title: Analysis of 541 cases of occupational acute chemical injuries in a large petrochemical company in China.
abstract: The authors carried out a descriptive analysis of acute chemical intoxication in a large petrochemical corporation with 38,000 employees, located in a suburban district of Shanghai, China, to determine the chemicals involved and the primary causes of the incidents. Between 1977 and 1997, 350 cases of acute chemical-intoxication were recorded, resulting in a total of 541 workers with symptoms. Of these, 483 were male and 58, female, with over half the victims under 30 years old. Two hundred and seventy-five cases were serious enough to necessitate hospital admission. There were 266 cases of chemical irritation or inhalation responses (49.2%), 215 cases of mild chemical poisoning (39.7%), 31 cases of moderate poisoning (5.7%), and 29 cases resulting in critical injury (5.4%), including eight deaths (1.5%). The main causes of injury reported by patients were lack of training about safety (63%) and equipment failure (23%). The chemicals involved were asphyxiating gases (302 cases; 55.8%), irritating gases (111 cases; 20.5%), and other toxins. Intervention strategies for the prevention of acute chemical exposures were suggested to the corporation.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Shanghai Medical University, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Z L
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: S X
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Y L
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: F S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: T Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Christiani
mesh_terms: D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002617:Chemical Industry; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence