Resumo de Bhopal Gas Tragedy

Around 1 a.m. on Monday, the 3rd of December, 1984, in a densely populated region in the city of Bhopal, Central India, a poisonous vapor burst from the tall stacks of the Union Carbide pesticide plant. This vapor was a highly toxic cloud of methyl isocyanate. Of the 800,000 people living in Bhopal at the time, 2,000 died immediately, and as many as 300,000 were injured. In addition, about 7,000 animals were injured, of which about one thousand were killed. ?A series of studies made five years later showed that many of the survivors were still suffering from one or several of the following ailments: partial or complete blindness, gastrointestinal disorders, impaired immune systems, post traumatic stress disorders, and menstrual problems in women. A rise in spontaneous abortions, stillbirths, and offspring with genetic defects was also noted.

The post-accident analysis of the process showed that the accident started when a tank containing methyl isocyanate (MIC) leaked. MIC is an extremely reactive chemical and is used in production of the insecticide carbaryl. It is presumed that the scientific reason for the accident at Bhopal is that water entered the tank where about 40 cubic meters of MIC was stored. When water and MIC mixed, an exothermic chemical reaction started, producing a lot of heat. As a result, the safety valve of the tank burst because of the increase in pressure. This burst was so violent that the coating of concrete around the tank also broke. It is presumed that between 20 and 30 tonnes of MIC were released during the hour that the leak took place. The gas leaked from a 30 m high chimney and this height was not enough to reduce the effects of the discharge. The reason was that the high moisture content (aerosol) in the discharge when evaporating, gave rise to a heavy gas which rapidly sank to the ground. The weather egged on this process. The conditions on the fateful day were typical for a clear night in the region, with a weak wind which frequently changed direction, which in turn helped the gas to cover more area in a shorter period of time (about one hour). The weak wind and the weak vertical turbulence caused a slow dilution of gas and thus allowed the poisonous gas to spread over considerable distances. (Chemical Accidents...)
Many different terms have been used to describe the events in Bhopal that early morning of December 3, 1984: accident, disaster, catastrophe, crisis and also as sabotage, conspiracy, massacre, and experiment, whichever best suited the arguments that would help to pin the ?blame? on somebody.
One of the main reasons for the tragedy was found to be a result of a combination of human factors and an incorrectly designed safety system. ?A portion of the safety equipment at the plant had been non-operational for four months and the rest failed. When the plant finally sounded an alarm--an hour after the toxic cloud had escaped--much of the harm had already been done.?(The Bhopal Disaster). Union Carbide itself believed the theory that the tragedy resulted when ? a disgruntled plant employee, apparently bent on spoiling a batch of methyl isocyanate, added water to a storage tank?(Browning). Still others, like the many experts in industrial safety, believe that the tragedy was preventable, arguing that it was the due to ?....the negligence on the part of the Union Carbide Corporation and its corporate subsidiary Union Carbide of India Ltd.(UCIL), which had the responsibility for taking care of the day-to-day operations of the facility?(Bogard 4). The corporation and its subsidiary were also charged with corporate irresponsibility for pursuing the profits instead of the safety and hazard standards. The Madhya Pradesh State government had not mandated any safety standards and Union Carbide failed to implement its own (i.e. US) safety rules, apparently comfortable in the knowledge that it was not contravening Indian regulation. ?The Bhopal plant experienced six accidents between 1981 and1984, at least three of which involved MIC or phosgene, a highly poisonous gas used in World War I and a component in the manufacture of MIC. Even so, the negligent behavior on the part of Union Carbide regarding safety standards raised little concern among the citizens of Bhopal. So, why were the people of Bhopal so indifferent when voicing their concerns on the safety factors in the Union Carbide plant? Why was nothing done about the defective safety equipment? To understand this, it is important to understand that India is a poor nation. The country needed pesticides to protect her agricultural production. MIC is used to produce pesticides that control insects which would in turn, help increase production of food - central to India?s Green Revolution, which was ironically, US imposed. Initially, India imported the MIC from the United States. In an attempt to achieve industrial self-sufficiency, India invited Union Carbide to set up a plant in the state of Madhya Pradesh to produce methyl isocyanate. The license was given to them on the belief that the chemical industry would provide the desperately needed jobs and capital for the people of the country. To the people of the city of Bhopal, Union Carbide was a highly respected , technically advanced Western company that would bring them the jobs they needed. This coupled with political power and scientific expertise worked together to changed the people?s perception of what was dangerous and more importantly what was safe.

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