Health Effects Three Years after Potential Exposure to the Toxic Contaminants of an Electrical Transformer Fire

Abstract

A medical surveillance program has been established for 482 persons who were potentially exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dibenzo-p-dioxins, and dibenzofurans from an electrical transformer fire in a Binghamton, NY office building in 1981. Vital Record and Cancer Registry data, medical records, and mail questionnaires were used to assess mortality, symptomatology, cancer incidence, and reproductive events through 1984. The numbers of deaths, cancers, fetal deaths, and infants with low birth weight or congenital malformations were similar to those expected on the basis of age- and sex-specific rates for upstate New York and other comparison populations. Two suicides were observed compared with 0.31 expected, but the difference was not statistically significant. After adjustment for possible confounders, persons with the greatest degree of potential exposure were significantly more likely than those with less exposure to report unexplained weight loss (relative risk [RR] = 12.80), muscle pain (RR = 5.07), frequent coughing (RR = 4.14), skin color changes (RR = 3.49), and nervousness or sleep problems (RR = 3.19). The possibility of recall bias and the intervening effects of stress, however, weaken the conclusion that toxic chemicals caused the symptomatology. Exposure-related systemic disorders, e.g., chloracne or peripheral neuropathy, were not diagnosed by personal physicians; however, some persons refused to release their medical records because of ongoing litigation. The findings are consistent with those of our earlier assessment.

Is exposure to chemical pollutants associated with sleep outcomes? A systematic review

“…In a prospective birth cohort, female, but not male, children with the highest tertile of cord-blood measured PBDE had greater problems sleeping compared to those in the lowest tertile at four years old[130]. PCBs and dioxins were also linked to problems sleeping[131, 132], although in one case, exposure was due to a fire, and stress may be a confounder in the association[132]. Of the two studies of phthalates exposure, an analysis in the Midlife Women’s Health Study did not report an association with insomnia or sleep disturbance except in former smokers; an analysis of NHANES participants ages 16-17 did report higher odds for short (<8 hours) weekday sleep duration among those in the highest quartile of phthalate exposure, but did not consider school start times or the influence of puberty and chronotype on the outcome[133].…”

Xenobiotic reduction and clinical improvements in capacitor workers: A feasible method

“…[23][24][25] Reports over the past decade on clinical findings in cases of exposure to PCBs and related substances evolved a consensus on many of the observed adverse effects. Untoward human health effects related to such exposures include chloracne, 5,23,26-29 eye irritation and swelling of eyelids, 27,30-32 skin rashes and discoloration, 23,27,[32][33][34][35][36] gastrointestinal, 27,28,34,36 and neurological 33,36,38 symptoms. Malaise, fatigue, muscular and joint pains, and sleep disturbances 30,34,36 appeared more frequently among exposed persons.…”

“…Untoward human health effects related to such exposures include chloracne, 5,23,26-29 eye irritation and swelling of eyelids, 27,30-32 skin rashes and discoloration, 23,27,[32][33][34][35][36] gastrointestinal, 27,28,34,36 and neurological 33,36,38 symptoms. Malaise, fatigue, muscular and joint pains, and sleep disturbances 30,34,36 appeared more frequently among exposed persons. Alterations of lipid metabolism and] "liver enzyme" activities 28,30,34,35,[38][39][40] have also been observed.…”

Bacteriological Analysis of Drinking Water from Kumba, South West Region Cameroon

“…The group is found primarily in the gut of warm-blooded animals and generally do not grow in the environment [14], hence, they are used as a bacterial indicator of fecal contamination of recreational surface waters. They generally live longer in water than fecal coliforms [15], and are preferred to fecal coliforms and fecal streptococci as indicators of illnesses associated with swimming and other recreational uses of freshwater and marine waters [16]. A combined monitoring of E. coli and enterococci in water is believed to provide a higher degree of confidence in the estimated risk of fecal contamination as well as the presence of pathogens in water [17].…”