API PUBL 4689-2001

Oil spills can originate from many sources. Many spill incidents are attributed to short-term, high volume releases from pipeline breaks, vessel casualties such as sinking, grounding, and collision, and from facilities during fuel or cargo transfers. The potential human health hazards associated with long-term chronic exposure to petroleum fuels during petroleum production operations have been reviewed and summarized (CONCAWE, 1985); however, the short-term health hazards to human health from petroleum spills have not been discussed in detail (API, 1997).

It is important to understand potential hazards associated with an oil spill so that efforts can be made to reduce acute health impacts, particularly during emergency response. The potential health hazards from a petroleum spill depend on many factors, the most important are the:

– Chemical and physical properties and composition of the petroleum product;

– Environmental conditions both during and after the release;

– Location and types of tasks performed by the oil spill workers;

– Control measures used to minimize worker exposure.

The objective of the report is to identify the potential chemical health hazards and provide information on exposure to spilled petroleum products. The report is not intended to be used as a field guide during cleanup operations following a spill. Physical hazards, such as slips, trips, falls, fire, and explosion are important, but are not discussed in this report.

Hazard identification is the first step in the process of linking scientific information about hazards (risk assessment) to the decision-making process (risk management) during which these hazards are mitigated. Figure 1-1 shows the elements of risk assessment and risk management and highlights the risk assessment process covered in this report.

Hazard identification is defined as the process of determining whether exposure to an agent can cause an increase in the incidence of a health condition (EPA, 1992). In order to identify the overall health hazards, the toxicological properties of each petroleum constituent were reviewed due to the poor health hazard information available on oils as a whole. Information used to compile this summary includes toxicology databases, case histories of oil spill drills and actual incidents, as well as model data. Little relevant information on exposure to oil spill responders is available in the literature. Factors evaluated include chronic and acute toxicity by the two major routes of exposure (dermal and inhalation), and the component concentrations in the common petroleum products. These factors are summarized in Table 2-1.

The following topics are discussed:

– Identification of the most commonly spilled petroleum products;

– Review of their overall potential health hazards as well as those associated with their components of concern;

– Summarization of the relevant environmental fate of petroleum products;

– Additional considerations related to health hazard assessment.

This document is intended to provide general guidance for oil spill response planning.

Therefore, conclusions reached may not apply to all situations. Actual health concerns may vary depending upon product composition, environmental conditions, worker training, and other factors. Where potential exposures are uncertain, air monitoring and/or conservative protective measures are recommended.