 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Shannon Rossiter, MPH, 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, MS E 31, Atlanta, GA 30333, 404.498.0556, snr3@cdc.gov, Maureen F Orr, MS, Division of Health Studies/Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 1600 Clifton Rd. NE, Mail stop E-31, Atlanta, GA 30333, and Wendy E Kaye, PhD, Division of Health Studies/Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch, The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), 1600 Clifton Rd. NE, Mailstop E-31, Atlanta, GA 30333.
As the threat of domestic chemical or biological terrorism has grown, the security of chemicals produced and stored in the United States has become a topic of increasing concern. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) maintains the Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (HSEES) system to track public health consequences associated with acute, hazardous substance release events in 16 states. The goal of HSEES is to reduce the morbidity and mortality that result from these events. An HSEES event is defined as any release(s) or threatened release(s) of at least one hazardous substance. A substance is considered hazardous if it might reasonably be expected to cause adverse human health effects. Data are entered by participating state health departments into a real-time, web-based application. In 2001, there were 8977 releases that qualified as HSEES events. Of these, 75% (6735) occurred in fixed facilities. Approximately 50% (4572) of the reported events occurred in Texas (2513), New York (1244), and Louisiana (815). Of the total events, chemicals most commonly released included ammonia (4.8%), sulfur dioxide (4.0%), carbon monoxide (2.9%), nitric oxide (2.8%) and sodium hydroxide (1.9%). Only 9% (838) of events involved the release of more than one chemical. There were 2148 people who sustained injury in 8% (709) of these events. Most victims were employees (50.1%) and members of the general public (28.3%). Respiratory irritation was the most frequent injury reported. Strategies to lessen adverse public health consequences from these events will be discussed.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Environmental Health, Surveillance
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.