- DISCLAIMER
- LIST OF TABLES
- LIST OF FIGURES
- LIST OF APPENDICES
- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- INTRODUCTION
- METHODS
- RESULTS
- SUBSTANCES
- VICTIMS
- EVACUATIONS
- CONTINGENCY PLANS
- MANUFACTURING OF CHEMICALS AND ALLIED PRODUCTS
- USES OF HSEES DATA
- SUMMARY OF RESULTS, 1993-2000
- REFERENCE
- APPENDICES
- Table 1a-Number of events meeting the surveillance definition, by state and type of event, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999
- Table 1b-Number of events meeting the surveillance definition, by state and type of event, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 2000
- Table 2-Distribution of the number of substances released, by type of event, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000
- Table 3-Distribution of the number of substances released, by substance category and type of event, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000
- Table 4-Distribution of the number of victims, by type of event, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000
- Table 5-Number of substances released in all events and events with victims, by substance category, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000
- Table 6-Distribution of type of injury, by type of event, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000
- Table 7-Profiles of events with =50 victims, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000
- Table 8-Cumulative data for all states, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1993-2000
- Figure 1-Areas of fixed facilities involved in events, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000
- Figure 2-Distribution of transportation-related events, by type of transport, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000
- Figure 3-Factors reported as contributing to the occurrence of fixed-facility events, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000
- Figure 4-Distribution of victims, by population group and type of event, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000
- Figure 5a-Distribution of responder victims for fixed-facility events, by population group, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000
- Figure 5b-Distribution of responder victims for transportation-related events, by population group, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000
- Figure 6-Distribution of type of injury for all events, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000
- Figure 7-Injury outcome, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000
- Figure 8-Distribution of victims, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1993-2000
- Figure 9-Cumulative data for all participating states, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1993-2000
- Appendix A-The 100 Most Frequently Released Substances, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000
- Appendix B-Profiles of events with fatalities in fixed facilities, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000
- Appendix C-Profiles of events with fatalities in transportation events, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000
- Appendix D-Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance-Related Publications
- To describe the distribution and characteristics of hazardous substances emergencies.
- To describe the morbidity and mortality experienced by employees, responders, and the general public as a result of hazardous substances releases.
- To identify risk factors associated with the morbidity and mortality.
- To identify strategies that might reduce future morbidity and mortality resulting from the release of hazardous substances.
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Note: While the original publication dates on some of ATSDR's documents may not appear to be current, the information in the documents is valid and may provide relevant information.
In 1980, Congress created the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to implement health-related sections of laws that protect the public from hazardous wastes and environmental spills of hazardous substances. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), commonly known as the "Superfund" Act, designated ATSDR as the lead agency within the Public Health Service to help prevent or reduce further exposure to hazardous substances and the adverse health effects that result from such exposures, and also to expand the knowledge base about such effects.
This publication reports the results and findings of a health study, registry, or other health-related activity supported by ATSDR in accordance with its legislative mandate described above.
Comments regarding this report are welcome. Please send your comments to the
following address:
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Attn: Director, Division of Health Studies (E-31)
1600 Clifton Road, NE
Atlanta, Georgia
30333
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Julie L. Gerberding, MD, MPH, Administrator
Henry Falk, MD, MPH, Assistant Administrator
Robert F. Spengler, ScD, Associate Administrator
for Science
Division of Health
Studies
G. David Williamson, PhD, Director
Sharon S. Campolucci, MSN, Deputy Director
Tom Wilson, Editor
Epidemiology and
Surveillance Branch
Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance Staff
Wendy E. Kaye, PhD, Chief
Zahava Berkowitz, MSc
Maureen Orr, MS
Casetta R. Simmons
Perri Zeitz, MPH
Kevin Horton, MSPH
Deana Manassaram, MPH
Lori Hutwagner, MS
Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
CONTENTS
The Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (HSEES) system, maintained by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), actively collects information to describe the public health consequences associated with the release of hazardous substances. This report summarizes the characteristics of events reported to the 13 state health departments participating in 1999 and the 15 state health departments participating in 2000. Information on acute hazardous substances emergency events was collected, including the substance(s) released, number of victims, number and types of injuries, and number of evacuations. The data obtained were computerized using an ATSDR-provided Web-based data entry system.
A total of 13,808 events was reported. In 13,215 (95.7%) of the events, only a single substance was released. The most commonly reported categories of substances were inorganic substances (excluding acids, bases, ammonia, and chlorine); volatile organic compounds (VOCs); mixtures involving more than one category; acids; ammonia; and pesticides. During this reporting period, 1,256 events (9.1% of all reported events) resulted in a total of 4,425 victims. The most frequently reported injuries sustained by victims were respiratory irritation, headache, eye irritation, dizziness or other central nervous system (CNS) symptoms, and gastrointestinal problems. A total of 74 persons died as a result of all events, and 622 (4.5%) events required evacuations.
The findings regarding the distribution of the numbers of events with victims and evacuations, and the numbers and types of injuries reported have, overall, been consistent since HSEES inception. The distribution of transportation events has increased over the last couple years, in part, because of the use of new notification sources for transportation events.
Since 1990, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has maintained an active, state-based Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (HSEES) system to describe the public health consequences associated with the release of hazardous substances. The decision to initiate a surveillance system of this type was made on the basis of a study published in 1989 on the reporting of hazardous substances releases to three national databases: the National Response Center Database, the Hazardous Materials Information System (HMIS), and the Acute Hazardous Events Database (1). A review of these databases indicated limitations. Many events were missed because of incomplete reporting (for example, the HMIS did not record events involving intrastate carriers or fixed-facility events). Other important information was not recorded, such as the demographic characteristics of victims, the types of injuries sustained, and the number of persons evacuated. As a result of this review, ATSDR implemented the HSEES system to more fully describe the public health consequences associated with the release of hazardous substances. The surveillance system has four goals:
This biennial report summarizes the characteristics of hazardous substances releases and the associated public health consequences of events reported to the surveillance system during 1999-2000.
In 1999, 13 state health departments (Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin) collected data for HSEES. In 2000, two additional state health departments (New Jersey and Utah) collected data for HSEES. For each event, information was collected about the event, substance(s) released, victims, injuries, and evacuations.
Various data sources were used to obtain information about these events. These sources included, but were not limited to, records and oral reports of state environmental protection agencies, police and fire departments, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the National Response Center, and hospitals. Census data were used to estimate the number of residents living in the vicinity of the events. All data were computerized using a Web-based data entry system provided by ATSDR.
Hazardous substances emergency events are defined by HSEES as uncontrolled or illegal releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances. Events involving petroleum and no other hazardous substances are not included. Events are included if (1) the amount of substance that was released (or that might have been released) needed (or would have needed) to be removed, cleaned up, or neutralized according to federal, state, or local law; or (2) there was only a threatened release of a substance, but the threat led to an action (for example, evacuation) that could have affected the health of employees, emergency responders, or the general public. Victims are defined as persons who suffered at least one adverse health effect or died as a consequence of the event. Victims who receive more than one type of injury are counted once in each applicable injury type. Events are defined as transportation-related if they occurred during surface, air, pipeline, or water transport of hazardous substances. All other events are considered fixed-facility events.
For the data analyses in this report, the substances released were categorized into 11 groups. The category "mixtures" consists of mixtures of substances from different categories, and the category "other inorganic substances" comprises all inorganic substances, except for acids, bases, ammonia, and chlorine. "Other" refers to substances that could not be categorized.
A total of 13,808 hazardous substances emergency events was reported for 1999-2000 to the HSEES system; 182 (1.3%) of these events were threatened releases. In 1999, 74.0% of the events occurred at fixed facilities (Table 1a), and in 2000, 72.9% were at fixed facilities (Table 1b). This distribution is heavily influenced by Texas, which had 37% of all events and had a larger than typical percentage of fixed-facility events. Thus, the distribution of fixed-facility events excluding Texas events indicated 64.4% for 1999 and 66.4% for 2000. These percentages are slightly less than those found in previous years for fixed-facility events.
