The accident occurred in Porto das Caixas, Itaboraí/RJ with the train that derailed and poured 60 thousand litters of the diesel oil carried in a region, resulted in an environmental and human impact. The aim of this paper was to investigate the psychological impact that the accident caused in the displayed population. 28 people exposed to the diesel oil were investigated (men and women) , between 18 and 60 years. In the inquiry of the coping strategies was observed that the most used strategy was to escape and avoidance and the less most used was confrontation. What was evidenced is that a psychosocial impact caused by the environmental accident in that community existed and that deriving damages of a stressor event can be observed at different moments, being able to have the prolongation of its harmful effect to the environment and the health of the population around.
Collective health; coping strategies; environmental and chemical accident
