Contamination incident

Although annual use of atrazine in the United States is about 35 million kg (Alvord and Kadlec 1996 Carder and Hoagland 1998), atrazine concentrations in human foods are negligible. Monitoring of domestic and imported foods in the human diet by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 1978 and 1982 showed that only 3 of 4500 samples analyzed had detectable atrazine residues. Two samples in 1980 contained 0.01 and 0.08 mg atrazine/kg and one in 1978, following a known contamination incident, contained 47 mg/kg (Reed 1982). 

Smith, M.E., van Ravenswaay, E.O., and Thompson, S.R. 1988. Sales loss determination in food contamination incidents An application to milk bans in Hawaii. Am. J. Agricult. Econ. 70,... 

The guiding principle for responding to severe release or explosion threats is one of due diligence—or What is a suitable and sensible response to a threat As discussed above, some response to chemical contamination threats is warranted due to the public health implications of an actual contamination incident. However, a chemical facility could spend a lot of time and money overresponding to every threat, which would be an ineffective use of resources. Furthermore, overresponse to threats carries its own adverse impacts. 

Information about construction materials used in the system may be contained within the plant records and can be useful in evaluating the fate and transport of a particular chemical contaminant through a system. For example, a particular contaminant may adsorb to the pipe material used in a utility s distribution system, and this type of information would be critical in evaluating remediation options following a chemical contamination incident. 

Polybrominated Biphenyls. The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH), together with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and three other federal agencies, began a major study to assess the health effects of PBBs after the Michigtm contamination episode. A health questionnaire and blood samples were collected from people affected by the feed contamination incident. MDCH had the responsibility to analyze several thousand samples for PBB from 1975 to 1978. MDCH continues contact with this cohort, updates health questionnaires, and collects blood samples to be analyzed (MDCH 2002). 

Rahman, M.M., Sengupta, M.K. and Chowdhury, U.K. (2006) Arsenic contamination incidents around the world, in Managing Arsenic in the Environment From Soil to Human Health (eds R. Naidu, E. Smith, G. Owens et al.), CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, pp. 3-30. 

On occasions, animal feed has been suspected of deliberate contamination. Incidents involving contamination of animal feed by industrial by-products such as polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and combustion products such as dioxins are not uncommon. A problem with animal feed is that there is sometimes inadequate control over the provenance of feed constituents. For example, spent cooking oil from food-processing plants is a legitimate feed component. Unfortunately, the temptation for the unscrupulous to dispose of other unwanted oils in this way is too great for some. In many cases such adulterants are probably diluted to such an extent that they are undetectable by conventional chemical analyses. Nevertheless, they may still represent a longterm cumulative hazard to consumers of products from animals fed on such material. 

The PBB contamination incident had a devastating effect on the Michigan economy. Long before a complete accounting was available, the loss of farm animals reported was 29,800 cattle, 5.920 hogs, 1,470 sheep and ca. 1.5 million chickens. Thousands of cattle were hauled to a remote 20-acre burial site ("Animal Auschwitz") in central Michigan by Farm Bureau Services. 

Two days after the disaster, nearby residents were warned not to eat any vegetables from their gardens. Eour days after the disaster, the Technical Director of Givaudan in Geneva informed the Technical Director of ICMESA that the samples contained traces of TCDD. Authorities were told much later about the TCDD. The Seveso disaster resulted in the highest known TCDD exposure to residential populations, and has possibly been the most systematically studied dioxin contamination incident in history. 

Most of the documented 1,2-D contamination incidents were in private rural wells. A comprehensive ground water monitoring... 

Formulation, storage, and poor disposal practices have resulted in a number of pesticide ground water contamination incidents in California 2). 

Deane M, Sanders G Health effects of exposure to community odors from pulp mills, Eureka, 1971. Environ Res 14 164-181, 1977 Dunne MP, Burnett P, Lawton J, et al The health effects of chemical waste in an urban community. Med] Aust 152 592-597, 1990 Fowle SE, Constantine CE, Fone D, et al An epidemiological study after a water contamination incident near Worcester, England in April 1994. ] Epidemiol Community Health 50 18-23, 1996... 

Biodegradable pesticides can be extremely persistent when present in the soil at unusually high concentrations (6-10), which contributes to an increased risk of surface and ground water contamination. When a business has a major contamination incident, state or federal regulatory agencies can order a cleanup, but such action is more difficult for private farms and residences. The nature of the cleanup is more problematic. Contaminated soil is excavated and removed to a "secure" landfill. The end result is perhaps a cleaner site, but the waste has not been detoxified. 

Radiation Surveys. Environmental radiation surveys are performed to record background levels of radiation and radionuclide concentrations in the environment. Surveys should be part of the planning strategy when dealing with possible radiation exposure. Routine surveys would generate adequate control of the present environmental exposures and possible contamination incidents. 

The nature of the contamination incident determines the sample types. Air samples and wipe samples are taken when dust or fume deposition is the problem. Core samples or chips may be taken from porous surfaces when contaminant penetration is expected to have occurred. The cores in particular are often sliced into sections, with analysis beginning in the top section or two and proceeding downward if results continue to prove positive. The results of the core/chip analysis determine the extent to which porous surface removal is required. 

The wide dispersal of the dioxin-like chemicals throughout the environment is primarily the result of atmospheric transport and deposition. Eventually the dioxin-Uke chemicals become adsorbed to dust particles and surfaces and are deposited in sediments. The two primary pathways for dioxin-like chemicals to enter the food chain are from the air-to-plant-to-animal and from water-and sediment-to-fish. A third route for dioxin-Uke chemicals to enter the food chain is through the accidental contamination incidents resulting from inappropriate handling and processing of feed and food substances. It has been estimated that more than 90% of human exposure to dioxin and dioxin-like chemicals is through the ingestion of contaminated food substances. ... 

Increased water security to be implemented via a Government Plan to reduce the probability of major contamination incidents to zero or near zero... 

Manag0m0nt of Cross-Contamination incidants and Cross-Contact... 

Individual laboratories should be designed to be shut down individually and isolated from every other room in the event of an emergency. Valves for gas, water, and vacuum lines should be accessible through the support chase or the mechanical room penthouse. Electtical cut-off switches should be built-in at the door. These design features prevent a spill or contamination incident from affecting operations in other rooms or laboratories. Ideally, the contaminated laboratory is taken offline, decontaminated, serviced, and brought back on line with only minor impact on other facility operations. 

Screening methods could significantly increase the number of analytical samples examined in contamination incidents when a known pesticide is accidentally, or through misuse, applied to a crop. Availalnlity of a suitable EIA method for aldicarb would have greatly fecilitated analysis during the contamination of watermelons several years ago. The unpredictalnlity of these incidents implies EIA methods for all pestid s would be requited fa- adequate preparation for the next incident however, the cost and resources needed for such an FDA method development effort would be prohibitive. 

We mention this consideration because of Its Importance to harvesters and because the urine analyses may have to account for the excretion products of these metabolites. Urine collection from harvesters is not difficult, but consistently reliable urine sampling Is another matter. We have attempted to collect 24-hr. urine samples, but this did not work well. Harvesters In Florida are more mobile, appear for work erratically, and are less likely to understand Instructions than the applicator, mixer-loader group. However, a timed grab sample from the start of work until the noon break has provided excellent correlations between residue levels on foliage and urinary metabolites In harvesters (10). We attribute this to the greater opportunity for significant contamination Incidents of applicator, mixer-loaders over harvesters. 

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