Acute Health Effects of Hebei Spirit Oil Spill

Abstract

ISEE-0661 Background and Objective: On December 7th, 2007, the Hong Kong tanker Hebei Spirit was crushed by a crane ship towed by the Samsung tugboat, at northwest of Taean beach, Korea. More than 12,547 kl of oil spilt into the sea, hitting the western coastline about 1,052 km. To examine the acute health effects of the oil spill, metabolites assay and questionnaire survey was performed in the area. Methods: Two polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and four volatile organic compounds (VOCs) metabolites, and 6 heavy metals were analyzed in urines of 154 residents involved with the clean-up work, 98 children, and 30 pregnant women residing in the contaminated area, and controls residing far from the accident sites. The 113 volunteers' urine pairs collected the day before and after their clean-up work were analyzed. A questionnaire survey was taken to examine physical symptoms in 282 residents, 570 volunteers, 1,356 children, and 80 pregnant women. Mental health was also checked. Results: The levels of VOC and PAH metabolites were not significantly different between the exposed and controls, while heavy metals were significantly different between them. The metabolite levels after clean-up were higher than before clean-up in volunteers. The risk of physical symptoms increased according to increasing duration of clean-up work. The prevalence of depression and psychosocial stress among residents was much higher than the general Korean population. The risk of physical symptoms and the prevalence of depression and anxiety among children increased as their house or school located closer to the contaminated coastline. The pregnant women resided nearer the accident site compared to those residing farther away reported a higher prevalence of physical symptoms, psychosocial stress and depression. Conclusion: Study for long term health effects of the oil spill should be planned by constructing exposed cohorts and monitoring the residual exposure via multiple-media.