Comtemporary occupational and environmental health.

摘要

The current issue of the International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health presents one review paper, eight original, papers and one case report. The Bhopal gas industrial disaster took place in 1984. An explosion at a pesticide plant resulted in a release of 30-40 tons of toxic gas, methyl isocyanate, spreading over 30 square miles, which brought death to 2500-6000 and injury to over 200 000 people. The authors, Prady-umna K. Mishra et al, made a comprehensive review of the clinical symptoms of the victims and of the experimental findings which have been collected for as long as 25 years. Clinical studies have shown severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, keratopathy and corneal opacity in the exposed cohorts. Survivors continue to experience a higher incidence of diverse health problems including febrile illnesses, respiratory, neurological, psychiatric, ophthalmic and reproductive symptoms. The authors recommend long-term monitoring of the affected area and the use of appropriate research methodology including well-designed cohort studies, case-control studies for rare conditions, characterization of personal exposure and accident analysis to determine the possible components of the gas cloud.