Assessment of Emergency Responders After a Vinyl Chloride Release from a Train Derailment - New Jersey, 2012

On Nov 30, 2012, at a freight train derailed near a small town in New Jersey. Four tank cars, including a breached tank car carrying vinyl chloride, landed in a tidal creek. Vinyl chloride, a colorless gas with a mild, sweet odor, is used in plastics manufacture. Acute exposure can cause respiratory...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2015, Vol.63 (53), p.1233
Main Authors: Brinker, Kimberly, Lumia, Margaret, Markiewicz, Karl V, Duncan, Mary Anne, Dowell, Chad, Rey, Araceli, Wilken, Jason, Shumate, Alice, Taylor, Jamille, Funk, Renée
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Chemicals
Emergency services
Occupational health
Railroad accidents & safety
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Summary:On Nov 30, 2012, at a freight train derailed near a small town in New Jersey. Four tank cars, including a breached tank car carrying vinyl chloride, landed in a tidal creek. Vinyl chloride, a colorless gas with a mild, sweet odor, is used in plastics manufacture. Acute exposure can cause respiratory irritation and headache, drowsiness, and dizziness; chronic occupational exposure can result in liver damage, accumulation of fat in the liver, and tumors (including angiosarcoma of the liver). On Dec 11, teams from these agencies deployed to assist the New Jersey Department of Health in conducting an assessment of exposures in the community as well as the occupational health and safety of emergency personnel who responded to the incident. Brinker et al describe the results of the investigation of emergency personnel.
ISSN:0149-2195
1545-861X