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American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 129, No. 5: 1023-1031
Copyright © 1989 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health

research-article

ACUTE HEALTH EFFECTS AMONG FIREFIGHTERS EXPOSED TO A POLYVINYL CHLORIDE (PVC) FIRE

JEFFREY S. MARKOWITZ1,, ELANE M. GUTTERMAN2, SHARON SCHWARTZ3, BRUCE LINK4 and SHEILA M. GORMAN5

1Clinical-Genetics Epidemiology Unit, New York State Psychiatric Institute, and Department of Health Policy and Management, Columbia University School of Public Health New York, NY
2HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, New York State Psychiatric Institute New York, NY
3Social Psychiatry Research Unit of Columbia University New York, NY
4Psychiatric Epidemiology Training Program and Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University School of Public Health New York, NY
5Department of Health Policy and Management, Columbia University School of Public Health New York, NY

Reprint requests to Dr. Jeffrey S. Markowitz, E. R. Squibb & Sons, P.O. Box 4000, Princeton, NJ 08540

Firefighters are frequently being called on to fight fires that are chemical in nature. In the aftermath of a chemical fire in Plainfield, New Jersey on March 20–21, 1985, the authors conducted a retrospective cohort study which surveyed 80 firefighters exposed to burning polyvinyl chloride (PVC) as well as 15 nonexposed firefighter subjects. By means of an 81-item symptom checklist, exposed firefighters reported more frequent and severe symptoms at 5–6 weeks post incident. This was true for a total symptomatology score as well as 19 individual items. Some of the items with an elevated risk were consistent with exposure to hydrogen chloride, the main pyrolysis product of polyvinyl chloride. Other items with an elevated risk appeared to be related to smoke inhalation while others seemed psychosocial in nature. Analyses conducted within the exposed firefighter group showed that fighting the fire the first day, being a truckman, and residence within 1 mile (1.6 km) of the firehouse were significant risk factors for high total symptom scores. These risk factors may have been associated with level or duration of exposure to the toxic substances produced during the fire.

environmental exposure; occupational diseases; polyvinyls


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