The Wholesome Photo of the Month Thu May 09, 2024 11:01 | Anti-Empire
In 3 War Years Russia Will Have Spent $3... Thu May 09, 2024 02:17 | Anti-Empire
UK Sending Missiles to Be Fired Into Rus... Tue May 07, 2024 14:17 | Marko Marjanović
US Gives Weapons to Taiwan for Free, The... Fri May 03, 2024 03:55 | Anti-Empire
Russia Has 17 Percent More Defense Jobs ... Tue Apr 30, 2024 11:56 | Marko Marjanović Anti-Empire >>
A bird's eye view of the vineyard
Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz Alternative site: https://thesaker.si/saker-a... Site was created using the downloads provided Regards Herb
The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog. We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below).
What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker by Mr. Allen for the Saker blog Over the last few years, we hear leaders from both Russia and China pronouncing that they have formed a relationship where there are
Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader 2023/02/27 19:00:02Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of
The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker Pepe Escobar for the Saker blog A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you?re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by The Saker >>
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005
RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail supporter? Anthony
Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony
Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony
RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony
Waiting for SIPO Anthony Public Inquiry >>
Indymedia Ireland is a volunteer-run non-commercial open publishing website for local and international news, opinion & analysis, press releases and events. Its main objective is to enable the public to participate in reporting and analysis of the news and other important events and aspects of our daily lives and thereby give a voice to people.
Julian Assange is finally free ! Tue Jun 25, 2024 21:11 | indy
Stand With Palestine: Workplace Day of Action on Naksa Day Thu May 30, 2024 21:55 | indy
It is Chemtrails Month and Time to Visit this Topic Thu May 30, 2024 00:01 | indy
Hamburg 14.05. "Rote" Flora Reoccupied By Internationalists Wed May 15, 2024 15:49 | Internationalist left
Eddie Hobbs Breaks the Silence Exposing the Hidden Agenda Behind the WHO Treaty Sat May 11, 2024 22:41 | indy Human Rights in Ireland >>
|
Italy 1976: Seveso, Italy, saw one of Europe's worst environmental disasters
international |
miscellaneous |
other press
Sunday August 25, 2013 00:01 by xxx
Few industrial accidents can match the severity of the Seveso disaster of 1976. Despite the resulting long-term health problems and environmental risks, however, the accidental release of gases including TCDD -- a form of cancer-causing dioxin -- into a residential area of Italy had some positive legacies, including the creation of tighter environmental regulations and health protections throughout Europe.
http://greenliving.about.com/od/greenprograms/a/Seveso-TCDD.htm A small suburban town some 10 miles north of Milan, Italy, Seveso had a population of about 17,000 in the 1970s. Other nearby cities include Desio, Cesano Maderno and Meda; together, these formed a mix of urban, residential and small farming areas. A local chemical plant, constructed many years earlier in Meda, was owned by ICMESA, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant Hoffman-La Roche.
Overall, the plant was not perceived as a threat by the local population. All that changed, however, on the afternoon of Saturday, July 10, 1976, as parts of the plant were being shut down for the weekend. While residents of Seveso and the surrounding area were tending their gardens, running errands or watching their children play, one of the buildings in the chemical plant was getting dangerously hot as cooling mechanisms were turned off.
When the temperature inside one of the plant's tanks reached a critical level, a pressure release valve opened, and about six metric tons of toxic gas were emitted from the facility. The resulting gas cloud that drifted over the Seveso area contained an estimated one kilogram of TCDD, technically known as 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin.
TCDD in Seveso
TCDD is one type of dioxin, a family of chemical compounds that are a by-product of industrial activities like bleaching wood pulp, incinerating garbage, metal smelting and chemical production. Dioxin is also present in small amounts in the herbicide Agent Orange, which was used throughout Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.
Dioxin is universally recognized as a carcinogen (a cancer-causing agent). It's also known to cause reproductive, immune and developmental effects in mammals, and can cause severe liver problems in people exposed to high levels of the compound. Chloracne, a serious skin condition that resembles very bad acne, can also result from high exposures to dioxin.
Within a few hours after the ICMESA facility gas release, over 37,000 people throughout the Seveso area were exposed to unprecedented levels of dioxin. Among the first to suffer, however, were the area's animals. According to Time, "One farmer saw his cat keel over, and when he went to pick up the body, the tail fell off. When authorities dug the cat up for examination two days later, said the farmer, all that was left was its skull."
Despite their exposure to high levels of dioxin, it was a few days before people began to feel the effects: nausea, blurred vision, skin lesions and the development of severe chloracne, particularly among children. As a result of the slow development of symptoms, the area around Seveso was not immediately evacuated.
Dead animals, especially chickens and rabbits kept as food, began to overwhelm the city's resources, and many were slaughtered on an emergency basis to prevent people from eating them. (Dioxin accumulates in fatty tissue, and can be ingested by eating plants or animals that have been exposed to it.) By 1978, an estimated 80,000 animals were slaughtered.
The Legacy of Seveso
The response to the Seveso accident was widely criticized as slow and bungled. Several days passed before it was announced that a gas containing dioxin had been released from the facility; evacuation of the worst-affected areas took several more days.
Research into the long-term health effects of the Seveso disaster is ongoing. One study from 2008 found that babies born to women living in the contaminated area at the time of the accident were about six times more likely to have altered thyroid function than other babies. Additionally, a 2009 report found an increase in breast and lymphatic cancers in the area. However, other research into liver, immune, neurologic and reproductive effects yielded no conclusive information.
Seveso and its residents continue to function as a kind of "living laboratory" into the effects of dioxin exposure on people and animals. Throughout Europe, the name Seveso is now associated with tough regulations that require any facilities storing, manufacturing or handling hazardous materials to inform local authorities and communities about the nature of their facility, and to create and publicize measures to prevent and respond to any accident that may occur.
The ICMESA plant is now completely closed, and the Seveso Oak Forest park was created above the buried facility. Beneath the wooded park, however, sits two tanks that hold the remains of thousands of slaughtered animals, the destroyed chemical plant and the soil that had the highest degree of dioxin contamination.
via: http://greenliving.about.com/od/greenprograms/a/Seveso-...D.htm
|