A U.S. partnership with India and Poland to track acute chemical releases to serve public health.
We describe a collaborative effort between the U.S., India, and Poland to track acute chemical releases during 2005-2007. In all three countries, fixed facility events were more common than transportation-related events; manufacturing and transportation/warehousing were the most frequently involved industries; and equipment failure and human error were the primary contributing factors. The most commonly released non-petroleum substances were ammonia (India), carbon monoxide (U.S.) and mercury (Poland). More events in India (54%) resulted in victims compared with Poland (15%) and the U.S. (9%). The pilot program showed it is possible to successfully conduct international surveillance of acute hazardous substances releases with careful interpretation of the findings.
Ruckart
Perri Zeitz
PZ
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA. pruckart@cdc.gov
Orr
Maureen
M
Pałaszewska-Tkacz
Anna
A
Dewan
Aruna
A
Kapil
Vikas
V
D000059:Accidents; D000393:Air Pollutants; D015386:Hazardous Substances; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007391:International Cooperation; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011044:Poland; D011634:Public Health; D014481:United States
D000393:Air Pollutants; D015386:Hazardous Substances