Chemical spill disrupts hospital

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A toxic leak at Wellington Hospital has forced the cancellation of all non-urgent surgery and lab tests.

Fourteen people, including builders and firefighters, were taken to the hospital's emergency department for checks after coming into contact with the substance known as formalin - a solution of formaldehyde gas dissolved in water  which is used in lab tests.

Capital and Coast District Health Board spokesman Michael Tull said workmen in the clinical services block (which houses the labs and the anaesthetics department) had accidentally cut through the pipe at 11am, prompting theevacuation of about 100 people.

About 10 elective operations had been cancelled, along with non-urgent diagnostic testing.

''We're very grateful to Hutt Hospital for doing urgent tests for us.''

The building is currently being decontaminated by specialist teams from the Fire Service and Wellington City

Council and is not likely to reopen until tomorrow morning.

A toxic chemical, formaldehyde is found in everyday items including cleaning products and shampoos, but in large doses it can be fatal.

It has also been linked to cancer, leukaemia, and respiratory and skin diseases.

No hospital patients were evacuated.

- with NZPA

- © Fairfax NZ News

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Mark   #7   05:35 pm Nov 20 2009

Hats off too the Emergency Services for their response. No major casualties, in a highly dangerous situation. What would we do without our Fire fighters and medical professionals ae?

Bob   #6   03:49 pm Nov 20 2009

It must have been a very large spill indeed to require closure of the entire block. Cancelling on-site laboratory tests is a huge issue, particularly for acutely ill inpatients. I hope they can deal with the spill very quickly.

James Sullivan   #5   03:38 pm Nov 20 2009

@concerned,

That's because the tiny amount added to vaccines won't harm you. In fact it is less than the what you ingest from the environmental background. In the case of the hospital it was a large leak and in large amounts it is dangerous. :)

I'd suggest reading this Science Based Medicing blog post on 'toxins' in vaccines. http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=9

Suresh   #4   03:06 pm Nov 20 2009

And this is the toxic rubbish we get pumped full of before we get buried or cremated.

Malcolm Jackson   #3   03:05 pm Nov 20 2009

Good job they got all the patients out of this building last Tuesday!

Obzen   #2   03:01 pm Nov 20 2009

WONT SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!

concerned   #1   01:23 pm Nov 20 2009

Interesting that a building gets evacuated after a formaldehyde leak, but no issue with this substance being added to vaccines, as well as aluminum oxides and of course mercury. I smell hypocrisy and irony.

Hope everyone is ok.

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