title: Acrylonitrile exposure in the general population following a major train accident in Belgium: a human biomonitoring study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  On Saturday May 4, 2013, a train transporting chemicals derailed in the village of Wetteren (Belgium) and caused a leak of acrylonitrile (ACN).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the human exposure to acrylonitrile in the local population with the highest suspected exposure.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between May 18-25, 242 residents participated in the study. N-2-cyanoethylvaline (CEV), a biomarker that is highly specific for ACN exposure, was measured in the blood. To account for potential influence by smoking, cotinine was determined in the urine. Participants also filled in a short questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the evacuated zone, 37.3% of the non-smokers and 40.0% of the smokers had CEV concentrations above the reference values of 10 and 200 pmol/g globin, respectively, at the time of the train accident. Spatial mapping of the CEV concentrations depending on the residential address showed a distribution pattern following the sewage system.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The train derailment resulted in a highly atypical sequence-of-events. In addition to exposure in the direct vicinity of the site of the train derailment, exposure also occurred via the sewage system, into which acrylonitrile had entered shortly after the accident.
authors.affiliation: Scientific Institute of Public Health, Department Public Health and Surveillance, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: tom.desmedt@wiv-isp.be.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: De Smedt
authors.affiliation: Scientific Institute of Public Health, Department Food, Medicines and Consumer Products, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: koen.decremer@wiv-isp.be.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: De Cremer
authors.affiliation: Scientific Institute of Public Health, Department Public Health and Surveillance, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: christiane.vleminckx@wiv-isp.be.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vleminckx
authors.affiliation: Scientific Institute of Public Health, Department Public Health and Surveillance, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: sebastien.fierens@wiv-isp.be.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fierens
authors.affiliation: Scientific Institute of Public Health, Department Public Health and Surveillance, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: birgit.mertens@wiv-isp.be.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mertens
authors.affiliation: Scientific Institute of Public Health, Department Food, Medicines and Consumer Products, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: ilse.vanovermeire@wiv-isp.be.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Van Overmeire
authors.affiliation: BASF SE, Occupational Medicine & Health Protection, Ludwigshafen, Germany. Electronic address: michael.bader@basf.com.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bader
authors.affiliation: Ghent University Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: peter.depaepe@ugent.be.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Paepe
authors.affiliation: University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Institute and Outpatient Clinic of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Erlangen, Germany. Electronic address: thomas.goeen@ipasum.med.uni-erlangen.de.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Göen
authors.affiliation: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Centre for Environment and Health, Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: ben.nemery@med.kuleuven.be.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nemery
authors.affiliation: RWTH Aachen University, Institute for Occupational and Social Medicine, Medical Faculty, Aachen, Germany. Electronic address: tschettgen@ukaachen.de.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schettgen
authors.affiliation: Ghent University, Laboratory of Toxicology, Department of Bioanalysis, Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: christophe.stove@ugent.be.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stove
authors.affiliation: Scientific Institute of Public Health, Department Public Health and Surveillance, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: herman.vanoyen@wiv-isp.be.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Van Oyen
authors.affiliation: Scientific Institute of Public Health, Department Food, Medicines and Consumer Products, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: joris.vanloco@wiv-isp.be.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van Loco
authors.affiliation: Scientific Institute of Public Health, Department Public Health and Surveillance, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: an.vannieuwenhuyse@wiv-isp.be.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Van Nieuwenhuyse
mesh_terms: D000181:Acrylonitrile / Q000097:blood* / Q000506:poisoning; D000328:Adult; D001530:Belgium; D055884:Chemical Hazard Release; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011890:Railroads; D012722:Sewage / Q000032:analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014633:Valine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: C091192:N-(2-cyanoethyl)valine; D012722:Sewage; D014633:Valine; D000181:Acrylonitrile
keywords: Accident; Acrylonitrile; General population; Human biomonitoring; N-2-cyanoethylvaline; Sewage