Unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning from an unlikely source.
Struttmann-T; Scheerer-A; Prince-TS; Goldstein-LA
J Am Board Fam Med 1998 Nov-Dec; 11(6):481-484
Carbon monoxide poisoning is an occupational health risk across a broad range of industries and vocations (eg, firefighters, tollbooth operators, miners, mechanics). In 1995 Carbon monoxide poisoning was the cause of 42 occupational fatalities in the United States. In 1993, 862 nonfatal cases of carbon monoxide poisoning resulted in days away from work. The manufacturing and retail trade industries accounted for the largest percentage of carbon monoxide poisonings (27.3 percent and 24.2 percent, respectively); the agriculture-forestry-fishing industry accounted for 3.1 percent. Although these values appear to represent carbon monoxide poisoning at work as a rare event, the percentages are highly conservative. The symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are nonspecific, and many nonfatal cases of carbon monoxide exposure go undetected. It has been estimated that one third of all carbon monoxide poisonings are undiagnosed. This report documents an unusual case of carbon monoxide poisoning in that the incident occurred outdoors while a farmer was setting tobacco plants on a family farm. An extensive review of the literature found no cases of carbon monoxide poisoning from tractor exhaust in an open field.
Statistical-analysis; Morbidity-rates; Agricultural-chemicals; Agricultural-workers; Emission-sources; Agricultural-machinery; Agriculture; Farmers; Occupational-exposure; Fumes; Fuels; Poison-gases; Tractors
Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine
Kentucky Department of Health Services