Urgent (Unofficial) Public Health Warning by Concerned Civil Society Organisations

Following the UPL Pesticide Warehouse Fire in Durban.

The South Durban Community Environmental Alliance and groundWork are issuing a public
health warning to residents of Umhlanga, Umdloti, La Lucia, Durban North and surrounding
areas in lieu of the potentially hazardous toxic chemicals that were released into the
environment (air, water, soil) as a result of the UPL pesticide warehouse in Cornubia burning
down during the unrest last week.
We are advising citizens to take urgent public health precautions to reduce their exposure
until we have a comprehensive picture of this chemical incident.
The following measures are the safest approaches to adopt as we await a full inventory of
the chemicals that were in the warehouse fire:
• Avoid swimming, surfing, or other recreational activity in the river or ocean nearby;
• Avoid eating any fish or other sea life (shellfish etc) obtained from these waters;
• As far as is possible, stay indoors as much as you can, with windows closed,
particularly if your home is in the direction of the chemical plume. If you, your child,
or elderly people with chronic chest and heart disease live in the area of the smoke,
and it is at all possible to stay with relatives outside the area for the next few days,
then it is advisable to do so; and
• Consult your doctor or report to the emergency department at your hospital or clinic
if you experience symptoms.

If you were exposed to the smoke of the fire or contaminated water, and depending on your
level of exposure, potential acute health effects might include:
• Watery eyes and redness;
• Scratchy throat and irritation of the nose;
• Altered taste in the mouth, and possible excessive salivation; and
• Gastro-intestinal symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea (especially if people
have ingested contaminated sea life);

These symptoms will generally be mild and resolve once removed from exposure without
treatment. However, if residents with pre-existing conditions such as asthma, chronic
respiratory diseases, and heart problems experience an aggravation of their usual
symptoms, such as a tight chest, shortness of breath, wheezing and are not responding to
their usual medication, please seek health care immediately. Similarly seek health care if
your symptoms continue to deteriorate.
We are also concerned about longer-term (chronic) effects. However, because of the failure
by the industry and government to disclose the details of the pollutants, at this point in
time, we are unable to state exactly what these symptoms are likely to be.

Should anyone experience any of these symptoms or symptoms suspected to be related -

please urgently call this emergency number immediately on the Ethekwini air pollution
hotline 031-311 3555 or alternatively the emergency hotline 031-361 0000 to report on how
you are affected by this pollution. Please insist on getting a reference number and forward
the reference number to:
email: bongani@sdceango.co.za & Whatsapp - 069 120 4970 for further investigation.
In the event of serious health effects please call the Poisons Information Helpline
0861555777

When we learn the results of the environmental tests which are currently being conducted,
we will adjust our advice to people on how to protect themselves.

For more information please contact:

Desmond D’Sa, South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) - 0839826939
Rico Euripidou, groundWork, Friends of the Earth - 0835193008
Rajen Naidoo, Professor and Head, Discipline of Occupational and Environmental Health,
University of KwaZulu-Natal- 0824379333
Kamini Krishna, Property and Environmental Attorney,Umhlanga - 0834485855