The factors associated with distress following exposure to smoke from an extended coal mine fire

Environmental Pollution
Jonathan C BroderMatthew T C Carroll

Abstract

In February 2014, the coalmine adjacent to the Hazelwood Power Station in the Latrobe Valley of Victoria, Australia, caught fire, with residents from the nearby town of Morwell and the wider area exposed to smoke for six weeks. Although there was evidence linking the mine-fire event with psychological distress, no studies have evaluated the degree of distress in relation to the level of smoke exposure. We aimed to investigate the exposure-response relationship between particulate matter 2.5 μm or less in diameter (PM2.5) released during the Hazelwood mine fire event and long-term symptoms of posttraumatic distress in the affected community, including the consideration of other key factors. A total of 3096 Morwell residents, and 960 residents from the largely unexposed comparison community of Sale, were assessed for symptoms of posttraumatic distress 2.5 years after the Hazelwood incident using the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R). Individual-level PM2.5 exposure was estimated by mapping participants' self-reported location data on modelled PM2.5 concentrations related to the mine fire. Multivariate linear regression was used to evaluate the exposure-response relationship. Both mean and peak exposure to mine fire-related P...Continue Reading

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