© 2002 Occupational and Environmental Medicine
EDUCATION
Epidemiological assessment of health effects from chemical incidents
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr Paul Cullinan, Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, National Heart & Lung Institute, Emmanuel Kaye Building, 1b Manresa Road, London SW3 6LR, UK;
p.cullinan@ic.ac.uk
Keywords: chemical incidents; exposure assessment
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
A chemical incident is the unexpected release of industrial material that is (potentially) hazardous either to humans, other animals or the environment. Common synonyms include the term "accident" but this presupposes an anticipated failure of control; "incidents" include also unanticipated disasters resulting from mechanical or organisational failures, and occasionally even sabotage.
The essence of a chemical incident is in its unexpectedness; the term is not used to describe predictable, continuing, and regulated releases of toxic substances from industrial sources. Neither does it generally include toxic releases contained entirely within an occupational setting where only employees are affected, although the principles of management are very similar. Such "industrial incidents" are usually managed by occupational health services. Major chemical incidents are those which pose a threat to a large number of people. This will depend on the size of the release, its area of distribution, and the magnitude of the population at
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Occup. Environ. Med. 2002 59: 512-516.[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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