Exposures and reported symptoms associated with occupational deployment to the Buncefield fuel depot fire, England 2005.
Occup Environ Med
; 65(6): 404-11, 2008 Jun.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-17951337
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
An explosion at the Buncefield fuel depot outside London occurred on 11 December 2005. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of airborne exposures and health status for workers deployed.METHODS:
Deployed individuals were identified through their occupational health departments. We sent a self-completion questionnaire asking about health symptoms during the burn and post-burn phases. The prevalence of health symptoms in workers was compared to symptoms in local residents not under the smoke plume.RESULTS:
Of 1949 eligible individuals, 815 returned questionnaires (response rate 44%). Respiratory protection was used by 39%. Symptoms were reported by 41% of individuals during the burn phase compared with 26% in the post-burn phase. In a final multivariable model, reporting of any symptoms was associated with deployment inside the inner fire cordon during the burn phase (OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.24 to 3.47) and wearing a face mask (OR 2.33, 95% CI 1.67 to 3.26). Compared with the general public, eye irritation (prevalence ratio (PR) 2.1, 95% CI 1.5 to 3.0), coughing (PR 1.3, 95% CI 1.0 to 1.8) and headaches (PR 1.7, 95% CI 1.2 to 2.5) were more common in workers deployed during the burn phase but not the post-burn phase.CONCLUSIONS:
Increased reporting of symptoms close to the fire during the burn phase was consistent with increased exposure to products of combustion, although no major acute illness was reported. That only a minority of individuals used face masks, which were not protective for symptoms, raises questions about the availability of adequate respiratory protection for such incidents.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Óleos Combustíveis
/
Poluentes Ocupacionais do Ar
/
Explosões
/
Doenças Profissionais
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2008
Tipo de documento:
Article