Acute respiratory illness and aerosolized waterproofing products
04/03/2006
The Michigan Department of Community Health and Michigan's two poison control centers have just issued an advisory to Michigan hospital Emergency Departments because of reports of over 100 cases of respiratory illness associated with exposure to certain aerosolized waterproofing products in Michigan. The advisory and a fact sheet for the public can been viewed at
http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,1607,7-132-2945_5105-13050--,00.html
scroll to the bottom of the page and view items in the section "waterproofing products"
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating these reports. This outbreak appears to be related to two specific products (Jobsite Heavy Duty Bootmate® and Rocky Boot Weather and Stain Protector®), but there have been a number of other clusters of chemical pneumonitis over the past ten years in the United States and Europe that were associated with similar waterproofing products, all of which apparently included a fluoropolymer in their formulation. Physicians should report all patients with this illness to their poison control center at 1-800-222-1222. This will enable the national poison center database to be used to conduct enhanced surveillance for this problem.
http://www.health.state.mn.us/han/archive/2006hanarchive.html
04/03/2006
The Michigan Department of Community Health and Michigan's two poison control centers have just issued an advisory to Michigan hospital Emergency Departments because of reports of over 100 cases of respiratory illness associated with exposure to certain aerosolized waterproofing products in Michigan. The advisory and a fact sheet for the public can been viewed at
http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,1607,7-132-2945_5105-13050--,00.html
scroll to the bottom of the page and view items in the section "waterproofing products"
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating these reports. This outbreak appears to be related to two specific products (Jobsite Heavy Duty Bootmate® and Rocky Boot Weather and Stain Protector®), but there have been a number of other clusters of chemical pneumonitis over the past ten years in the United States and Europe that were associated with similar waterproofing products, all of which apparently included a fluoropolymer in their formulation. Physicians should report all patients with this illness to their poison control center at 1-800-222-1222. This will enable the national poison center database to be used to conduct enhanced surveillance for this problem.
http://www.health.state.mn.us/han/archive/2006hanarchive.html