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Acute respiratory distress syndrome after accidental inhalation of fluorocarbon monomers and pyrolysis products
  1. Dingyu Tan1,2,
  2. Chen Wang1,
  3. Jun Ling3,
  4. Zhongfang Xia1,
  5. Jiyang Xu1
  1. 1 Department of Emergency, People's Hospital of Northern Jiangsu Province, Yangzhou, China
  2. 2 Department of Emergency, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China
  3. 3 Department of Radiology, People's Hospital of Northern Jiangsu Province, Yangzhou, China
  1. Correspondence to Dr Jiyang Xu, Department of Emergency, People's Hospital of Northern Jiangsu Province, No 98, Nantong West Road, Guangling District, Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province 225001, China; xujiyang1964{at}gmail.com

https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2015-103185

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    Fluoropolymer-associated illnesses induced by direct inhalation of fluorocarbon monomers and pyrolysis products (FMPPs) have been rarely reported. We report 11 cases of accidental inhalation of FMPPs, including 5 cases of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and 1 death.

    Twelve workers from a local factory presented dry cough on a January morning after their night shift. They were treated with supplemental oxygen in a local hospital, and one of them died of respiratory failure that evening. Open-air discharge of FMPPs by a neighbouring factory between 20:00 and 00:00 the previous night was confirmed after investigation. During the disposal stage of FMPP residue generated during production of fluorocarbon coating, the step of spraying water over the residue was inadvertently left out, leading to the accident. The workshop the patients worked at was about 35 m from the site of discharge. Perfluoroisobutylene, hydrogen …

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors JX, DT and ZX contributed to the study design. JX, DT, CW, JL and ZX participated in the literature search. DT, CW, JL and ZX were involved in the data collection. JX, DT, CW, JL and ZX were involved in the manuscript preparation. JX was responsible for the overall content as guarantor.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent Obtained.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.