1984

Bhopal Disaster

With more than half a million injured, as many as sixteen thousand dead, and thousands permanently disabled, the Bhopal disaster is probably the worst chemical catastrophe the world has ever seen. The causes of this tragedy are still a matter of argument, but these facts are indisputable: late on the night of December 2, 1984, some thirty metric tons of the reactive and toxic chemical methyl isocyanate (MIC) leaked from the Union Carbide India pesticide plant, spreading over twenty-five square miles in the central Indian city of Bhopal.

The devastating effects were no wonder, because MIC is extremely dangerous. It can be detected (as an eye irritant) down to about two parts per million in the air, and once it reaches over twenty parts per million, severe consequences follow from damage to the lungs. The compound was manufactured on site, as an intermediate to make the pesticide carbaryl, but a significant amount of the MIC had built up, unused. It’s not a chemical that’s typically stored for long periods—it’s too reactive for that—and Union Carbide India had been warned of the possibility of a runaway reaction in the storage tanks. There had been numerous safety problems at the facility, with workers being exposed to both MIC and the toxic phosgene used to make it, among other hazards. It was found later that the safety systems that should have been installed on the MIC storage tanks were poorly maintained or not operating at all.

When water entered one of the tanks and began to react vigorously with the MIC, the safety equipment was totally inadequate to deal with the resulting breach. Some have alleged sabotage, while others cite appalling incompetence and negligence. Once the tank contents (MIC and its breakdown products) were released into the atmosphere in the middle of the night, however, the reasons did not matter to the half million innocent people, mostly impoverished, who lived around the plant. This accident stands as a horrible lesson for anyone working on industrial safety.

Survivors of the Bhopal disaster who suffered ocular trauma sit in front of the Union Carbide factory. Most eye problems from the disaster were temporary, but there were also many cases of long-term damage.