Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
1994-2-10
pubmed:abstractText
An accident at an oil refinery in Texas City, Texas, released around 40,000 lb of hydrogen fluoride, exposing the community to the highly toxic and corrosive substance. A population-based epidemiologic study was conducted to evaluate the impact of the accident on the health of the community. Exposure assessment was done using a multipronged approach through a door-to-door survey of 10,811 individuals. A symptom survey resulting in 1994 completed interviews was conducted with a stratified random sample selected from the exposure study database. The sampling was balanced with respect to age, gender, and predisposition across the three ordinal exposure categories. The results show a strong dose relationship (P < 10(-4)) between the exposure and symptoms reported following the accident and 2 years later, most notably breathing and eye symptoms. However, substantial improvement in health was reported over the 2-year period regardless of the level of exposure. Problems of recall bias and behavioral sensitization are considered and it is recognized that the study may have overestimated the effect. It is also recognized that the study may not have completely unraveled the relative importance of exposure and host response in health outcome, since the two were probably conflated in the exposure measure. Nevertheless, the independence of predisposition and reported level of exposure, the magnitude of effect and its consistency, the unmistakable dose response, the large sample size, and the mutual corroboration of various findings make it difficult to dismiss the interpretation that the hydrofluoric acid exposure indeed caused health problems in the community that continued for at least 2 years after the accident.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
May
pubmed:issn
1047-2797
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
2
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
213-30
pubmed:dateRevised
2008-6-23
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed-meshheading:1342272-Accidents, Occupational, pubmed-meshheading:1342272-Adolescent, pubmed-meshheading:1342272-Adult, pubmed-meshheading:1342272-Air Pollutants, Occupational, pubmed-meshheading:1342272-Attitude to Health, pubmed-meshheading:1342272-Chemical Industry, pubmed-meshheading:1342272-Child, pubmed-meshheading:1342272-Child, Preschool, pubmed-meshheading:1342272-Environmental Exposure, pubmed-meshheading:1342272-Eye Diseases, pubmed-meshheading:1342272-Female, pubmed-meshheading:1342272-Follow-Up Studies, pubmed-meshheading:1342272-Humans, pubmed-meshheading:1342272-Hydrofluoric Acid, pubmed-meshheading:1342272-Interviews as Topic, pubmed-meshheading:1342272-Male, pubmed-meshheading:1342272-Middle Aged, pubmed-meshheading:1342272-Prevalence, pubmed-meshheading:1342272-Respiratory Tract Diseases, pubmed-meshheading:1342272-Texas
pubmed:year
1992
pubmed:articleTitle
A community-based epidemiologic study of health sequelae of exposure to hydrofluoric acid.
pubmed:affiliation
University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston 77550.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article