Citation

Wilson DI, Bailie FB. Burns 1995; 21(7): 539-541.

Affiliation

Subregional Burns and Plastic Surgery Unit, City Hospital, Nottingham, UK.

Comment In:

Burns 1996;22(6):504.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8540984

Abstract

Petrol (gasoline) is probably the fuel most easily available and widely in use today. Indeed, most households have a can lurking in the garden shed or basement for domestic use. It's chemical properties make it a highly explosive as well as a combustible fluid, a fact that is sometimes poorly appreciated. We looked at the incidence of petrol-related burns seen in our unit over a 2-year period. Nearly 33 per cent of the adult male admissions were petrol-related and 16 per cent were in children under the age of 16 years. The commonest cause of injury was attempting to start or accelerate a bonfire (38 per cent) with only a small number of barbecue injuries (4 per cent). Petrol causes a significant number of burn injuries a year, and particularly worrying were the number of children injured. However, we feel there is a need for greater public education and perhaps stricter control of this substance.

Language: en