Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28182515›Full record

ArticlePublic health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)

Acute Health Effects After the Elk River Chemical Spill, West Virginia, January 2014.

Erica D Thomasson, Elizabeth Scharman, Ethan Fechter-Leggett, Danae Bixler, Sheri'f Ibrahim, Mary Anne Duncan, Joy Hsu, Melissa Scott, Suzanne Wilson, Loretta Haddy and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974). The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Erica D Thomasson1 Epidemic Intelligence Service, Office of Public Health Scientific Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Elizabeth Scharman5 Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, West Virginia University, Charleston, WV, USA.
Ethan Fechter-Leggett1 Epidemic Intelligence Service, Office of Public Health Scientific Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Danae Bixler2 Division of Infectious Disease, Office of Epidemiology Prevention Services, West Virginia Bureau for Public Health, West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, Charleston, WV, USA.
Sheri'f Ibrahim2 Division of Infectious Disease, Office of Epidemiology Prevention Services, West Virginia Bureau for Public Health, West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, Charleston, WV, USA.
Mary Anne Duncan8 Environmental Health Surveillance Branch, Division of Toxicology and Human Health Sciences, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Joy Hsu1 Epidemic Intelligence Service, Office of Public Health Scientific Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Melissa Scott2 Division of Infectious Disease, Office of Epidemiology Prevention Services, West Virginia Bureau for Public Health, West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, Charleston, WV, USA.
Suzanne Wilson2 Division of Infectious Disease, Office of Epidemiology Prevention Services, West Virginia Bureau for Public Health, West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, Charleston, WV, USA.
Loretta Haddy2 Division of Infectious Disease, Office of Epidemiology Prevention Services, West Virginia Bureau for Public Health, West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, Charleston, WV, USA.
Anthony Pizon6 West Virginia Poison Center, Charleston, WV, USA.
Sherry L Burrer10 Health Studies Branch, Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Amy Wolkin10 Health Studies Branch, Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Lauren Lewis10 Health Studies Branch, Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesOn January 9, 2014, approximately 10 000 gallons of a mixture of 4-methylcyclohexanemethanol and propylene glycol phenyl ether spilled into West Virginia's Elk River, contaminating the potable water supply of about 300 000 West Virginia residents. This study sought to describe acute health effects after the chemical spill.

methodsWe conducted a descriptive analysis using 3 complementary data sources: (1) medical records of patients who visited an emergency department during January 9-23, 2014, with illness potentially related to the spill; (2) West Virginia Poison Center caller records coded as "contaminated water" during January 9-23, 2014; and (3) answers to household surveys about health effects from a Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) questionnaire administered 3 months after the spill.

resultsIn the 2 weeks after the spill, 2000 people called the poison center reporting exposure to contaminated water, and 369 people visited emergency departments in the affected area with reports of exposure and symptoms potentially related to the spill. According to CASPER weighted cluster analyses, an estimated 25 623 households (21.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 14.4%-28.9%) had ≥1 person with symptoms who felt that they were related to the spill in the 3 months after it. Reported health effects across all 3 data sources included mild skin, respiratory, and gastrointestinal symptoms that resolved with no or minimal treatment.

conclusionsMedical records, poison center data, and CASPER household surveys were inexact but useful data sources to describe overall community health effects after a large-scale chemical spill. Analyzing multiple data sources could inform epidemiologic investigations of similar events.

Indexed as

Chemical Hazard ReleaseAdultCyclohexanesEmergency Service, HospitalFamily CharacteristicsFemaleHumansMaleMedical RecordsPoison Control CentersRiversSurveys and QuestionnairesWater Pollution, ChemicalWest Virginia4-methylcyclohexanemethanolCyclohexaneschemical spilldisastersenvironmental exposureswater

Identifiers

PMID28182515
PMCPMC5349493

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.