Perinatal, Pediatric, and Environmental Epidemiology (CPPEE). Dr. Deziel obtained a Master’s of Industrial Hygiene and a Doctorate in Environmental Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research focuses on applying statistical models, biomonitoring techniques, and environmental measurements to provide comprehensive and quantitative assessments of exposure to traditional and emerging environmental hazards. Her work aims to advance understanding of environmental exposures and their impacts on health, contributing to public health knowledge and policy.

Research topics

• Environmental health
• Medicine
• Demography
• Psychology
• Developmental psychology
• Biology
• Pathology
• Genetics
• Environmental science
• Internal medicine

Selected publications

• Additional file 1 of Residential proximity to active and abandoned oil and gas development and risk of childhood Ewing sarcoma in California

  Figshare · 2026-01-01

  articleOpen access

  Supplementary Material 1.

  PublisherDOI

• Unequal exposures, unequal attention: advancing environmental health research in rural areas

  Environment International · 2026-03-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• School-based exposures to oil and gas development for public school children in the United States

  Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology · 2026-03-28

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Oil and gas development (OGD) can release numerous hazards, such as air and water pollution. Residential proximity to OGD is associated with adverse health outcomes in children, including birth defects and cancer. OBJECTIVE: While children spend significant time at school, little is known about school-based exposure. We quantified the number of K-12 U.S. schools near OGD and evaluated whether exposure varied by school-level sociodemographic status. METHODS: We combined public school data from the National Center for Educational Statistics with OGD well location data. We estimated proximity and density of active OGD within 800 m, 1.6 km, and 10 km buffers for each school during the 2022-2023 school year. We used logistic regression with state fixed effects to estimate associations between OGD exposure and schools having >50% students of non-Hispanic White race, Hispanic ethnicity, and free/reduced lunch eligibility, overall and stratified by rurality. RESULTS: 29,649 (29.2%) of U.S. public schools were within 10 km of OGD. Overall, predominantly White (OR: 1.37, 95% CI: [1.32-1.43]) and free/reduced lunch eligibility (1.14 [1.09-1.19]) schools were more likely to be within 10 km of OGD. In rural areas, schools with predominantly Hispanic and free/reduced lunch-eligible students had 1.51 (1.15-1.97) and 1.20 (1.00-1.45) times the odds of being within 800 m of OGD, respectively; this was consistent in micropolitan, but not metropolitan, areas. Schools with predominantly non-Hispanic White students were more likely to be near OGD (800 m: 2.10 [1.93-2.27]) only in metropolitan areas. SIGNIFICANCE: Over 14.5 million students attended schools within 10 km of OGD in 2022-2023. These schoolchildren often disproportionately came from persistently marginalized groups compared to their less-exposed peers, and patterns varied strongly by urbanicity. Exposure to OGD while at school may harm students' health and academic development, especially among children in low-resource settings. IMPACT STATEMENT: This study provides new information on estimating exposure to OGD in U.S. public schools nationwide. More than 14.5 million U.S. public school students were potentially exposed to OGD during the 2022-2023 school year, and these school children tended to be from consistently marginalized groups. Exposure to OGD at school may be detrimental to students' health and academic development, and these effects may be amplified in low-resource settings. This work has potential health implications for any state with oil and gas development, which should be considered in ongoing policy discussions on public health protection, particularly as regulations change.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Density of animal feeding operations, including concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), and cancer incidence: A county-level ecological study across three U.S. states

