Thursday, September 20, 2007
I work as a volunteer in a facility that adds ozone to tanks to treat the water for rehabilitating marine animals. Apparently the ozone levels got very high (one of three of us noticed, I and the other person did not). She and I stayed working, and both of us have symptoms now that sound like asthma. We of course left and reported this, and thought the best thing to do is to stay in fresh air. After several hours we still seem to feel poorly. What else can we do?
Hi bevbee. Please see a doctor as soon as possible. While ozone is generally considered safe in low concentrations, exposure to abnormally high concentrations (5 ppm or above) has been linked to serious, immediate health effects. Even if you're feeling better, you should report this incident to your doctor and have him or her check you out for any lingering effects.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) asthma-like symptoms are common with overexposure to ozone, and, furthermore, "Ozone can increase sensitivity to bronchoconstrictors and allergens, and may facilitate the development of asthma." Even a single prolonged exposure to high concentrations has been linked to pulmonary edema and chronic respiratory disease:
http://www.osha.gov/dts/chemicalsampling/data/CH_259300.html
Hopefully your exposure was not great enough to cause any of these complications, but in the long term, your employer should develop a plan to both make sure this doesn't happen again and to protect workers from continued exposure to lower levels of ozone.
I recently started a thread on occupational asthma in the WEGO Health asthma community, where I'm a moderator. I'd be grateful if you'd share your experience with us after you've visited your doctor:
http://forums.wegohealth.com/forums/viewforum/27_25/
This sort of thing happens all the time to workers in many different environments, and unfortunately it often goes unreported and many people suffer lifelong health impairment, including asthma, because of occupational exposure to chemicals and irritants.
Hello. I don't know where else to go. I'm renting a house that had a very strong smell and was told by the owner it was fresh paint. My 2 young children and I moved in and became very sick. We had the place tested for mold and was told it was overexposure to ozone. It is in the A.C. and had been running non-stop. My children and I couldn't even do my 6 yr olds homework. The ozone was shut off and my landlord took 1/2 the rent off. We have been staying out of the house as much as possible but living in South Florida, it's getting very hot and we are spending more time in the house. My kids keep getting sick and everyone that stays over gets a really bad headache and feel like they are in a fog. I thought it was just me over reacting. I feel like it causes bad moods, headaches, neck aches and feeling very tired all the time. Johnny and ashley have missed lots of school because of cold and respiratory problems. I don't understand this because the said they shut the ozone off. But we feel great like an hour after we are out of the house. Please help, I need to move out of here. I can't take it for 9 more months.....
Thank you. However my symptoms on that occassion have long since disappeared, the ozone system has be reparied, with no more incidences. (partly improved due to better training of volunteers like myself). Interestingly, I did develope a severe pleural effususion, which is now drained and cured. That was deemed to be a reaction to a beta blocker I have taken for years. (Now discontinued). I had wondered if th zone incident contributed to this new sensitivity. Doc did not know of course, but I am 70 so getting a bit more vulnerable with time!
Hi Lynda,
Besides talking to your family doctor, please call the county and then the state health dept. as soon as you can.