The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #63901

Kirsten P. Ernst, MSN, MPH, Shannon Rossiter, MPH, and Wendy E. Kaye, PhD. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Division of Health Studies, Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch, 1600 Clifton Rd. NE, Mailstop E-31, Atlanta, GA 30333, 404.498.2119, kee2@cdc.gov

Although chemical spills are most frequently thought to be associated with industry, events resulting in the exposure of children to hazardous substances occur in a wide variety of settings including private households, day-care centers, and schools. The Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (HSEES) system, state-based and maintained by the Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry (ATSDR), actively collects information describing the public health consequences associated with release of hazardous substances. HSEES data from 16 states during 1996 through 2001 were used to conduct a retrospective analysis. Preliminary findings show that although <8% of all events (3,133/39,766) resulted in one or more victims, more than 13% of victims (1,479/11,644) were children less than 18 years of age. This presentation will describe the circumstances surrounding the exposure of children to hazardous substances and the injuries these children experienced.

Learning Objectives:

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, participants will be able to:
• Describe scenarios where children are exposed to hazardous substances.
• Identify the most common types of injuries to children that result from hazardous substance exposure.
• Apply newly acquired knowledge to enact prevention measures to reduce the number of hazardous substance exposures to children and thereby the number of injuries endured.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.