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Vol. 43. Issue 11.
Pages 628-635 (January 2007)
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Vol. 43. Issue 11.
Pages 628-635 (January 2007)
Review Article
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Health Effects of Exposure to Oil Spills
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Gema Rodríguez-Trigoa,b,
Corresponding author
grodtri@canalejo.org

Correspondence: Dr. G. Rodríguez Trigo. San Vicente, 57, 3.º A. 15007 A Coruña. España
, Jan Paul Zockb, Isabel Isidro Montesc
a Servicio de Neumología, Complexo Hospitalario Universitario Juan Canalejo, A Coruña, Spain
b Centro de Investigación en Epidemiología Ambiental (CREAL), IMIM, Barcelona, Spain
c Servicio de Neumología Ocupacional, Instituto Nacional de Silicosis-Hospital Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
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The sinking of the oil tanker Prestige off the coast of Galicia was not only the worst ecological disaster ever to affect Spain, it also led to thousands of people who participated in the cleanup of the contaminated areas being exposed to potentially dangerous toxic substances.

As the airway is one of the principal routes of entry into the body of these toxic compounds, the possible effects of exposure to such spills is of particular interest and concern to respiratory specialists. The paucity of clinical information available on the subject was the motive for this paper, which reviews the scientific studies undertaken in the aftermath of other accidents involving oil tankers and concludes with a summary of the clinical and epidemiological data published to date on the Prestige oil spill.

Key words:
Oil spills
Exposure
Health

El naufragio del petrolero Prestige frente a las costas gallegas no sólo supuso el mayor desastre ecológico en la historia de nuestro país, sino que también propició la exposición de miles de personas que participaron en la limpieza de las zonas contaminadas a compuestos potencialmente tóxicos para la salud. Teniendo en cuenta que la vía respiratoria es una de las principales puertas de entrada de estos compuestos en el organismo, los posibles efectos de estos vertidos preocupan especialmente a los profesionales que nos dedicamos a las enfermedades respiratorias. Sin embargo, la información clínica que tenemos es manifiestamente insuficiente. Por tal motivo se ha elaborado esta revisión. En ella se analizan los estudios científicos realizados a propósito de otros naufragios de petroleros. Finalmente se exponen los datos clínicos y epidemiológicos de las investigaciones publicadas hasta la fecha con ocasión del hundimiento del buque Prestige.

Palabras clave:
Vertidos de fuel
Exposición
Salud
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Dr Rodríguez Trigo received a grant from the health research fund of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III to finance an extension of her studies (No. 06/90018).

Copyright © 2007. Sociedad Española de Neumología y Cirugía Torácica (SEPAR)
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