Date: April 25, 2011 2:03:33 PM EDT
Subject: RE: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety
headlines from Google
I will say that I remember working in a major
Emergency Department in El Paso, Texas many years back when we had quite
a large number of late-middle aged Hispanic women coming in complaining
of chest tightness and chest pain. After about the 4th ot 5th
one, we got smart enough to ask them if they were working, and if so,
where.
Turned
out that it was the end of the chili growing season there and they were
all employed as temps in chopping and roasting chilis for a mexican food
plant in Anthony, Texas.
A site visit gave me the same symptoms. After some discussions
with management, ventilation was significantly improved and the
"epidemic" of what looked clinically rather like angina chest pain
disappeared.
Even
driving by on I-25 near Hatch, NM which arguably grows some of the
hottest chilis in America during the roasting season is sufficient to
cause eye and upper airway irritation.
And yes,
as an ol' boy who spend a lot of years practicing medicine on the
US-Mexico border, I love to eat chilis!
I would
also doubt that standard HAZMAT team detection gear would detect the
various irritant organic compounds released from roasting chilis, but
maybe someone who knows detection devices better than I do could
comment.
Maybe the
neighbor should just have made a big pot of chili con queso and invited
everyone over for a picnic?
Alan
Alan H. Hall,
M.D.
Date:
Mon, 25 Apr 2011 10:14:03 -0400
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L]
Chemical Safety headlines from Google
Re: fumes
caused by heating chilies.
=93Th
e Hazmat unit was unable to detect the cause of the fumes because it was
organic=85..=94
HUH?
I=92m a bit at a
loss. I would crack a
joke about the chilies being raised without the use of pesticides, but
the statement shows such a lack of understanding that it=92s almost
scary. I hope it was
the reporter that was clueless and not the people entrusted to make
knowledgeable decisions about potentially hazardous
situations.
Kay
Calhoun