  Environmental Research · 2026-03-17

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Animal feeding operations (AFOs) including concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are significant sources of environmental pollution with potential public health implications. Despite growing concern of environmental health risk, few studies have assessed the associations between exposure to AFOs/CAFOs and cancer incidence across diverse geographic regions and populations. OBJECTIVE: This study investigates county-level cancer incidence by state in relation to AFO/CAFO exposure in three US states. METHODS: We analyzed county-level incidence data for all- and site-specific cancers from 2000 to 2021 and AFO/CAFO density for three states (i.e., California, Iowa, and Texas). To address confounding, we applied propensity score matching to compare counties with high AFO/CAFO exposure to control counties. Stratified analyses were conducted by state and cancer type. RESULTS: Higher exposure to AFO/CAFOs was associated with increased cancer incidence in all three states, although the magnitude and statistical significance of the associations varied by state. Compared to control counties, exposed counties had significantly higher all-cancer incidence rate ratios (IRRs): 1.044 (95% CI 1.040, 1.047) in California, 1.079 (1.066, 1.091) in Iowa, and 1.078 (1.073, 1.084) in Texas. Stratified analyses by cancer type showed higher associations for specific cancers in each state (e.g., bladder cancer in California, colorectal cancer for Iowa, and lung and bronchus cancer in Texas). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest a link between higher AFO/CAFO exposure and increased cancer incidence across various US states. Future research using individual-level data, refined exposure assessment, and longitudinal approaches are needed to strengthen the evidence.

  PublisherDOI

• Additional file 1 of Residential proximity to active and abandoned oil and gas development and risk of childhood Ewing sarcoma in California

  Open MIND · 2026-01-01

  article

  Supplementary Material 1.

  DOI

• Evaluating 1,4-Dioxane Exposure in Long Island, New York: Integrating Environmental, Biological, and Metabolomic Measures

  Environmental Science & Technology · 2026-03-13

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  1,4-Dioxane (1,4-DX), found in solvents and personal care products, is a potential carcinogen with limited exposure data. Tap water, blood samples, and interviews were collected from 92 residents of Long Island, New York, an area with historically high 1,4-DX drinking water concentrations. We assessed the relationship between water and blood 1,4-DX concentrations, evaluated exposure determinants, and compared metabolomic profiles by exposure status. 1,4-DX was detected in 32% of water and 24% of blood samples; 24% of water samples exceeded New York’s Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 1 μg/L. Water and blood 1,4-DX concentrations were not correlated (r = −0.11, p = 0.32). Older homes (built <1960) and those without a whole-house treatment system were more likely to have detectable 1,4-DX in tap water (p < 0.05). Water consumption and personal care product use were not associated with blood 1,4-DX. Metabolomic analyses revealed small but significant differences in redox and energy metabolism among those with and without detectable water 1,4-DX (fold change <20%, false-discovery-rate-corrected p < 0.05). The lack of correlation between 1,4-DX in paired water and blood samples suggests other exposure sources or differing time windows captured by sample types. Larger studies could clarify exposure determinants and metabolomic impacts to better assess the potential health burden of 1,4-DX.

  PublisherDOI

• Updating our quantification of non-occupational pesticide exposure in agricultural settings: A revised algorithm for the agricultural health study

  Environmental Advances · 2026-02-10

  articleOpen access

  Understanding associations between pesticide exposure and chronic disease requires long-term, chemical-specific estimates. To characterize non-occupational pesticide exposure in the Agricultural Health Study (AHS), we previously developed a quantitative algorithm that estimated active ingredient-specific exposure to estimate exposure for the take-home, agricultural drift, and residential use pathways, with weights derived from indoor pesticide dust concentrations in agricultural homes from ten studies published through 2015. Here, we describe an update. First, we expanded our meta-analysis to include data from nine additional studies published through 2024. We then calculated relative differences (RD) in pesticide concentrations, with sensitivity analyses for AHS data, for known use of the specific pesticide, and for herbicides vs. insecticides. For take-home, the RD was 2.6 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.9-3.4) between homes with a resident likely vs. not likely to have occupational exposure to pesticides, increasing to 3.7 (95%CI: 1.9-7.4) with known use of the pesticide. For agricultural drift, we observed non-linear trends with distance from treated fields; the RD was 1.9 (95%CI: 1.2-2.8) for homes located <100 vs. >440 yards from field, increasing to 4.2 (95%CI: 1.7-10) with known use of the pesticide. For residential use, we observed trends with increasing probability the pesticide was used, with a RD of 1.6 (95%CI: 1.3-2.0) with ≥20% probability. Our updated findings were used to re-conceptualize the algorithm; we illustrate its application for chlorpyrifos and atrazine. These refinements provide increased confidence in our exposure characterization and will help advance our knowledge of potential health risks related to non-occupational pesticide exposures.

