Community Health Effects of a Petroleum Refinery

ABSTRACT A three‐stage study was conducted to investigate the community health impacts of the Petro Canada petroleum refinery in Oakville, Ontario. A feasibility study was the basis for a stage 2 health survey in 1992 designed to examine the association between self‐reported somatic and/or psychosocial symptoms and exposure to odorous refinery emissions in families living near the refinery. In stage 3, a qualitative investigation of residents’ experiences of the refinery was conducted in 1994 by means of depth interviews of a subsample of the survey respondents. The focus of this article is the results of the stage 2 and 3 studies. The survey results (n = 391) showed strong association between zone of residence and odor perception and annoyance, which, in turn, were strongly associated with the reporting of cardinal and general symptoms in adults and children. The strong mediating effect of odors on the refinery exposure–symptom reporting relationship was confirmed by the results of path analyses. The survey findings are consistent with the results of several previous studies of health effects due to environmental odor exposures, which suggest a psychosomatic reaction to the environmental stress associated with odorous emissions. The analysis of the depth interviews (n = 40) revealed the effects of social and community factors on residents’ experiences of the refinery emissions and served to elucidate the relationship between exposure, odor annoyance, and symptom reporting. Ten emergent themes were identified, and these were integrated in terms of three profiles of “typical” resident reactions to the refinery. Follow‐up quantitative and qualitative studies are planned to determine whether the ongoing odor reduction plan at the refinery results in reduced levels of symptom reporting.