For each fixed-facility event, one or two choices can be selected for type of area. Of all 11,030 fixed-facility area choices, 2,301 (20.9%) were classified as ancillary processing equipment, 2,199 (19.9%) as a process vessel (a reaction chamber in which chemicals are processed), 1,645 (14.9%) as storage areas above and below ground, and 1,386 (12.6%) as piping (Figure 1). Of the 3,675 transportation-related events, 3,142 (85.4%) occurred during ground transport (for example, truck, van, or tractor), and 277 (7.5%) involved transport by rail (Figure 2). Fewer events involved water, air, pipeline, or unknown transportation modes.
The primary factors contributing to the 10,133 fixed-facility events were also reported (Figure 3). Equipment failure was the primary contributing factor in 4,511 (44.5%) events, followed by 2,140 events involving operator error (21.1%), 942 involving "other" uncategorized factors (9.3%), and 412 involving system process upset (4.1%).
Ninety-six percent of all events involved the release of only one substance. Two substances were released in approximately 2% of the events, and 2% involved the release of more than two substances (Table 2).
There were 15,316 substances either released or threatened to be released during the 13,808 events. Two types of releases could be reported for each chemical (e.g., spill and air). Spills were reported in 8,275 (54.0%) of the releases, followed by 6,393 air releases (41.7%), 1,047 fires (6.8%), 361 threatened releases (2.4%), and 181 explosions (1.2%).
HSEES events were more likely when there was more industrial, commercial, or agricultural activity, e.g., in the 6 hours
before
The 15,316 substances released were grouped into 11 categories. The number of substances released was greater than the number of events because more than one substance could be released per event. The categories of substances most commonly released in fixed-facility events (Table 3) were other inorganic substances (26.9%), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (21.3%), mixtures (11.7%), acids (7.0%), and ammonia (6.7%). In transportation-related events, VOCs (15.9%), acids (14.3%), other inorganic substances (11.9%), pesticides (7.5%), and bases (7.3%) were most frequently released. The 100 substances most frequently reported for 1999-2000 are listed in Appendix A. Ammonia, sulfur dioxide, and sulfuric acid were the top released substances.
Table 1a-Number of events meeting
the surveillance definition, by state and type of event, Hazardous Substances
Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999.
|
State reporting event |
Type of event |
Total no. of events |
|||
|
Fixed facility |
Transportation |
||||
|
No. of events |
% |
No. of events |
% |
||
|
Alabama |
104 |
61.5 |
65 |
38.5 |
169 |
|
Colorado |
148 |
59.2 |
102 |
40.8 |
250 |
|
Iowa |
196 |
68.1 |
92 |
31.9 |
288 |
|
Minnesota |
287 |
82.5 |
61 |
17.5 |
348 |
|
Mississippi |
100 |
45.3 |
121 |
54.8 |
221 |
|
Missouri |
166 |
57.0 |
125 |
43.0 |
291 |
|
New York |
514 |
85.8 |
85 |
14.2 |
599 |
|
North Carolina |
108 |
34.0 |
210 |
66.0 |
318 |
|
Oregon |
80 |
76.2 |
25 |
23.8 |
105 |
|
Rhode Island |
40 |
80.0 |
10 |
20.0 |
50 |
|
Texas |
2,336 |
86.8 |
355 |
13.2 |
2,691 |
|
Washington |
317 |
74.9 |
106 |
25.1 |
423 |
|
Wisconsin |
238 |
46.9 |
269 |
53.1 |
507 |
|
Total |
4,634 |
74.0 |
1,626 |
26.0 |
6,260 |
Table 1b-Number of events meeting
the surveillance definition, by state and type of event, Hazardous Substances
Emergency Events Surveillance, 2000.