  PublisherDOI

• Residential proximity to active and abandoned oil and gas development and risk of childhood Ewing sarcoma in California

  Environmental Health · 2026-01-14 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Oil and gas development (OGD) has been linked to increased pediatric cancer risk, but the literature to date is focused on hematologic malignancies and active wells. The emergence of suspected clusters of cancers such as Ewing sarcoma in children living near OGD and widespread presence of abandoned wells warrants investigation. This study included 558 children born in California (1982–2015) reported to the California Cancer Registry with a diagnosis of Ewing sarcoma at 0–19 years (1988–2015), and 27,800 cancer-free controls frequency-matched to cases on birth-year (50:1 ratio). We used birth address to assign prenatal OGD exposure to active (drilled or producing) and plugged/abandoned wells separately with inverse distance-squared weighted well counts at 5 and 10 km buffer sizes from three months before conception to birth. We evaluated potential exposure disparities and estimated odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between prenatal OGD exposure and Ewing sarcoma risk using multivariable logistic regression. Hispanic children were significantly more likely to be exposed to both active and abandoned OGD within 10 km than non-Hispanics (40% vs. 23% and 14% vs. 6%, respectively). There were no associations between prenatal exposure to active OGD within 10 km and Ewing sarcoma risk (OR: 0.88 [95% CI: 0.72–1.08]). However, children within 10 km of abandoned wells were 1.27 [0.96–1.66] times as likely to develop Ewing sarcoma as unexposed children; when stratified by ethnicity, this association appeared in Hispanic children only (1.33 [0.95–1.88]). We did not identify an association between exposure to active OGD and pediatric Ewing sarcoma risk in California. Abandoned wells were associated with a suggestive increase in risk among Hispanic children, who were also more likely to be exposed to any OGD activity than non-Hispanic children. This disparity could have implications for other health outcomes including childhood cancers.

  PublisherDOI

• Children living near oil and gas wells face higher risk of rare leukemia, studies show

  2025-07-17

  preprintSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Metrics of Urbanicity and Rurality in US-Based Epidemiologic Studies of Ambient Temperature and Health: A Scoping Review

  Current Environmental Health Reports · 2025-08-20 · 1 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior author

  The impacts of environmental health risk factors, including temperature, vary across urban and rural areas. Application of different metrics of rurality and urbanicity can yield different risk characterizations. We aimed to identify, describe, and quantify how urban/rural metrics are used in epidemiologic studies of ambient temperature and health across the United States (US). Using PubMed and Scopus, we identified epidemiologic studies published between January 2010 and March 2025 that examined ambient temperature and health in the US and included a defined, quantitative metric of urbanicity/rurality. Titles, abstracts, and full texts were evaluated by two independent reviewers. Data from included studies were extracted using a predetermined tool. Of the 11,013 studies resulting from our search, 36 were included. We identified 23 metrics drawing from 10 data sources. The most frequently used metrics were population density and size from the US Census (n = 11 studies). Other metrics reflected connectivity and proximity to surrounding areas, such as the US Census’s Urban-Rural Classification (n = 7 studies), and the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural-Urban Commuting Area Codes (n = 4 studies) and Rural-Urban Continuum Codes (n = 2 studies). Additional metrics captured features related to the natural environment, built environment, and employment. Many studies did not provide a rationale for metric selection. Urbanicity and rurality metrics have moved beyond population size and density to include other features. Providing rationales for choice of metric or the differential vulnerability or adaptive capacity captured by the metric could bolster understanding of urban-rural differences in the impact of temperature on health.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Mary H. Ward

  84 shared

• Melissa C. Friesen

  59 shared

• Joanne S. Colt

  47 shared

• Todd P. Whitehead

  University of California, Berkeley

  45 shared

• Robert B. Gunier

  University of California, Berkeley

  42 shared

• Catherine Metayer

  36 shared

• James E. Saiers

  Yale University

  34 shared

• Joshua L. Warren

  Yale University

  32 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Environmental Health

  Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

• M.S., Industrial Hygiene

  Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health