Follow-Up on Mount St. Helens: 1980/07/04

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Allard, J. ; Beare, J. A. ; Lewman, L. ; Reay, D. P.
• Corporate Authors:
  Environmental Protection Agency ; Food and Drug Administration ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Bureau of Epidemiology ; U.S. Geological Survey
• Description:
  Since the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, 25 volcano-associated fatalities have been reported; 40 other persons are officially listed as missing. Information is now available on the fatalities. There were 18 males and 7 females, aged 7-58 years. Postmortem examination of 23 showed that in 17 of the cases death was due to inhalation of ash, the tracheobronchial tree being coated with ash particles. Three persons died from thermal burns. Three persons died from head injuries, in 2 cases caused by falling trees. Two others were rescued while fleeing from the devastated area but subsequently died in the hospital from complications of burn injuries. There was little evidence of superficial blast injuries on any of the bodies. Further pathologic studies are underway. Preliminary studies, conducted in several laboratories, of the ash and its solubility in water and acids have not so far identified a potential health hazard from trace elements. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been analyzing milk samples from livestock in the area and has found no evidence of a health hazard thus far. Recently, the increases in hospital emergency room (ER) visits in Washington hospitals located in areas that received ashfall have been noted. Subsequently, the ER visits to 1 hospital in Yakima in the month of May were reviewed. Yakima received over an inch of volcanic ash from the May 18 eruption. There were 2- to 3-fold increases in the number of ER visits for eye problems such as foreign bodies, corneal abrasion, eye irritation, conjunctivitis, and "red eye" for the 2 weeks after the eruption (May 18-31), compared with the 2 weeks before. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Autopsy Burns Delivery Of Health Care Dust Emergency Responders Environmental Exposure Environmental Pollution Epidemiology Eye Hazardous Substances Men Mortality Occupational Health Particulate Matter Pathology Respiratory System Safety Sense Organs Sense Organs / Injuries Temperature Vision Disorders Women

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• Keywords:
  Airborne Particles Dust Exposure Emergency Care Emergency Treatment Environmental Contamination Environmental Pollution Eye Disorders Eye Injuries Eye Irritants Falling Objects Fatalities Hazardous Materials Head Injuries Health Effects Humans Inhalation Injuries Medical Care Mortality Data Particulate Dust Postmortem Examination Respirable Dust Surveillance Thermal Effects Traumatic Injuries Vision Disorders Volcanic Ash Volcanoes

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• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Publisher:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U.S.)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Oregon ; OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  4 pdf pages
• Volume:
  29
• Issue:
  26
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20054693
• Citation:
  MMWR 1980 Jul; 29(26):312,317-318
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1980
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9580fe299c7ae9d2e4e7f04c4e1e12da0df5041feb883106c956a0f088502aa8ae1c60b0f727e2a1697ca388b631df88d9b5adac1399f065532ab2e1e2208eec
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/183116/cdc_183116_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 358.04 KB ]