Assessing and Managing Health Risks from Fugitive Chemicals after Hurricane Sandy

飓风桑迪后评估和管理逃逸化学品的健康风险

• 批准号: 8925421
• 负责人: Christine F Chaisson
• 金额: $ 0.55万
• 依托单位: RAND CORPORATION
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-09-30 至 2015-09-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8925421
• 关键词: Assessing; Managing; Health; Risks; Fugitive

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): As Hurricane Sandy made landfall across the New Jersey shoreline, a catastrophic storm surge caused severe flooding and devastation to the New York City Significant Maritime Industrial Areas (SMIAs). The SMIAs house clusters of heavy industrial facilities located in close proximity to residential communities. Due to the heavy industrialization of the SMIAs, recovery workers in these areas may face adverse health effects from exposure to "fugitive" chemicals - chemicals dislodged from industrial sites and dispersed through floodwaters to commercial and residential areas where cleanup activities occurred. While hazard data has been collected in past hurricane events through sampling, so far no efforts have been made to characterize the range and types of activities recovery workers engage in that could lead to increased exposures and risks. Following the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's Research to Practice (r2p) principles, our study addresses Priority 2 of the Funding Opportunity Announcement. The main objectives of our study are to: 1) determine the exposure and health risks posed to recovery workers in one SMIA, Sunset Park, in Brooklyn, New York; and 2) develop a plan for dissemination, translation, and implementation of research products. To accomplish these goals we use a community-based risk assessment (CBRA) approach that includes Sunset Park community members as full research partners. We use an existing risk assessment model to predict health risks from exposure to hazardous chemicals during recovery activities in Sunset Park. Study activities are divided into a research arm and a translation arm. The research arm will support the collection of site- and recovery activity-specific hazard and exposure data, which will be integrated into the model and used to estimate health risks. The translation arm supports the development of a plan for use of study products to aid long-term recovery and also includes evaluation activities. This study addresses several important gaps in existing knowledge of the potential health effects faced by recovery workers. First, we fill in data gaps on hazards and exposure activities that increase both exposure and risk potential. Second, we use an existing risk model that can take into account consequences of exposures to single chemicals or mixtures. Finally, by using a CBRA approach, which has not been used in this context previously, we will be able to gather community-specific data that will provide information especially tailored to Sunset Park and potentially other industrial waterfront communities. As a result, stakeholders will be able to use study products to guide prevention decisions on what chemicals to prioritize for secure storage, mitigation decisions on the recovery activities or vulnerable populations requiring greater protections, treatment decisions on what groups may require targeted screening or healthcare follow-up, and communication decisions on what groups may need targeted warning messages.

描述（由申请人提供）：随着飓风桑迪在新泽西海岸线登陆，灾难性的风暴潮导致严重的洪水和破坏纽约市重要的海洋工业区（SMIA）。SMIA集中了重工业设施，这些设施紧邻居民区。由于沉重的 随着SMIA的工业化，这些地区的恢复工人可能面临着接触“逃逸”化学品的不利健康影响--这些化学品从工业场所脱落，并通过洪水扩散到进行清理活动的商业和居民区。虽然在过去的飓风事件中通过抽样收集了灾害数据，但迄今尚未努力说明灾后恢复工作人员所从事的可能导致风险增加的活动的范围和类型。根据国家职业安全与健康研究所的研究实践（r2 p）原则，我们的研究解决了资助机会公告的优先事项2。我们研究的主要目标是：1）确定纽约布鲁克林日落公园一个SMIA的恢复人员面临的暴露和健康风险; 2）制定研究产品的传播、翻译和实施计划。为了实现这些目标，我们使用基于社区的风险评估（CBRA）方法，包括日落公园社区成员作为全面的研究合作伙伴。我们使用现有的风险评估模型来预测在日落公园的恢复活动期间暴露于危险化学品的健康风险。研究活动分为研究部分和翻译部分，研究部分将支持收集特定场址和恢复活动的危害和接触数据，这些数据将纳入模型，用于估计健康风险。翻译部门支持制定使用研究产品的计划，以帮助长期恢复，并包括评价活动。这项研究解决了恢复工作者面临的潜在健康影响的现有知识中的几个重要空白。首先，我们填补了增加暴露和风险潜力的危害和暴露活动的数据空白。第二，我们使用现有的风险模型，该模型可以考虑接触单一化学品或混合物的后果。最后，通过使用CBRA方法，我们将能够收集特定于社区的数据，这些数据将提供专门针对日落公园和其他潜在工业海滨社区的信息。因此，利益攸关方将能够利用研究产品指导关于优先安全储存哪些化学品的预防决定、关于恢复活动或需要更多保护的弱势群体的缓解决定、关于哪些群体可能需要有针对性的筛查或医疗保健后续行动的治疗决定，以及关于哪些群体可能需要有针对性的警告信息的沟通决定。