Toxic Accidents Jump During Spring In US Midwest
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Toxic Accidents Jump During Spring In US Midwest
Date:
Tue, 17 Sep 2002 11:06:32 -0400
From:
Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide
Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Last Updated: 2002-09-11 12:17:18 -0400 (Reuters Health)
Toxic accidents jump during spring in US Midwest
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A survey of four Midwestern states shows that accidents involving hazardous substances tend to jump in the springtime, often due to the increased transportation and use of fertilizers and pesticides by farmers at that time.
The chemical most frequently released is ammonia, which is used as a fertilizer, according to the report. Overall, ammonia was the hazardous toxin in 26% of agriculture-related accidents, and pesticides as a group made up 38% of all releases.
The survey included accidents in which hazardous substances were released in 14 states between 1993 and 1998. A seasonal jump was found in four states--Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin.
"This report emphasizes the association between the planting season, defined as April through June, and increased adverse public health effects because of acute releases of hazardous substances," writes lead author Zahava Berkowitz of the Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry in Atlanta, Georgia.
Overall, 172 people aged 2 to 89 were affected by the accidents, including six people who died, the report indicates.
The accidents were most often caused by equipment failures and operator error, the authors report in the September issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
In one accident in 1994, an explosion at an agricultural chemical plant in Missouri resulted in 4 deaths, 20 injuries and an evacuation in a 5-mile radius around the plant. In other accidents, a crop-dusting helicopter crashed releasing 30 gallons of an herbicide, and 125 people needed to be evacuated after an attempted theft resulted in the venting of ammonia vapor.
"This study demonstrates that injuries associated with acute releases of hazardous substances in the agriculture industry affect not only employees and first responders, but also members of the general public including children," the authors write.
"Therefore, education about the hazardous nature of ammonia, pesticides and other substances involved in the agriculture industry should be extended to the general public," Berkowitz and colleagues conclude.
SOURCE: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2002;44:714-723.
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