Twenty years ago - on December 3, 1984 - a Union Carbide pesticide manufacturing plant exploded in Bhopal, India, releasing a huge cloud of toxic gas that caused 8,000 deaths within a few days. An estimated half a million people suffered injuries. Over the last two decades, more than 20,000 additional people have died as a result of the original exposure, and an estimated 120,000 still suffer significant health impacts. People continue to die each month from the long-term effects of the poisoning.
Perhaps a 20-year-old accident half-way across the world seems irrelevant to life in the United States, but please read on. No one wants to see a Bhopal-style disaster in the US, but measures to prevent one are grossly inadequate.
UNDERSTANDING THE EFFECT OF THE CHEMICALS IN THE BHOPAL DISASTER
To understand how the disaster in Bhopal is relevant to chemical dangers here in the Western world, one must first understand the ways in which the Union Carbide pesticide plant caused the deaths and health problems. There are two main ways people in Bhopal have been exposed to chemicals.
Source of Chemical Contamination #1 -
The Gas ReleaseThe first type of chemical exposure happened in the first few days after the Bhopal accident, when the cloud of poisonous gases—including methyl isocyanate, hydrogen cyanide, and other chemicals—spread into the air in the neighborhoods surrounding the pesticide plant.
The US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry lists a number of harmful effects of acute exposure to methyl isocyanate and hydrogen cyanide:
• Getting them in eyes or on skin - Causes burns and sores. Eye damage may be severe and permanent.
• Breathing them — Causes severe damage to lungs. Causes brain and heart damage. Can cause coma and death.
Additionally, in pregnant women and infants, methyl isocyanate increases the rate of spontaneous abortion and damage to fetuses, and may increase the rate of neonatal death.
Given the volume of poison gas released in the accident-at least 27 tons of gas-it's not surprising that so many people in Bhopal were negatively affected.
Source of Chemical Contamination #2 -
Leaking ChemicalsThe poison cloud of gas has not been the only source of contamination for the people of Bhopal. Union Carbide failed to properly remediate the site after the factory was permanently closed down.
Various studies and reports over the last five years have found the site to be severely contaminated with a variety of chemicals that were used in the pesticide manufacturing process, with thousands of tons of toxic waste still stored on the site in various states of dilapidation. The surrounding land and water is contaminated with toxins that include lead, mercury and organochlorines, with the levels of mercury in some places 6 million times higher than background levels. Drinking-water wells near the site show overall chemical contamination to be 500 times higher than the maximum limits recommended by the World Health Organization. The contaminants include chemicals known to cause cancer, genetic defects, and liver and kidney damage. Indeed, the group Bhopal Medical Appeal reports that since the disaster, survivors have been plagued with an epidemic of cancers, menstrual disorders, and what one doctor described as "monstrous births" (retardation and gruesome birth defects).
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO REDUCE CHEMICAL RISK
There are two types of action you can take:
Let your politicians know you think that:
Neighborhoods have a right to know what chemicals are used and stored at industrial facilities near them; and
Industrial companies that use chemicals should be required to perform analyses that compare less toxic alternatives to current methods, and they should provide these results to communities.
Make a personal commitment to reducing your use of products that contain industrial chemicals.
Perhaps a 20-year-old accident half-way across the world seems irrelevant to life in the United States, but please read on. No one wants to see a Bhopal-style disaster in the US, but measures to prevent one are grossly inadequate.
UNDERSTANDING THE EFFECT OF THE CHEMICALS IN THE BHOPAL DISASTER
To understand how the disaster in Bhopal is relevant to chemical dangers here in the Western world, one must first understand the ways in which the Union Carbide pesticide plant caused the deaths and health problems. There are two main ways people in Bhopal have been exposed to chemicals.
Source of Chemical Contamination #1 -
The Gas ReleaseThe first type of chemical exposure happened in the first few days after the Bhopal accident, when the cloud of poisonous gases—including methyl isocyanate, hydrogen cyanide, and other chemicals—spread into the air in the neighborhoods surrounding the pesticide plant.
The US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry lists a number of harmful effects of acute exposure to methyl isocyanate and hydrogen cyanide:
• Getting them in eyes or on skin - Causes burns and sores. Eye damage may be severe and permanent.
• Breathing them — Causes severe damage to lungs. Causes brain and heart damage. Can cause coma and death.
Additionally, in pregnant women and infants, methyl isocyanate increases the rate of spontaneous abortion and damage to fetuses, and may increase the rate of neonatal death.
Given the volume of poison gas released in the accident-at least 27 tons of gas-it's not surprising that so many people in Bhopal were negatively affected.
Source of Chemical Contamination #2 -
Leaking ChemicalsThe poison cloud of gas has not been the only source of contamination for the people of Bhopal. Union Carbide failed to properly remediate the site after the factory was permanently closed down.
Various studies and reports over the last five years have found the site to be severely contaminated with a variety of chemicals that were used in the pesticide manufacturing process, with thousands of tons of toxic waste still stored on the site in various states of dilapidation. The surrounding land and water is contaminated with toxins that include lead, mercury and organochlorines, with the levels of mercury in some places 6 million times higher than background levels. Drinking-water wells near the site show overall chemical contamination to be 500 times higher than the maximum limits recommended by the World Health Organization. The contaminants include chemicals known to cause cancer, genetic defects, and liver and kidney damage. Indeed, the group Bhopal Medical Appeal reports that since the disaster, survivors have been plagued with an epidemic of cancers, menstrual disorders, and what one doctor described as "monstrous births" (retardation and gruesome birth defects).
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO REDUCE CHEMICAL RISK
There are two types of action you can take:
Let your politicians know you think that:
Neighborhoods have a right to know what chemicals are used and stored at industrial facilities near them; and
Industrial companies that use chemicals should be required to perform analyses that compare less toxic alternatives to current methods, and they should provide these results to communities.
Make a personal commitment to reducing your use of products that contain industrial chemicals.
Household cleaners - Look for non-toxic brands like Seventh Generation, Planet, Ecos, Earth Friendly, and Ecover. Unless you have a forward-thinking supermarket or drug store, finding such products may mean a trip to the natural foods store.
Paints, stains, sealants, and solvents - Look for low-toxicity, low-VOC versions. Some of the major manufacturers have limited lines of such products, or try AFM Safecoat. If you need to get rid of old paint, check with your local recycling or environmental-protection agency on the right way to do it.
Personal care products - Look for brands like Aubrey, Toms of Maine, Aveda, Dr. Bronner's, Nature's Gate, Kiss My Face, Jason Natural.
Paper products - Buy only chlorine-free paper products (to reduce the amount of chlorine used for whitening in paper processing). This applies to printer paper, paper towels, tissues, etc.
Food - Eat organic food to reduce the number of chemical pesticides being manufactured.
Lawn care and pest control - Stop using chemical fertilizers on your lawn, and stop using chemical bug sprays and weed killers. There are alternatives — you just have to look.
Reference: http://www.yoolk.my/Chemicals/
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