Abstract
Background: In this paper, we aimed to investigate the potential impacts of a fire accident in a fertilizer warehouse on chromosomal anomalies, including Trisomy 21 (T21) and Trisomy (T18) among pregnancies in Brazos County, Texas. We conducted an observational study in Brazos County, TX, with all patients of T18 and T21 cases in the live births in Brazos County between 2005–2014. The prevalence of T18 and T21 before, during, and after the accident in Brazos County were calculated and compared. The Standardized Morbidity Ratio (SMR) was applied to compare the prevalence of T18 and T21 in Brazos County to the statewide prevalence in Texas after adjusting for maternal race and age. Compared with statewide risk, the risk of T18 during the impacted years in Brazos county was found to be significantly higher (SMR = 5.0, 95% Confidence Interval(CI): 2.19–9.89), while there was no significant difference before (SMR = 0.77, 0.13–2.54) and after the accident (SMR = 0.71, 0.12–2.36). However, the prevalence of T21 during the impacted years was not significantly different from those before or after the accident. This study conclusively suggests that this fertilizer fire may be related to the increased prevalence of T18 in Brazos County, though the findings warrant further investigation.
Highlights
On 30 July 2009, a fire occurred in a fertilizer warehouse located in Bryan, Texas, which dealt with agricultural fertilizers, including E-2 ammonium nitrate.The fire was left to burn itself out due to dangers of chemical exposures, and formed an extensive amount of flames and smoke which spread to 60 miles away from the facility
We could not ascertain the inventory immediately before the warehouse fire incident, the website of the supplying company indicated that the company produced “a variety of agrochemical and industrial products, including regular nitric acid and concentrated nitric acid, mixed acids, sulfuric acid, and both agricultural- and industrial-grade ammonium nitrate”
We investigated the potential impacts of the fire accident on chromosomal anomalies, including Trisomy 21 (T21) and T18, among pregnancies in Brazos County, Texas
Summary
On 30 July 2009, a fire occurred in a fertilizer warehouse located in Bryan, Texas, which dealt with agricultural fertilizers, including E-2 ammonium nitrate.The fire was left to burn itself out due to dangers of chemical exposures, and formed an extensive amount of flames and smoke which spread to 60 miles away from the facility. We could not ascertain the inventory immediately before the warehouse fire incident, the website of the supplying company indicated that the company produced “a variety of agrochemical and industrial products, including regular nitric acid and concentrated nitric acid, mixed (nitrating) acids, sulfuric acid, and both agricultural- and industrial-grade ammonium nitrate”. The prevalence of T18 and T21 before, during, and after the accident in Brazos County were calculated and compared. The risk of T18 during the impacted years in Brazos county was found to be significantly higher (SMR = 5.0, 95% Confidence Interval(CI): 2.19–9.89), while there was no significant difference before (SMR = 0.77, 0.13–2.54) and after the accident (SMR = 0.71, 0.12–2.36). This study conclusively suggests that this fertilizer fire may be related to the increased prevalence of T18 in Brazos County, though the findings warrant further investigation
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