North Carolina Toxic Substance Incidents Program 2010-2015: Identifying Areas for Injury Prevention Efforts.

Samantha Eiffert,Suze Etienne,Ricky Langley,Annie Hirsch

doi:10.3390/toxics5030016

Samantha Eiffert, Suze Etienne + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics5030016

Copy DOI

Journal: Toxics	Publication Date: Aug 6, 2017
Citations: 2	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality

Abstract

The National Toxic Substance Incidents Program (NTSIP) is a surveillance system designed to capture acute toxic substance releases, factors contributing to the release, and any associated injuries. North Carolina has participated since 2010, when NTSIP was established. This article will present a descriptive statistical summary from 2010 to 2015 focused on releases that resulted in injuries in order to identify areas for public health prevention efforts. Of the 1690 toxic releases in North Carolina, 155 incidents resulted in injuries and 500 people were injured. Carbon monoxide injured the greatest number of people. Of the incidents that resulted in injuries, 68 occurred at private vehicles or residences (44%), injuring 124 people (25%). Over half of events where at least one responder was injured occurred at private vehicles or residences. Events occurring at private residences did not have a significant relationship between evacuations and injuries, while for industry-related events, the odds of an evacuation being ordered were 8.18 times greater (OR = 8.18, 95% CI = 5.19, 12.89) when there were injuries associated with an event. Intervention efforts should focus on preventing responder injuries while responding to private residence releases and educating the general public on how to prevent injuries by self-evacuating areas where hazardous chemicals have been released.

Highlights

The purpose of the National Toxic Substance Incidents Program (NTSIP) surveillance system is to identify areas and factors leading to injuries and/or evacuations so these types of events can be prevented in the future
We provide an overview of the acute toxic substance releases in North Carolina from 2010 to 2015, with a focus on events that led to one or more injury, to identify areas for public health interventions
NTSIP only captures carbon monoxide releases if the concentration is known to be greater than or equal to 50 ppm, and carbon monoxide releases that occur in a private vehicle or residence are only included if they led to a public health action

Summary

Introduction

The purpose of the National Toxic Substance Incidents Program (NTSIP) surveillance system is to identify areas and factors leading to injuries and/or evacuations so these types of events can be prevented in the future. HSEES data from nine states from 1999 to 2008 found that the five chemicals associated with the most injuries were carbon monoxide, ammonia, chlorine, hydrochloric acid, and sulfuric acid [2]. This article found that the most common locations of events that involved responder injuries were private households followed by merchant wholesalers and utilities. An article published using HSEES data from the state of New York from 1993 to 2002 found that the six most common chemicals associated with injuries were ammonia, pyridine, carbon monoxide, hydrochloric acid, sodium hypochlorite, and sulfuric acid [3].

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion