Presentation
If cyanosis is present, shower with soap and warm water, with special attention to scalp and fingernails; [books.google.com]
Figure 1: X-ray chest showing bilateral fluffy shadow involving both hilar region Click here to view Discussion This Patient presented to us as case of inhalation injury after accidental leakage of irritant gas from pesticide factory. [ijoem.com]
The physiological response to various concentrations of hydrogen cyanide is presented in Table II. Table II. [web.mit.edu]
Otherwise, treatment is primarily supportive and patients should be observed closely for resolution of the primary presenting symptoms and signs. [clinicaladvisor.com]
Entire Body System
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Fatigue
These symptoms will disappear shortly after exposure stops: Increased levels of carbon monoxide in the blood, which may cause fatigue, shortness of breath or chest pain Drowsiness, headache, a feeling of being "drunk" Eye, skin and lung irritation The [dhs.wisconsin.gov]
Above this level, symptoms such as headache, fatigue and dizziness appear in healthy individuals. Table I. [web.mit.edu]
High levels can cause fatigue, irritability and dizziness. Prolonged contact can blister and burn the skin. [pbs.org]
Headache, and a sense of fatigue in all the limbs, often prostrate the patient. [vlib.us]
The strong “rotten egg” odor of the gas is not a reliable warning sign for toxicity due to olfactory fatigue at high concentrations or continuous low concentrations. [clinicaladvisor.com]
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Congestive Heart Failure
heart failure Blindness,Glaucoma Diagnosis Immediate diagnosis of lung poisoning is difficult, given the relative nonspecificity of the symptoms associated with choking agent exposure. [centerforhealthsecurity.org]
Respiratoric
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Cough
Immediately after exposure he experienced lacrimation, nausea, and dry cough with burning sensation in his mouth and throat. After six hours of exposure he developed breathlessness. [ijoem.com]
Chlorine gas often caused victims to cough and choke violently; phosgene, by contrast, caused much less coughing, resulting in increased gas inhalation. 2 Military forces even formulated a "white star" concoction consisting of a phosgene-chlorine mix, [centerforhealthsecurity.org]
After the initial check, the breathing continues, but is gasping in character and interrupted by violent fits of coughing. [vlib.us]
Chronic exposure damages the lungs; repeated exposure can lead to bronchitis with coughing or shortness of breath. [pbs.org]
Typical symptoms include wheezing, coughing, tightness in the chest and shortness of breath. [app.croneri.co.uk]
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Dyspnea
Determining factors for return to the emergency department should include cough recurrence, dyspnea (especially resting dyspnea), and chest discomfort. [emedicine.medscape.com]
Vesicant toxicity severe enough to cause dyspnea typically causes airway necrosis often with upper airway obstruction. [chemm.nlm.nih.gov]
Acute inhalation may cause respiratory and circulatory failure with symptoms of chills, dizziness, thirst, burning of eyes,cough, viscous sputum, dyspnea, feeling of suffocation, tracheal rhonchi, burning in throat, vomiting, pain in chest and cyanosis [ruf.rice.edu]
[…] electron transport chain - inducing anaerobic metabolism Carboxyhemoglobinemia: causes 80% of smoke-inahlation-related deaths Direct Bronchial Mucosal Toxicity Formaldehyde/Chlorine/Phosgene Gas/Nitrogen Dioxide: produce cough/bronchorrhea/wheezing/dyspnea [mdnxs.com]
Clinically mustard exposures present with dyspnea and wheezing from the pulmonary standpoint. Symptoms are often delayed for hours to days after initial exposure, but subclinical changes occur earlier. [clinicaladvisor.com]
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Dry Cough
Immediately after exposure he experienced lacrimation, nausea, and dry cough with burning sensation in his mouth and throat. After six hours of exposure he developed breathlessness. [ijoem.com]
Initial symptoms consisted of lacrimation, nausea, and a burning sensation in the mouth and throat with a dry cough. Six hours post exposure he began experiencing breathlessness. [emedicine.medscape.com]
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Hemoptysis
The patient did not complain of chest pain, hemoptysis orthopnoea or Paroxysmal Nocturnal Dyspnoea. Initially he was admitted to the nearby hospital and managed conservatively. [ijoem.com]
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Painful Cough
Frequent and painful coughing occurs and some frothy sputum is brought up. [vlib.us]
Gastrointestinal
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Choking
[…] it was illogical, and not demonstrably humane, to be tender about asphyxiating men with gas, when all were prepared to admit that it was allowable to blow the bottom out of an ironclad at midnight, throwing four or five hundred men into the sea to be choked [books.google.com]
[…] symptoms. 16 Treatment There is no antidote against any of the choking agents. [centerforhealthsecurity.org]
It is a choking agent that irritates the eyes, nose, and respiratory tract. Symptoms of chlorine poisoning appear as runny nose, coughing, choking, and chest pain. Fluid buildup in the lungs occurs several hours after exposure. Pneumonia can follow. [webmd.com]
Acute changes in lung histopathology and bronchoalveolar lavage parameters in mice exposed to the choking agent gas phosgene. Toxicol Pathol 2002;30:339-49. 7. Grainge C, Rice P. Management of phosgene-induced acute lung injury. [ijoem.com]
The gas attacked the lungs, and would cause initial symptoms of coughing, sneezing, vomiting and choking. While phosgene could be used by itself, it was often mixed with chlorine. The gas was largely odorless and didn’t produce a cloud. [warhistoryonline.com]
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Gagging
We would blow the charge and un-sweat the compresor. 9 times out of 10 you would get a face full of phosgene and gag the hell out of ya. Normal hazzard of the job then with a cancer stick in my mouth. If I only knew then what I know now........ [hvac-talk.com]
Cardiovascular
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Cyanosis
If cyanosis is present, shower with soap and warm water, with special attention to scalp and fingernails; [books.google.com]
[…] of the ears reveal the asphyxial cyanosis that underlies the failure of the man to win his fight for life. [vlib.us]
[…] asphyxiation Dermatitis, discoloration, blisters, burning sensation, chemical burns Slow heart rate, low blood pressure Blurred vision, burning sensation, excessive tear formation Long-term Effects Respiratory failure, chronic bronchitis, emphysema Cyanosis [centerforhealthsecurity.org]
Early cyanosis carries a near-hopeless prognosis. Gastroenterological : nausea and vomiting, oesophageal perforation at high levels. Neurological : headache, disorientation. [patient.info]
Skin
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Flushing
SKIN OR EYES: immediately flush skin or eyes with plenty of water for at least 15 mm. If cyanosis is present, shower with soap and warm water, with special attention to scalp and fingernails; [books.google.com]
Eyes and skin should be flushed thoroughly if exposed. [webmd.com]
Immediately flush the contaminated eye(s) with water for at least 15 minutes. Seek medical attention immediately. [baylor.edu]
If eye exposure has occurred, eyes must be flushed with lukewarm water for at least 15 minutes. 5. Wash exposed skin areas THOROUGHLY with soap and water. 6. [cameochemicals.noaa.gov]
At this stage casualties can be divided into three types : (a) The milder case, with reddish flush in the face, with some hurry of respiration, and with pain in the chest and epigastrium which is increased by coughing. [vlib.us]
Eyes
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Blepharospasm
Link to PPE, rescuer safety hospital management section Link to reference section for acute event PPE related safety information Immediate irritant effects such as conjunctivitis, rhinitis, pharyngitis, bronchitis, lacrimation, blepharospasm conjunctival [chemm.nlm.nih.gov]
Eye irritation - red eyes, tearing, blepharospasm. ENT irritation: chronic sore throat, rhinorrhoea, hypersalivation, stridor. [patient.info]
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Red Eye
Chronic low-level exposure Chronic exposure to relatively low levels of chlorine gas tends to cause chronic low-level symptoms - particularly: Acne and skin redness. Eye irritation - red eyes, tearing, blepharospasm. [patient.info]
Exposure to even a small amount of vapor usually results in at least one of the following categories of symptoms: (1) in the eyes, blurred vision, eye pain, red eyes; (2) runny nose; or (3) difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, excessive productive [emedicinehealth.com]
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Eye Pain
Exposure to even a small amount of vapor usually results in at least one of the following categories of symptoms: (1) in the eyes, blurred vision, eye pain, red eyes; (2) runny nose; or (3) difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, excessive productive [emedicinehealth.com]
Neurologic
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Headache
Symptoms include visual problems, headache, runny nose and nasal congestion, salivation, tightness of chest, nausea and vomiting, anxiety, confusion, involuntary muscle movements, and involuntary bowel movement and urination. [webmd.com]
Inhalation may cause headache, delirium, nausea, vomiting, general malaise, tightness in the chest and pain in the abdomen or loins. Arsine does not have adequate warning properties to avoid overexposure. [ruf.rice.edu]
