Hazmat Emergency Preparedness in Hong Kong: What are the Dangerous Goods in Kowloon?

Introduction

Hazmat emergency preparedness is critical, especially as Hong Kong prepares for major international events, such as the 2008 Olympic Equestrian Games. No published medical study has described the identities and quantities of dangerous goods (DG) in the Kowloon area and listed what antidotes are needed for these DG. This study describes what hazardous materials are most common in Kowloon to prioritise emergency preparedness and training.

Materials & methods

Design A descriptive, cross-sectional study. Setting The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, specifically Kowloon. Sample The Hong Kong Fire Services Department (HKFSD) Dangerous Goods Database (DGD). Interventions Descriptive statistical analyses with Stata 9.2. Chief outcome Identifying and quantifying dangerous goods in the HKFSD DGD.

Results

Most DG do not have antidotes. The most common DG with recognised antidotes are carbon monoxide, methylene chloride, fluorine, fluorides, fluoroboric acid, cyanides, nitriles, methanol, nitrobenzene, nitrites, and nitrates. The most common categories of DG are substances giving off inflammable vapours, compressed gases, and corrosive and poisonous substances.

Conclusions

Hazmat emergency preparedness and training should emphasize these most common categories of DG. Disaster planning should ensure adequate antidotes for DG with recognised antidotes, i.e., oxygen for carbon monoxide and methylene chloride; calcium gluconate or calcium chloride for fluorine, fluorides, and fluoroboric acid; hydroxocobalamin for cyanides and nitriles; ethanol for methanol; and methylene blue for methaemoglobinaemia produced by nitrobenzene, nitrites, and nitrates. Supportive care is essential for patients exposed to hazardous materials because most dangerous goods do not have antidotes.

Alpha v integrins mediate the rise in intracellular calcium in endothelial cells on fibronectin even though they play a minor role in adhesion

We have investigated which integrins mediate the elevation of intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) triggered by spreading of endothelial cells on fibronectin (FN). Specific anti-integrin monoclonal antibodies immobilized on glass surfaces were used as agonists to trigger cell spreading. These experiments demonstrated that an antibody to alpha v could induce the rise in [Ca2+]i, whereas two antibodies to alpha 5 beta 1 were inactive, despite their ability to induce cell spreading and elevation of intracellular pH. Antibodies in solution were then used as agonists to block association of specific integrins with FN. These experiments also showed that alpha v integrin(s) but not alpha 5 beta 1 mediated the rise in [Ca2+]i in cells spreading on FN. Adhesion assays in the presence of function-blocking anti-integrin antibodies and affinity chromatography on FN columns of surface-labeled cell extracts were carried out to characterize the integrins that bind to FN. Both methods showed that alpha v integrin(s) and alpha 5 beta 1 participate in FN binding; however, the contribution from alpha v integrin(s) was much less than that of alpha 5 beta 1. These results demonstrate that two receptors for FN on the same cells can trigger distinct intracellular signaling pathways and, furthermore, that an integrin whose contribution to adhesion is barely detectable can have a major effect on cellular responses. The results also suggest that the specificity for activation of the calcium signaling pathway resides primarily in the integrin alpha subunit.