Bhopal Disaster
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ScribdTranslationsBhopal Disaster
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ScribdTranslationsINTRODUCTION
The production of chemical products goes hand in hand with industrial growth and development in the
countries. However, these chemicals pose a potential health risk due to leaks or
spills, whether due to an accidental situation in processing plants or human errors
in the management of security mechanisms in complex industrial processes. An example
notable is that of Bhopal, India, where a gas leak and other chemicals from a pesticide plant
caused the death of thousands of people, in addition to having exposed and affected many more.
OBJECTIVES
Raise awareness about the large chemical-producing companies and the workers
to take measures to help reduce the risk of chemical accidents.
Clearly define the causes that have led to the disasters that have occurred previously, with the
to prevent similar events from happening.
BACKGROUND
The emissions or release of hazardous gases into the environment are high-risk situations that can
endanger the health and safety of the entire nearby community. Some can be detected and
easily identified, while others can go unnoticed in their beginnings, so they
must be alert to certain signals (unusual smells, vapors, etc.) and to the symptoms that
people experience, such as irritation in the eyes, skin, and respiratory system, among others.
The Bhopal disaster, which occurred in the early hours of December 3, 1984, in the Bhopal region
(India), originated from a leak of approximately 42 tons of isocyanate from
methyl (MIC) from a pesticide manufacturing industry, owned by Union Carbide, which caused
severe damage, both to health and the environment, and affected more than 100,000 people (20%
of the total population of the city.
RESEARCH
It was December 3, 1984; only half an hour had passed since midnight. The factory
Bhopal was still. One of the few movements was that of some workers who were carrying out tasks.
cleaning with high-pressure water inside some MIC transfer pipelines, without taking the
necessary preventive measures. The water injected into the Methyl Isocyanate pipes was circulating with
force dragging impurities attached to the walls of the tube as well as Sodium Chloride crystals and
metal remains. But the workers had ignored the precaution of sealing the duct with the
the use of special disks and the water together with the removed waste filtered into the interior of
the E-610 tank, which contained 42 tons of MIC. Connected to it were two other MIC tanks,
the E-611 and the E-619, which contained respectively another 20 and 1 tons of the same substance. The
water, the sodium chloride crystals and the metallic residues in contact with the MIC caused a
violent exothermic reaction of the liquid, which quickly passes to the gaseous state with release
of heat.
In a matter of seconds, the pressure inside the tank goes from 2 to 55 pounds per square inch, or,
it is the same, from 0.4 to 10.8 kilograms per centimeters. The high-strength steel with which it is
once the cistern is built, it withstands the pressure well, but the gas tries to find an outlet somewhere and the
find in the safety valves that burst due to overpressure. From then on
the toxic leak is inevitable and two tall columns of gas rise into the sky of Bhopal.
RESULTS
Upon coming into contact with the atmosphere, the released compound began to decompose into several
highly toxic gases (phosgene, monomethylamine, and hydrogen cyanide) that formed a lethal cloud that, upon
the gases that formed it were denser than the atmospheric air, traveled close to the ground throughout the city.
Thousands of people died almost immediately suffocated by the toxic cloud and many others
died in accidents while trying to escape from it during the desperate and chaotic evacuation of the
City. It is estimated that between 6,000 and 8,000 people died in the first week after the toxic leak.
and at least another 12,000 died later as a direct consequence of the disaster, which
affected more than 600,000 people, 150,000 of whom suffered severe consequences. Additionally, died
also thousands of heads of cattle and domestic animals and the entire environment of the accident site
seriously contaminated by toxic substances and heavy metals that will take many years
in disappearing.
RESULTS DISCUSSION
According to the researched results, this event is considered the worst disaster in all of the
chemical industry and, from this, three factors were defined that possibly could have
trigger the tragedy: 1) Lack of specialized technical personnel. 2) Corrosion of materials
and equipment. 3) Deactivation and rendering useless of security measures.
conclusions
Greater knowledge of the factors that influence the behavior of a leak, this to
choose the most effective and economical methods for prevention.
Push for stricter controls on chemical production, as well as on
corresponding industrial safety measures.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Knowledge Center in Public Health and Disasters. Chemical Accidents. Site Compilation
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3-1-chemical-accidents&catid=114&Itemid=602&lang=en
EcuRed. Bhopal Disaster. Collection from the website:
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