This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (13)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Occupational and Environmental Medicine  • Adolescent Medicine  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

A National Study

Alan Woolf, MD, MPH; Hillel R. Alpert, MPM, BSc; Anjali Garg, BS; Samuel Lesko, MD, MPH

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2001;155:704-710.

Background  While many previous studies describe workplace-associated injuries in adolescents, few focus on toxic exposures. Such incidents are unlikely to be reported to either federal or state agencies. However, poison control centers often get called about these poisonings and might serve as a resource for monitoring their occurrence.

Objective  To describe the frequency and severity of job-related toxic exposures involving adolescents, the specific toxic agents involved, and trends over time.

Methods  Occupational toxic exposures occurring in the United States between 1993 and 1997 were analyzed using the Toxic Exposure Surveillance System database compiled by the American Association of Poison Control Centers. Contingency tables with the ² statistic were used to test bivariate associations. Logistic regression was performed to investigate trends over time.

Results  Of 301 228 workplace toxic exposures reported over 5 years, 8779 (3%) involved adolescents younger than 18 years. The most common agents involved were alkaline corrosives (13.2%), gases and fumes (12.0%), cleaning agents (9.7%), bleaches (8.3%), drugs (7.4%), acids (7.2%), and hydrocarbons (6.9%). The injuries were rated as severe in 14.2% of exposures, life-threatening in 0.3%, and there were 2 deaths. The proportionate frequency of occupational exposures occurring among adolescents vs adults increased over time (odds ratio, 1.003; P<.001).

Conclusions  Adolescent occupational toxic exposures are an underrecognized hazard in the United States. Poison control center experience can be used to fill a gap in the surveillance of such injuries.

From Harvard Medical School (Dr Woolf) and Harvard School of Public Health (Miss Garg), Harvard University; the Program in Clinical Toxicology, Division of General Pediatrics, Boston's Children's Hospital (Dr Woolf); School of Public Health (Dr Lesko) and Vital Science and Health (Mr Alpert), Boston University; and the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Poison Control System (Dr Woolf and Mr Alpert), Boston, Mass.

Reprints: Alan Woolf, MD, MPH, IC Smith Building, Children's Hospital, Regional Poison Control and Prevention Center, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115 (e-mail: woolf{at}a1.tch.harvard.edu).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Adolescents' Descriptions of Hazards in the Workplace
Woolf
Pediatrics 2007;120:685-685.
FULL TEXT  

Adolescents' Descriptions of Hazards in the Workplace: In Reply
Runyan et al.
Pediatrics 2007;120:686-686.
FULL TEXT  

Severe Hydrogen Sulfide Exposure in a Working Adolescent
Nikkanen and Burns
Pediatrics 2004;113:927-929.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Childhood and adolescence poisoning in NSW, Australia: an analysis of age, sex, geographic, and poison types
Lam
Inj. Prev. 2003;9:338-342.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT