bhopla gas disaster

GOOD MORNING

The Bhopal Disaster Group members Rahul Gaur Kailas Jadhav Kalpesh Paradkar Parimal Patel Rahil shaikh Alistair Almeida

Background on the Bhopal Disaster

• What happened at the Bhopal Disaster?– 45 tons of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas escaped

from two underground storage tanks at a Union Carbide pesticide plant

• When did it occur?– December 3, 1984

• Where did it occur? – Bhopal, India

• At 30m (100ft.) height• Moved as a 10m (30ft)high wall• Covered residential areas, main hospitals,

railway station, 65sq. km. area (25sq. miles)• Approx. 8000 immediate deaths, over 200,000

suffred• Over 12000 more died since , over 120000 still

suffred

Bhopal Scenario

Union Carbide Corporation

How did this incident occur?

What is Methyl Isocyanate?

• Clear, colorless, sharp smelling liquid

• Highly flammable• Extremely toxic • Volatile reaction with

water in about 10 minutes

What is MIC used for?

• Union Carbide used MIC to produce a insecticide called Carbaryl

• MIC reacts with 1-naphthol in a hydrolysis process to produce Carbaryl

Side Effects of Inhaling Methyl Isocyanate

• Effects at 0.4ppm– Breathlessness– Choking – Asthma– Throat Irritation– Eye Irritation – Skin Damage– Vomiting– Muscular Weakness– Altered Consciousness

• Effects at 21ppm– Pulmonary Edema– Emphysema– Hemorrhages– Bronchial Pneumonia– Death

Animal Slaughter

Societal Effects

• No or little earnings reduced self esteem• Heavy loans to pay for medicines• Children future destroyed• Children could be affected for life• Forgotten by media

Repercussions of the disaster?• Among the 500,000

people exposed to the gas:– 20,000 have died till date– 120,000 continue to suffer

• Out of every 3 children born after the Bhopal disaster, only 1 survived.

What happened to Union Carbide?

• After the Bhopal Disaster, the company went out of business.

• They were bought by Dow Chemical in 2001.

Remediation Process• Bhopal continues to suffer

the environmental contamination produced by the release of MIC

• Donations and medical/volunteer assistance has been provided

• Union Carbide accepted responsibility and agreed to a $470 million settlement

What’s the situation now?

• To this day, the Union Carbide location in Bhopal is not remediated.

• The plant still leaks toxic chemicals such as:– Mercury – Trichloroethane – Chlorinated organics – Lead

The Bhopal Disaster

www.bhopal.net

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20,000 KILLED120,000 SEVERELY AFFECTED

…And you thought only weapons could cause Mass Destruction