Trends and Public Health Consequences in Hazardous Substance Incidents Involving the Most Commonly Released Chemicals

Every year thousands of hazardous substance releases cause injuries and deaths, and result in costly public health actions in the US. The analysis of trends and public health consequences of these events is critical to identify areas to target for prevention. ATSDR's Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (HSEES) data were used to analyze the trends and public health consequences of acute hazardous substances events caused by the top five chemicals released during 2001 to 2008. Of the 59,192 HSEES single chemicals events reported from 2001-2008, 6.1% were related to ammonia, 3.2% to carbon monoxide, 2.5% to mercury, 2.9% to paint, and 2.2% to sodium hydroxide releases. From 2001 to 2008, the frequency of reported ammonia, carbon monoxide, mercury, and sodium hydroxide related events increased slightly from 6.0% to 7.2%, from 2.2% to 3.09%, from 2.5% to 3.1%, from 2.2% to 2.8%, respectfully. The percent of paint-related events increased sharply from 1.7% to 4.9%. Of the 4,531 victims in these incidents, 67% were related to carbon monoxide, 27.3% ammonia, 2.9% sodium hydroxide, 1.1% mercury, and 0.6% paint releases. Members of the general public and employees were the most common victims. Percentage of events with injuries increased from 12.9% in 2001 to 16.0% in 2008. These five substances caused approximately 17% of events and 31% of all victims from 2001 to 2008. These chemicals, particularly carbon monoxide and ammonia, should become a priority for states to develop preventive strategies to minimize against acute releases and related injuries.