Acute health effects of accidental chlorine gas exposure
- Authors
- Kim, Joo-An; Yoon, Seong-Yong; Cho, Seong-Yong; Yu, Jin-Hyun; Kim, Hwa-Sung; Lim, Gune-Il; Kim, Jin-Seok
- Issue Date
- 2014
- Publisher
- BioMed Central
- Keywords
- Chlorine; Chemical hazard release; Reactive airway dysfunction syndrome
- Citation
- Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, v.26
- Journal Title
- Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
- Volume
- 26
- URI
- https://scholarworks.bwise.kr/sch/handle/2021.sw.sch/13043
- DOI
- 10.1186/s40557-014-0029-9
- ISSN
- 1225-3618
2052-4374
- 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.
- Files in This Item
- There are no files associated with this item.
- Appears in
Collections - College of Medicine > Department of Preventive Medicine > 1. Journal Articles
- College of Medicine > Department of Occupational Medicine > 1. Journal Articles
![qrcode](https://api.qrserver.com/v1/create-qr-code/?size=55x55&data=https://scholarworks.bwise.kr/sch/handle/2021.sw.sch/13043)
Items in ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.