|
State reporting event |
Type of event |
Total no. of events |
|||
|
Fixed facility |
Transportation |
||||
|
No. of events |
% |
No. of events |
% |
||
|
Alabama |
115 |
67.6 |
55 |
32.4 |
170 |
|
Colorado |
99 |
47.1 |
111 |
52.9 |
210 |
|
Iowa |
204 |
70.3 |
86 |
29.7 |
290 |
|
Minnesota |
346 |
82.6 |
73 |
17.4 |
419 |
|
Mississippi |
90 |
43.5 |
117 |
56.5 |
207 |
|
Missouri |
199 |
55.1 |
162 |
44.9 |
361 |
|
New Jersey |
457 |
90.1 |
50 |
9.9 |
507 |
|
New York |
897 |
84.3 |
167 |
15.7 |
1,064 |
|
North Carolina |
87 |
28.9 |
214 |
71.1 |
301 |
|
Oregon |
178 |
65.9 |
92 |
34.1 |
270 |
|
Rhode Island |
32 |
74.4 |
11 |
25.6 |
43 |
|
Texas |
2,137 |
86.0 |
349 |
14.0 |
2,486 |
|
Utah |
140 |
46.2 |
163 |
53.8 |
303 |
|
Washington |
319 |
72.7 |
120 |
27.3 |
439 |
|
Wisconsin |
199 |
41.6 |
279 |
58.4 |
478 |
|
Total |
5,499 |
72.9 |
2,049 |
27.1 |
7,548 |
Figure 1-Areas of fixed facilities involved in events, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000.
*These areas were not available for the entire time period. Indoor @ res=an area inside a place where someone is residing. Indoor nonres=inside at a place that is not a residence (e.g., farm, industry, commercial business, and school). Outside nonind=outside at a place that is nonindustrial, or nonfarming (e.g., driveways, yards, roofs at residences, and schools). Outside ind=outside at an industry or farming area.
Figure 2-Distribution of transportation-related events, by type of transport, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000.*
*Four events had a combination of transportation types: one event, ground and rail; one event, water and rail; and two events, pipeline and water.
Figure 3-Factors reported as contributing to the occurrence of fixed-facility events, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000.
Table 2 -Distribution of the number of
substances released, by type of event, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events
Surveillance, 1999-2000.
|
No. of substances released |
Type of event |
|
|||||||
|
Fixed facility |
Transportation |
||||||||
|
No. of events |
(%) |
No. of substances |
No. of events |
(%) |
No. of substances |
No. of events |
(%) |
No. of substances |
|
|
1 |
9,715 |
95.9 |
9,715 |
3,500 |
95.2 |
3,500 |
13,215 |
95.7 |
13,215 |
|
2 |
216 |
2.1 |
432 |
121 |
3.3 |
242 |
337 |
2.4 |
674 |
|
3 |
105 |
1.0 |
315 |
27 |
0.7 |
81 |
132 |
1.0 |
396 |
|
4 |
44 |
0.4 |
176 |
11 |
0.3 |
44 |
55 |
0.4 |
220 |
|
?5 |
53 |
0.5 |
722 |
16 |
0.4 |
89 |
69 |
0.5 |
811 |
|
Total |
10,133 |
100.0 |
11,360 |
3,675 |
100.0 |
3,956 |
13,808 |
100.0 |
15,316 |
Table 3-Distribution of the number of substances
released, by substance category and type of event, Hazardous Substances Emergency
Events Surveillance, 1999-2000.
