On August 31, 1992, the QPC circuit board manufacturing facility burned to the ground, propelling thick black smoke into the adjacent South Phoenix community for approximately eight hours. Immediately after the fire, residents living near the QPC facility began reporting undesirable health effects such as asthma, blurred vision, nausea and vomiting, congestion, hearing loss, hair loss, rashes, and numbness of the extremities. Frustrated by government agencies’ inadequate efforts to investigate residents’ health problems, the local community advocacy group Don’t Waste Arizona (DWAZ), performed a health survey on South Phoenix residents eight months after the fire. Approximately 690 people were surveyed; around one third were surveyed by means of a door-to-door campaign, another third through a random phoning operation, and a final third during their voluntary attendance at a local community meeting. The purpose of this presentation is to introduce information from an in-depth analysis of the health data obtained from the DWAZ health study using SPSS. Analysis will include: (1) a description of residents’ symptoms, (2) an association of symptom prevalence with proximity to the fire, (3) an investigation of factors such as age, sex, hours spent at home, air cooler type, and location during the fire, as they relate to symptom severity, and (4) determining if a clustering effect can be seen in the area surrounding QPC using GIS analysis.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, the participant should be able to:
Keywords: Environmental Health Hazards, Hazardous Air Pollutants
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.