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Caused by Natural Hazard Events and Disasters CHEMICAL RELEASES CAUSED BY NATURAL HAZARD EVENTS AND DISASTERS INFORMATION FOR PUBLIC HEALTH AUTHORITIES CHEMICAL RELEASES CAUSED BY NATURAL HAZARD EVENTS AND DISASTERS INFORMATION FOR PUBLIC HEALTH AUTHORITIES Chemical releases caused by natural hazard events and disasters – information for public health authorities ISBN 978-92-4-151339-5 © World Health Organization 2018 Some rights reserved. This work is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO licence (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo). Under the terms of this licence, you may copy, redistribute and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes, provided the work is appropriately cited, as indicated below. In any use of this work, there should be no suggestion that WHO endorses any specific organization, products or services. The use of the WHO logo is not permitted. If you adapt the work, then you must license your work under the same or equivalent Creative Commons licence. If you create a translation of this work, you should add the following disclaimer along with the suggested citation: “This translation was not created by the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO is not responsible for the content or accuracy of this translation. The original English edition shall be the binding and authentic edition”. Any mediation relating to disputes arising under the licence shall be conducted in accordance with the mediation rules of the World Intellectual Property Organization. Suggested citation. Chemical releases caused by natural hazard events and disasters – information for public health authorities. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2018. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. Cataloguing-in-Publication (CIP) data. CIP data are available at http://apps.who.int/iris. Sales, rights and licensing. To purchase WHO publications, see http://apps.who.int/bookorders. To submit requests for commercial use and queries on rights and licensing, see http://www.who.int/about/licensing. Third-party materials. If you wish to reuse material from this work that is attributed to a third party, such as tables, figures or images, it is your responsibility to determine whether permission is needed for that reuse and to obtain permission from the copyright holder. The risk of claims resulting from infringement of any third-party-owned component in the work rests solely with the user. General disclaimer. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of WHO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Dotted and dashed lines on maps represent approximate border lines for which there may not yet be full agreement. The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers’ products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by WHO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. Errors and omissions excepted, the names of proprietary products are distinguished by initial capital letters. All reasonable precautions have been taken by WHO to verify the information contained in this publication. However, the published material is being distributed without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. The responsibility for the interpretation and use of the material lies with the reader. In no event shall WHO be liable for damages arising from its use. Design and layout by Lushomo Communications Ltd. Printed in Switzerland. CONTENTS Acknowledgements IV 1. Introduction 1 2. Purpose, scope and structure of this document 1 3. Policy framework 1 4. What is a Natech event? 2 4.1 Challenges for the management of Natech events 2 4.2 Sources of chemical release 2 5. The role of the health sector in risk management for chemical incidents triggered by natural hazard events 4 5.1 The role of the health sector in prevention 4 5.2 The role of the health sector in preparedness 6 5.3 The role of the health sector in response 8 5.4 The role of the health sector in recovery 10 6. Conclusions 11 References 12 Annex A - Chemical releases associated with earthquakes 16 What is an earthquake? 16 Risk factors for chemical release 16 Mechanisms of chemical release 17 Potential impacts on human health 17 Response and recovery considerations 18 References 21 Annex B – Chemical releases associated with floods 23 What is a flood? 23 Risk factors for chemical release 23 Mechanisms of chemical release 23 Potential impacts on human health 24 Response and recovery considerations 25 References 28 Annex C – Chemical releases associated with cyclones 30 What is a cyclone? 30 Risk factors for chemical release 30 Mechanisms of chemical release 31 Potential impacts on human health 31 Response and recovery considerations 32 References 35 Annex D – Sources of additional information 37 Annex E – Examples of hazard warnings that may be found on labels of chemical containers 40 III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The following people working as consultants contributed We are very grateful for the detailed comments provided to the preparation of this document: Rebecca Cremades, by the following external reviewers: Elisabeth Krausmann, Raoul Iraheta, Jessica Jarvis, Bernice Schaddelee- European Commission Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Scholten, Cindy Tsao and Saskia Wehrli. Overall Italy; Džejna Milakovic-Ramadani,´ Ministry of Health supervision was provided by Joanna Tempowski of the and Social Welfare of the Republic of Srpska, Banja Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Virginia Murray, Public Determinants of Health at the World Health Organization Health England, London, United Kingdom of Great (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland. Britain and Northern Ireland; and Emilia Wahlstrom, Emergency Preparedness and Environment Section (joint From WHO, comments on the draft document were UN Environment Programme/Office for the Coordination provided by: Jonathan Abrahams, Department of Country of Humanitarian Affairs), Geneva, Switzerland. Health Emergency Preparedness & IHR, Geneva, Switzerland; Magaran Bagayoko, Communicable Diseases Cover photograph from Wenchuan earthquake in China Unit, WHO Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo; courtesy of E Krausmann. Ana Boischio, WHO Regional Office for the Americas, Washington, United States of America; Mohamed Elmi, Eastern Mediterranean Regional Centre for Environmental Health Activities, Amman, Jordan; Oyuntogos Lkhasuren, WHO Country Office, Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic; and Irina Zastenskaya, WHO European Centre for Environment and Health, Bonn, Germany. IV CHEMICAL RELEASES CAUSED BY NATECH EVENTS AND DISASTERS 1. INTRODUCTION Natech events are described. The document then gives an overview of the role and activities of the health sector at all stages of the risk-management cycle. Hazard- Disasters resulting from natural hazards such as specific annexes (Annexes A–C) provide information earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis and floods, are on the mechanisms of chemical release resulting from increasing in intensity, frequency and impact, in part earthquakes, floods and cyclones and the subsequent due to climate change (1, 2). They can cause severe health impacts, as well as brief information on response environmental and infrastructural disruption and activities. The annexes are intended to be standalone significant economic losses. Disasters can directly documents; hence there is some repetition of information. affect human health through injuries, death and disease The two final annexes list other resources relevant to this outbreaks, and longer-term impacts may include topic and provide information on hazard pictograms. noncommunicable diseases, psychiatric morbidity and disabilities. The capacity of the health sector to respond A natural hazard can also cause the release of radioactive to these effects is frequently impaired by damage to material, e.g. following damage to a nuclear power health facilities and disruption to health services (3). plant caused by an earthquake or flood. While these types of release are outside the scope of this document, A natural hazard can trigger a chemical release. When similar principles of prevention, preparedness and the release is the result of a technological accident it is response apply. called a ‘Natech’ (natural-hazard-triggered technological) event. Natech events can exacerbate the impact of a natural disaster on the environment and on human health 3. POLICY FRAMEWORK because of the release of hazardous materials, fires and explosions (4–6). In an effort to reduce the social, economic, environmental The causes and consequences of Natech events are and health losses caused by disasters, governments relatively recent areas of study by risk managers. It has adopted the Hyogo framework for action 2005–2015 been observed that, while there may be prevention and (7), which described the work that was required from preparedness measures and response and recovery plans different sectors and actors to reduce disaster losses. to deal with the risks from either technological or natural This was succeeded by the Sendai framework for disaster hazards, these are rarely integrated (4). Moreover, there risk reduction 2015–2030 (1), which has shifted the is a lack of methods and tools for Natech risk analysis focus from managing disasters to managing risks. The and mapping (4). In areas prone to natural hazards
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