effects of exposure to crude oil on the health of workers involved in clean up operation

ABSTRACT

An oil tanker carrying crude oil was grounded near Karachi coastline. This observational non-interventional study was carried out to study the effect on health of workers who were involved in the clean-up operation. First fifty consecutive naval personnel who came in close contact with the spilled crude oil in the sea were evaluated. Their symptoms, physical signs and lung function tests were recorded before and then on daily basis for 2 weeks. All the 50 subjects had developed symptoms. The most frequent symptom was redness of eyes [60%] followed by headache [52%], nausea [50%], throat irritation [48%], dry cough [10%], tightness in the chest [8%], blurring of vision [8%] and other minor symptoms [18%]. None of the subjects was asked to stop the work because of the severity of toxic symptoms. Reversible obstructive airway disease was seen in only 4 subjects, all of them had dry cough before exposure. The data suggests that exposure to volatile products of crude oil leads to development of neurological, respiratory and eye symptoms. Mild reversible obstructive airway disease may only manifest in few individuals who already had respiratory symptoms before exposure