Gas station workers more accident-prone?

[Glen Miyashiro]

Now here's an interesting study -- they're saying that gas station workers are noticeably affected by all the fumes they're breathing.

Petrol workers accident prone on drive home

Petrol station workers are more than twice as likely to have an accident while driving home as on the way to work. This is the first confirmation of a link between low-level exposure to petrol fumes and road accidents.

Even motorists inhaling petrol fumes at a self-service station may be more likely to have a crash, according to Jung-Der Wang at the National Taiwan University, Taipei, who led the study.

His team looked at the number of road accidents experienced by a group of 20,000 workers at the same company. Nearly half worked on petrol station forecourts and had therefore been exposed to petrol fumes, the rest had office jobs or similar and were the control group. There was no demographic difference between the two groups.

The employees had 626 injury-causing road accidents between 1991 and 2000, with the forecourt workers having 61 per cent more accidents than the office...

(from New Scientist)

[Miulang]

Re: Gas station workers more accident-prone?

So I wondered why the results of the study came out as they did, and here is what I found:

"Gasoline Vapors and Your Health

Did you know that...
Spilling a "shot glass" (one ounce) of gasoline produces the same volatile organic compound emissions as a car driving 56 miles?


Gasoline vapors include several substances considered toxic air contaminants by the state of California, including benzene, toluene, and a gasoline additive known as MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether). Although MTBE is being phased out, it is still present in the fuel pumped at many stations. The state considers benzene a carcinogen, meaning that exposure over time can increase cancer risk; all three of these air toxics can produce acute or chronic non-cancer health effects.

As part of the actions to phase out MTBE in gasoline, benzene will be even further reduced than is required today. Benzene, considered one of the primary toxic air pollutants contributing to public health risks, can affect the central nervous system, the respiratory tract and immune system. Exposure to benzene has been associated with increased risk of different types of leukemias and other cancers.

MTBE can produce some non-cancer health effects, including nausea and dizziness, and the state considers that it may possibly be a weak carcinogen.

Toluene is considered a central nervous system depressant, and has been associated with cardiac arrthymias, and liver and kidney injury. It's also considered by the state to be a developmental toxicant, meaning that it has the potential to affect fetal development.

For more specifics on these chemicals and associated health effects, see the state's factsheets (PDF files):

Benzene
MTBE
Toluene..."

Miulang

P.S. the Santa Barbara website says not to top off your gas tank either, because once you hear the "click", and gas you try to stuff into your full tank will just end up sitting in the hose until the next guy comes along...