Acute exposure can severely irritate the eyes, skin, and nose, and can cause headaches, nausea, dizziness, unconsciousness, and death. [pbs.org]
Very low concentrations (e.g., one part per million) cause headaches and dryness of the eyes. Chronic effects include significant changes in lung function. [ccohs.ca]
Headache, vertigo and dyspepsia may continue for several weeks. Prognosis. Nothing is known as to the proportion of men who die from "gassing" on the field. [vlib.us]
Workup
If cardiogenic pulmonary edema is strongly suspected Findings on chest radiography are as follows: Initial films may be normal Early changes include hyperinflation and hilar enlargement Later changes are typical for noncardiogenic pulmonary edema See Workup [emedicine.medscape.com]
Treatment
RCRA defines a solid waste as:. .. any garbage, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material [books.google.com]
There are no guidelines regarding the treatment of phosgene poisoning during pregnancy. Owing to the severity of complications associated with phosgene poisoning, treatment of the pregnant patient should be the same as for the non-pregnant patient. [medicinesinpregnancy.org]
Therapeutic treatments of phosgene-induced lung injury. Inhal Toxicol 2004;16:565-80. 9. Sciuto AM, Strickland PT, Kennedy TP, Gurtner GH. Protective effects of N-acetylcysteine treatment after phosgene exposure in rabbits. [ijoem.com]
2.0 atm decreases COHb half-life to approximately 20 min However, the use of hyperbaric oxygen is controversial and is not recommended for COHb Treatment of Cyanide Toxicity (if suspected) Treatment utilizies induction of methemoglobinemia - use of sulfur [mdnxs.com]
Prognosis
Early hypoxaemia has a poor prognosis. [patient.info]
Prognosis of lung irritant cases. [vlib.us]
Seizures (see Seizures, [[Seizures]]) Chest Pain (see Chest Pain, [[Chest Pain]]) Carboxyhemoglobinemia (see Carboxyhemoglobinemia, [[Carboxyhemoglobinemia]]) Physiology: related to exposure levels of CO Diagnosis ABG Co-Oximetry: carboxyhemoglobinemia Prognosis [mdnxs.com]
Mustards Prognosis Victims with significant respiratory tract burns usually require admission to the hospital’s intensive care unit. [emedicinehealth.com]
Etiology
Alveoli may collapse, resulting in significant ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) mismatch, unless the patient receives ventilatory support with positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) Etiology Phosgene exposure may result from any of the following [11] : Small-scale [emedicine.medscape.com]
Epidemiology
[…] relationship between COHb level and the long-term neurologic outcome Methemoglobinemia (see Methemoglobinemia, [[Methemoglobinemia]]) Physiology: related to exposure to oxidants Acute Bronchospasm (see Obstructive Lung Disease, [[Obstructive Lung Disease]]) Epidemiology [mdnxs.com]
Epidemiology Due to lack of consistent diagnostic methods, the incidence of inhalation injury from all chemical irritants is not readily available. [clinicaladvisor.com]
A chart of signs and symptoms is available from the North Carolina Statewide Program for Infection Control and Epidemiology. [emedicinehealth.com]
Epidemiology According to OSHA, millions of kilograms of phosgene are produced annually, with 10,000 workers at risk of exposure. [emedicine.medscape.com]
Pathophysiology
Pathophysiology Inhalation of toxic gases leads to injury through a variety of mechanisms. [clinicaladvisor.com]
Because phosgene is poorly soluble in water, it reacts minimally with oropharyngeal and conducting airway tissues and as a result can penetrate deeply into the lung, where it exerts its effects at the alveolar-capillary membrane (see Pathophysiology). [emedicine.medscape.com]
Pathophysiology [ 10 ] Chlorine gas is classed as a pulmonary agent or choking agent (others include phosgene, diphosgene and chloropicrin). [patient.info]
Prevention
Every necessary precaution has been taken to prevent its being communicated to this army ; and the General Court will take care, that it does not spread through the country. [books.google.com]
It is also produced in the presence of refrigerants that are drawn through a heat source, refrigeration technicians should take extreme caution and prevent the exposure by making sure that smoking is avoided in the presence of refrigerants and preventing [c-f-c.com]
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Emergency Preparedness and Response website. April 12, 2013. . Accessed February 26, 2014. Facts about chlorine. [centerforhealthsecurity.org]
[…] inquiries: [email protected] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) protects people’s health [emergency.cdc.gov]
(ERG, 2016) Protective Clothing Skin: If chemical is in liquid form, wear appropriate personal protective clothing to prevent skin contact. Eyes: If chemical is in liquid form, wear appropriate eye protection to prevent eye contact. [cameochemicals.noaa.gov]