|
Substance Category |
Type of event |
All events |
||||
|
Fixed facility |
Transportation |
|||||
|
No. of substances |
(%) |
No. of substances |
(%) |
No. of substances |
(%) |
|
|
Acids |
800 |
7.0 |
567 |
14.3 |
1,367 |
8.9 |
|
Ammonia |
757 |
6.7 |
80 |
2.0 |
837 |
5.5 |
|
Bases |
268 |
2.4 |
288 |
7.3 |
556 |
3.6 |
|
Chlorine |
182 |
1.6 |
7 |
0.2 |
189 |
1.2 |
|
Other inorganics* |
3,055 |
26.9 |
472 |
11.9 |
3,527 |
23.0 |
|
Paints and dyes |
219 |
1.9 |
208 |
5.3 |
427 |
2.8 |
|
Pesticides |
349 |
3.1 |
297 |
7.5 |
646 |
4.2 |
|
PCBs |
163 |
1.4 |
12 |
0.3 |
175 |
1.1 |
|
VOCs |
2,423 |
21.3 |
629 |
15.9 |
3,052 |
19.9 |
|
Mixtures† |
1,332 |
11.7 |
170 |
4.3 |
1,502 |
9.8 |
|
Other‡ |
1,813 |
16.0 |
1,225 |
31.0 |
3,038 |
19.8 |
|
Total§ |
11,361 |
100.0 |
3,955 |
100.0 |
15,316 |
100.1 |
PCBs=Polychlorinated biphenyls.
VOCs=Volatile organic compounds.
*All inorganic substances except for acids, bases, ammonia, and chlorine.
†Mixtures of substances from different categories.
‡Not classified.
§Total may not equal 100% due to rounding.
A total of 4,425 victims were involved in 1,256 events (9.1% of all events) (Table 4). Of the 1,256 events with victims, 744 (59.2)% events involved only one victim, and 919 (73.2)% events involved either one or two victims. Of the 4,425 total victims, 3,787 (85.6%) were injured in fixed-facility events.
The substances released most often were not necessarily the most likely to result in victims (Table 5). For example, other inorganic substances were released 3,527 times; however, only 340 (9.6%) of these events resulted in injury. Conversely, chlorine was released in only 189 events, but 62 (32.8%) of these events resulted in injury, which indicates chlorine's greater potential for immediate harm.
Employees (2,365 or 53.4%) were the population groups most often injured, followed by the general public (919 or 20.7%), students (662 or 15.0%), and responders (460 or 10.4%) (Figure 4). The population group was unknown for 19 victims (0.43%). There were 366 emergency response personnel injured in fixed-facility events. Of those, 144 (39.3%) were police, 86 (23.5%) were professional firefighters, and 83 (22.7%) volunteer firefighters (Figure 5a). There were 94 emergency-responder victims injured in transportation-related events. Of these, 50 (53.1%) were police officers, 22 (23.4%) were professional firefighters, and 12 (12.8%) were emergency medical technicians (EMTs) (Figure 5b).
The types of injuries sustained by victims are shown in Table 6 and Figure 6. Victims sustained a total of 6,970 injuries. Some victims had more than one injury. The most commonly reported injuries in fixed-facility events were respiratory irritation (32%), headache (13%), dizziness or other central nervous system (CNS) symptoms (11%), eye irritation (11%), and gastrointestinal problems (11%). In transportation-related events, trauma (30%), respiratory irritation (21%), headache (9%), and eye irritation (6%) were reported most frequently. Trauma was reported more frequently in transportation-related events (30%) than in fixed-facility events (3%). The trauma might have been caused by the sequence of events (for example, a motor vehicle accident) leading to the release of a hazardous substance, and not necessarily by exposure to the hazardous substance itself.
The sex of 79% of the victims was known; of these, 54% were male. The mean age of the 63% of victims with a specified age was 40 years (range: 0-77 years). For the 37% of injured persons for whom specific age was unknown, 70% were adults (first responders or employees), 3% were children (students), and 27% could have been adults or children (general public or unknown victim category). Most (49%) victims were transported to a hospital and treated on an outpatient basis, and 1.6% died (Figure 7). Appendix B details the fixed-facility events in which deaths occurred, and Appendix C details the transportation events in which deaths occurred.
Among victims, 34% of employees, 20% of emergency responders, and 99% of students had not worn any form of personal protective equipment. For injured employees reported as wearing personal protective equipment, a combination of gloves, eye protection, and a hard hat were worn (14%). Fourteen percent wore other type of protective equipment, 4% wore firefighter turnout gear, and 2% wore level "D" protection, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Of the known personal protective equipment worn, the most frequently worn by emergency responders was firefighter turnout gear (5%) and OSHA level "A" protection (2%).
Level "A" protection is worn when the highest level of respiratory, skin, and eye protection is needed. It includes supplied-air respirator, approved by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), U.S. Department of Labor, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH); pressure-demand, self-contained breathing apparatus; fully encapsulating chemical-resistant suit; coveralls; long cotton underwear; chemical-resistant gloves (inner); boots, chemical-resistant, steel toe and shank; hard hat; disposable gloves and boot covers; cooling unit; and two-way radio communications. Level "D" is worn as a work uniform and is not recommended for sites with respiratory or skin hazards. Level "D" includes coveralls, gloves, boots/shoes (leather or chemical-resistant, steel toe and shank), safety glasses or chemical splash goggles, and hard hat. Level "D" provides no protection against chemical hazards. Firefighter turnout gear is protective clothing normally worn by firefighters during structural fire-fighting operations, and is similar to level "D" protection.
Table 7 lists all of the events in which 50 or more people were injured. There were eight such events during the 2-year period.
Evacuations were ordered in 1,182 events, and the evacuation status of 64 events was unknown. Of known evacuations, 71% were of a building or the affected part of a building, 14% were of a defined circular radius surrounding an event, 6% were of a downwind/downstream area, 5% were reported as having a circular and downwind/downstream area, and 3% had no criteria. The median number of persons evacuated was 20. In 93 events, in-place sheltering was ordered by an official, and instructions regarding precautions to take during in-place sheltering were provided by an official in 18 of these events.
A contingency plan was followed in 95% of events. The types of contingency or preparedness plans used during an event varied, with 72% involving the use of a company's operating procedures. Twenty-one percent of events were reported as using a (HAZMAT)/Response team's standard operating procedures, and 6% of events were reported as using an incident-specific ad hoc plan.
Table 4-Distribution of the number of victims, by type
of event, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000.
|
No. of victims |
Type of event |
|
|||||||
|
Fixed facility |
Transportation |
||||||||
|
No. of events |
(%) |
No. of substances |
No. of events |
(%) |
No. of substances |
No. of events |
(%) |
No. of substances |
|
|
1 |
526 |
55.4 |
526 |
218 |
71.0 |
218 |
744 |
59.2 |
744 |
|
2 |
136 |
14.3 |
272 |
49 |
16.0 |
98 |
175 |
14.7 |
370 |
|
3 |
79 |
8.3 |
237 |
2 |
3.9 |
36 |
91 |
7.2 |
273 |
|
4 |
54 |
5.7 |
216 |
5 |
1.6 |
20 |
59 |
4.7 |
236 |
|
5 |
33 |
3.5 |
165 |
9 |
2.9 |
45 |
42 |
3.3 |
210 |
|
?6 |
121 |
12.8 |
2,371 |
14 |
4.6 |
221 |
135 |
10.7 |
2,592 |
|
Total |
949 |
100.0 |
3,787 |
307 |
100.0 |
638 |
1,256 |
100.0 |
4,425 |
Table 5-Number of substances released in all events and events with victims, by substance category, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000.
|
Substance Category |
Total releases |
Releases with victims |
|||
|
No. |
Percentage of total releases |
No. |
Percentage of all releases with victims |
Percentage of releases in substance category |
|
|
Acids |
1,367 |
(8.9) |
238 |
(13.3) |
17.4 |
|
Ammonia |
837 |
(5.5) |
169 |
(9.4) |
20.2 |
|
Bases |
556 |
(3.6) |
63 |
(3.5) |
11.3 |
|
Chlorine |
189 |
(1.2) |
62 |
(3.5) |
32.8 |
|
Other inorganics* |
3,527 |
(23.0) |
340 |
(19.0) |
9.6 |
|
Paints and dyes |
427 |
(2.8) |
27 |
(1.5) |
6.3 |
|
Pesticides |
646 |
(4.2) |
107 |
(6.0) |
16.6 |
|
Polychlorinated biphenyls |
175 |
(1.1) |
1 |
(0.1) |
0.6 |
|
VOCs |
3,052 |
(19.9) |
302 |
(16.9) |
9.9 |
|
Mixtures† |
1,502 |
(9.8) |
135 |
(7.5) |
9.0 |
|
Other‡ |
3,038 |
(19.8) |
348 |
(19.4) |
11.5 |
|
Total |
15,316 |
(100.0) |
1,792 |
(100.0) |
(100.0) |
VOCs=Volatile organic compounds.
*All inorganic substances except for acids, bases, ammonia, and chlorine.
†Mixtures of substances from different categories.
‡Not classified.
Figure 4-Distribution of victims, by population group*
and type of event, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance,
1999-2000.
*Population group was unknown for 19 persons injured in fixed-facility events.
Figure 5a-Distribution of responders injured in
fixed-facility events,* by population group, Hazardous Substances Emergency
Events Surveillance, 1999-2000.
*A total of 366 responders were injured during fixed-facility events.
Figure 5b-Distribution of responder
victims for transportation-related events,* by population group, Hazardous
Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000.
*A total of 94 responders were injured during transportation-related events.
Table 6-Distribution of type of
injury, by type of event,* Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance,
1999-2000.
|
Type of injury |
Type of event |
All events |
||||
|
Fixed facility |
Transportation |
|||||
|
No. of injuries |
(%) |
No. of injuries |
(%) |
No. of injuries |
(%) |
|
|
Chemical burns |
207 |
3.4 |
33 |
4.0 |
240 |
3.4 |
|
Heart problems |
99 |
1.6 |
3 |
0.4 |
102 |
1.5 |
|
Dizziness/CNS† |
699 |
11.4 |
42 |
5.1 |
741 |
10.6 |
|
Eye irritation |
691 |
11.2 |
50 |
6.1 |
741 |
10.6 |
|
Headache |
776 |
12.6 |
75 |
9.2 |
851 |
12.2 |
|
Heat stress |
40 |
0.6 |
19 |
2.3 |
59 |
0.8 |
|
Gastrointestinal problems |
644 |
10.5 |
41 |
5.0 |
685 |
9.8 |
|
Respiratory system |
1,978 |
32.1 |
175 |
21.4 |
2,153 |
30.9 |
|
Shortness of breath |
198 |
3.2 |
37 |
4.5 |
235 |
3.4 |
|
Skin irritation |
187 |
3.0 |
37 |
4.5 |
224 |
3.2 |
|
Thermal burns |
119 |
1.9 |
21 |
2.6 |
140 |
2.0 |
|
Trauma |
168 |
2.7 |
242 |
29.7 |
410 |
5.9 |
|
Other |
328 |
5.3 |
21 |
2.6 |
349 |
5.0 |
|
Vomiting |
20 |
0.3 |
20 |
2.5 |
40 |
0.6 |
|
Total |
6,154 |
100.0 |
816 |
100.0 |
6,970 |
100.0 |
*The number of injuries is greater than the number of victims because a
victim could have had more than one injury.
†Central nervous system symptoms.
Figure 6-Distribution of type of
injury for all events, Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance,
1999-2000.
*A total of 6,970 injuries was reported. The number
of injuries was greater than the number of victims because some victims had
more than one injury.
**Central nervous system symptoms.
Table 7-Profiles of events with =50 victims, Hazardous
Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, 1999-2000.
|
Victim Type |
No. of Victims |
Treatment(s) |
Chemical(s) |
Injuries(s) |
|
Employees, |
54 |
Treated on scene |
Benzene |
Respiratory problems, dizziness or other CNS |
|
General public, |
1 |
Treated at hospital |
Carbon monoxide |
Gastrointestinal problems, carbon monoxide poisoning, dizziness or other CNS |
|
General public, |
44 |
Treated at hospital, treated on scene |
Ammonia |
Respiratory problems,eye irritation, thermal burns, gastrointestinal problems, dizziness or other CNS, headache, heart problems |
|
Employees, |