Exposures and symptoms among workers after an offsite train derailment and vinyl chloride release

Abstract

Objective In 2012 in New Jersey, a train derailment resulted in the puncture of a tanker car carrying liquid vinyl chloride under pressure, and a resulting airborne vinyl chloride plume drifted onto the grounds of a nearby refinery. This report details the investigation of exposures and symptoms among refinery workers. Design and setting The investigation team met with refinery workers to discuss their experience after the derailment and provided workers a self-administered survey to document symptoms and worker responses during the incident. Associations among categorical variables and experiencing symptoms were evaluated using Fisher’s exact test. Participants Twenty-six of 155 (17 percent) workers present at the refinery or driving on the access road the date the spill occurred completed the survey. Main outcome measure(s) Any self-reported symptom following exposure from the vinyl chloride release. Results Fifteen workers (58 percent) reported ≥1 symptom, most commonly headache (12, 46 percent). Three (12 percent) reported using respiratory protection. No differences in reporting symptoms were observed by location during the incident or by the building in which workers sheltered. Workers who moved from one shelter to another during the incident (ie, broke shelter) were more likely to report symptoms (Fisher’s exact test, p = 0.03); however, there are only limited data regarding vinyl chloride concentrations in shelters versus outside. Conclusions Breaking shelter might result in greater exposures and managers and health and safety officers of vulnerable facilities with limited physical access should consider developing robust shelter-in-place plans and alternate emergency egress plans. Workers should consider using respiratory protection if exiting a shelter is necessary during a chemical incident.

Medical Response to a Vinyl Chloride Release From a Train Derailment: New Jersey, 2012

“…Although life-threatening acute signs and symptoms were not observed in hospital emergency departments after this chemical release, symptoms appeared to be persistent; patients continued to seek hospital care for 4 weeks after the incident. The observed symptoms were in keeping with self-reported symptoms experienced by other groups of individuals exposed in this incident who did not seek medical care, 17,18 as well as with a previous report of acute vinyl chloride exposure from a train derailment, with a majority of patients experiencing respiratory and neurologic symptoms. 19 Although a small subset of the patients were admitted to the hospital, over half of those admissions were for conditions that may not have been related to the chemical exposure.…”