Ann Occup Environ Med.
2014 ;26(1):29-29. 10.1186/s40557-014-0029-9.
Acute health effects of accidental chlorine gas exposure
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Gumi Hospital, Gumi, Gyeongbuk, South Korea. kjsoem@hanmail.net
- 2Environmental Health Center, Soonchunhyang University Gumi Hospital, Gumi, Gyeongbuk, South Korea.
- 3Department of Preventive Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Medical College, Asan, Chungnam, South Korea.
- 4Department of Pulmonology, Soonchunhyang University Gumi Hospital, Gumi, Gyeongbuk, South Korea.
- KMID: 2153914
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.1186/s40557-014-0029-9
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
This study was conducted to report the course of an accidental release of chlorine gas that occurred in a factory in Gumi-si, South Korea, on March 5, 2013. We describe the analysis results of 2 patients hospitalized because of chlorine-induced acute health problems, as well as the clinical features of 209 non-hospitalized patients.
METHODS
We analyzed the medical records of the 2 hospitalized patients admitted to the hospital, as well as the medical records and self-report questionnaires of 209 non-hospitalized patients completed during outpatient treatment.
RESULTS
Immediately after the exposure, the 2 hospitalized patients developed acute asthma-like symptoms such as cough and dyspnea, and showed restrictive and combined pattern ventilatory defects on the pulmonary function test. The case 1 showed asthma-like symptoms over six months and diurnal variability in peak expiratory flow rate was 56.7%. In case 2, his FEV1 after treatment (93%) increased by 25% compared to initial FEV1 (68%). Both cases were diagnosed as chlorine-induced reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS) on the basis of these clinical features. The most frequent chief complaints of the 209 non-hospitalized patients were headache (22.7%), followed by eye irritation (18.2%), nausea (11.2%), and sore throat (10.8%), with asymptomatic patients accounting for 36.5%. The multiple-response analysis of individual symptom revealed headache (42.4%) to be the most frequent symptom, followed by eye irritation (30.5%), sore throat (30.0%), cough (29.6%), nausea (27.6%), and dizziness (27.3%).
CONCLUSIONS
The 2 patients hospitalized after exposure to chlorine gas at the leakage site showed a clinical course corresponding to RADS. All of the 209 non-hospitalized patients only complained of symptoms of the upper airways and mucous membrane irritation.
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