Citation

Tjalvin G, Lygre SH, Hollund BE, Moen BE, Bråtveit M. Occup. Med. 2015; 65(3): 202-209.

Affiliation

Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway, Department of Occupational Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/occmed/kqu203

PMID

25638209

Abstract

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.

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.

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.

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.

Language: en