Hydrogen Sulfide

On October 8, 1992, at 9:45 p.m. residents of the Los Angeles harbor area and north were shaken by two explosions at the TRM1 refinery hydrocracker which registered 3.0 on the Richter scale. The northwest section of the refinery was badly damaged. Broken windows and blown-down walls caused hundreds of injuries. These were only a portent of damages to lungs, skin including hair loss and most sadly to brains after exposures to sour gas leaks--sour like rotten eggs--from hydrogen sulfide, mercaptans and related sulfur containing gases from petroleum refinery. In high concentrations these gases kill but at lower levels they damage human and animal brains and rob exposed persons of balance, vision, memory and ability to concentrate. Ammonia, chlorine, gasoline, phenols and other refinery gases were also released. It also caused profound depression in many people. Another effect is asthma, progressively severe airway obstructive disease. Traumatic injuries including those to the head, respiratory distress and insufficiency. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)(US Department of Labor) cited Texaco for 28 serious violations and levied civil penalties of $147,500 (Citation May 21, 1993). Fries Avenue Elementary School and Wilmington Junior High School were primary and secondary evacuation sites followed by Harbor College. Civil penalties were later raised to $231,000 (State $83,500, OSHA $147,500).

In January 1996, 48 adults and 20 children who had been exposed to hydrogen sulfide and other refinery gases in October 1992 were studied. Testing of balance, reaction time, recall, cognitive, perceptual motor speed and memory was augmented by automated perimetry and measurements of nerve conduction and "H" reflex. The 68 were compared to ethnically matched unexposed groups who had been previously studied as matched controls. Both African-American and Latino adults showed abnormal visual fields, nerve fiber defects and constricted visual fields. Pulmonary functions FVC and FEV1 were significantly reduced. Reaction time, balance, visual fields and scores in odor, Culture Fair, vocabulary, digit symbol and verbal recall were significantly decreased. Remote memory was intact. A toxic cloud of the refinery leak caused severe neurobehavioral impairment in the downwind residents and reduced pulmonary function 38 months after exposure.