Industrial Disasters: the Chemical Leak in Bhopal

This article relates to Animal's People

Bhopal (map) is the capital of Madhya Pradesh in central India. The violent impact of the tremendous chemical leak described in Animal's People is based on the real life chemical leak in Bhopal in 1984, which is considered to be one of the world's worst industrial disasters.

On the morning of December 3, 1984 a holding tank of stored MIC (methyl isocyanate) at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, overheated and released over 40 tonnes of the noxious gas. The gas, which is heavier than air, spread throughout the city, poisoning thousands and infiltrating the water supply.

3,000 died within the first day of the leak and, according to the Bhopal Medical Appeal, around 500,000 people were exposed to the gas leaks. About 22,000 Bhopali's have died, and over 120,000 still experience serious effects from the disaster, such as breathing difficulties, cancer, blindness and gynecological problems.

Union Carbide (now part of the Dow Chemical Company) stresses that immediate action was taken to clean the area and compensate the victims for their loss, but many believe that the company has done next to nothing to respond to the massive damage they caused.

The International Medical Commission of Bhopal was established in 1993 to respond to the disaster. Almost 20 years later, in 2002, well water and groundwater tests in some areas showed mercury levels to be at "20,000 to 6 million times" higher than expected levels; with many other dangerous chemicals also present including trichloroethene, known to impair fetal development, at 50 times above the safety limits specified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Filed under People, Eras & Events

This "beyond the book article" relates to Animal's People. It originally ran in April 2008 and has been updated for the March 2009 paperback edition. Go to magazine.

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