TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2015//
TI  - Health complaints after a malodorous chemical explosion: a longitudinal study
JO  - Occupational medicine
A1  - Tjalvin, G.
A1  - Lygre, S. H. L.
A1  - Hollund, B. E.
A1  - Moen, Bente E.
A1  - Bråtveit, Magne
SP  - 202
EP  - 209
VL  - 65
IS  - 3
N2  - BACKGROUND: Physical and psychological symptoms are prevalent in populations recently affected by industrial accidents. Follow-up studies of human health effects are scarce, and as most of them focus on residents, little is known about the long-term health effects among workers exposed to malodorous emissions following a chemical explosion. AIMS: To assess whether subjective health complaints (SHC) among workers declined over a 4-year period after an oil tank explosion that emitted malodorous sulphurous compounds. <br><br>METHODS: A longitudinal survey from 2008 (18 months after the explosion) to 2012, performed using the SHC inventory. Questionnaire data were analysed using a linear mixed effects model. <br><br>RESULTS: There was a decrease in SHCs among the exposed workers, but they still had significantly more subjective neurological symptoms (P < 0.01) compared with controls, adjusted for gender, age, smoking habits, educational level and proximity to the explosion. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Although there was a downward trend in SHCs among exposed workers in the follow-up period, they reported more subjective neurological complaints than controls. Symptoms may be mediated by perceived pollution and health risk perception, and adaptation or anxiety may cause a chronic effect, manifested by a dysfunctional and persistent neuropsychological response.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0962-7480
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqu203
ID  - ref1
ER  -