OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the health effects of exposure to BTEX (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, m,p-Xylene, o-Xylene) in the Taean area after the Hebei Spirit oil spill. METHODS: We used a questionnaire survey to look for health effects among 80 pregnant women 2 to 3 months following the Hebei Spirit oil spill. Their BTEX exposures were estimated using the CALPUFF method. We then used a multiple logistic regression analysis to evaluate the effects of BTEX exposure on the women's health effets. RESULTS: Pregnant women who lived near the accident site reported more symptoms of eye irritation and headache than those who lived farther from the site. There was a trend of decreasing symptoms with an increase in distance from the spill site. Pregnant women exposed to higher ambient cumulative levels of Xylene were significantly more likely to report symptoms of the skin (OR 8.01 95% CI=1.74-36.76) in the first day after the accident and significantly more likely to report abdominal pain (OR 3.86 95% CI=1.02-14.59 for Ethylbenzene, OR 6.70 95% CI=1.82-24.62 for Xylene) during the 1st through 4th days following the accident. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that exposure to BTEX from an oil spill is correlated with an increased risk of health effects among pregnant women. This implies the need to take proper measures, including the development of a national policy for environmental health emergencies and a plan for studying the short- and long-term chronic health effects associated with such spills.
Adult ; Benzene/*adverse effects/analysis ; Benzene Derivatives/*adverse effects/analysis ; *Disasters ; *Environmental Exposure ; Environmental Pollutants/*adverse effects/analysis ; Eye Diseases/chemically induced/epidemiology ; Female ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; *Petroleum ; Pregnancy ; Questionnaires ; Respiratory Tract Diseases/chemically induced/epidemiology ; Risk Factors ; Skin Diseases/chemically induced/epidemiology ; Time Factors ; Toluene/analysis ; *Women's Health ; Xylenes/analysis

Skin disease is the most common occupational disease, but the reported number is small in Korea due to a difficulty of detection and diagnosis in time. We described various official statistics and data from occupational skin disease surveillance system, epidemiological surveys and cases published in scientific journals. Until 1981, 2,222 cases of occupational skin disease were reported by Korean employee's regular medical check-up, accounting for 4.9% of the total occupational diseases. There was no subsequent official statistics to figure out occupational skin diseases till 1998. From 1999, the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) published the number of occupational skin diseases through the statistics of Cause Investigation for Industrial Accidents. A total of 301 cases were reported from 1999 to 2007. Recent one study showed the figures of compensated occupational skin diseases. Many of them belonged to daily-paid workers in the public service, especially forestry workers. Also, it described the interesting cases such as vitiligo and trichloroethylene-induced Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. Skin diseases are still important though the number of cases has decreased, and therefore it is recommended to grasp the status of occupational skin diseases through continuous surveillance system and to make policy protecting high-risk group.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Occupational Diseases/*epidemiology ; Occupational Exposure ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Safety Management ; Skin Diseases/*epidemiology ; Stevens-Johnson Syndrome/chemically induced/epidemiology ; Trichloroethylene/toxicity

Exposure to cephalosporins could cause occupational allergic diseases in health care workers (HCWs). We evaluated the prevalence of serum specific IgE and IgG antibodies to cephalosporin-human serum albumin (HSA) conjugate and to identify potential genetic risk factors associated with sensitization to cephalosporins in exposed HCWs. The study population consisted of 153 HCWs who had been exposed to antibiotics in a single university hospital and 86 unexposed healthy controls. A questionnaire survey of work-related symptoms (WRS) was administered. A skin-prick test (SPT) was performed, and serum-specific IgE and IgG antibodies to 3 commonly prescribed cephalosporins were measured by ELISA. Four single-nucleotide polymorphisms of the candidate genes related to IgE sensitization were genotyped. The prevalence of WRS to cephalosporins was 2.6%. The prevalence rates of serum-specific IgE and IgG antibodies to cephalosporins were 20.3% and 14.7%, respectively. The FcepsilonR1beta-109T > C polymorphism was significantly associated with IgE sensitization to cephalosporins in HCWs (P = 0.036, OR = 3.553; CI, 1.324-9.532). The in vitro functional assay demonstrated that the T allele of FcepsilonR1beta-109T had greater promoter activity than did the C allele (P < 0.001). The FcepsilonR1beta-109T > C polymorphism may be a potential genetic risk factor for increased IgE sensitization to cephalosporins.
Adult ; Alleles ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/analysis/*immunology ; Cephalosporins/analysis/*immunology ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Health Personnel ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity/*diagnosis/epidemiology ; Immunoglobulin E/blood ; Immunoglobulin G/blood ; Male ; Occupational Diseases/*chemically induced/epidemiology ; Occupational Exposure ; Odds Ratio ; Questionnaires ; Receptors, IgE/genetics ; Skin Tests ; Young Adult