Methyl isocyanate

In 1984 on the night of the second of December the Bhopal plant emitted 42 tonnes of methyl isocyanate gas exposing to more than 500,000 people and killing around 5,000 people. The clean-up of this disaster was insufficient and people are still being affected by the leakage. Methyl isocyanate gas also known as MIC is a clear liquid used to make pesticides, when exposed to the gas it brings the same effects as tear gas. Some of the effects that people went through were swelling and burning of the eyes, their bodies contorted and peoples throat were constricted to the point of bursting. When inhaled MIC gas reacts with the water in the body making it impossible it breathe. This accident was caused by the safety system not having any maintenance…

This particular pipe was also connected to tank E610 which contained 30 metric tonnes of M.I.C. Since M.I.C has a fairly low boiling point (39.1˚C) when it reacts with H2O it reaches past it’s boiling point and turn the liquid stored isocyanate into a toxic gas. With the build-up of gas the pressure in tank E610 rose to such a level that it ruptured the disc and let the gas escape from the chimney. (Varma, Roli and Daya R. Varma). The gas was so dense that all of it sunk to the ground where the…

Union Carbide Disaster in Bhopal - India The impact(s) of this incident. The Union Carbide Catastrophe is one of the world’s devastating and life-threatening events, which have claimed for many lives of people and it is reported that it continues to today. Based on the play, the Union Carbide Catastrophe is a 33 years incident that happened in Bhopal India on 4th December 1984; released nearly 40 tons of highly toxic gas or poisonous gases known as methyl isocyanate. According to the play, at…

Repercussions for engineers working for Union Carbide in Bhopal and consequences for Union Carbide following Bhopal disaster. In 3 December 1984 there was a gas tragedy in Bhopal, the capital of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. People around the city were in chaotic motion all trying to escape the toxic gas cloud that resulted from the gas leakage from the plant owned by the Union Carbide Corporation that its aim was to produce Methyl Isocyanate, toxic constituent of pesticide Sevin. It was…

Australia’s worst mine disasters With a mining industry as large as Australia's it should come as no surprise that we have a vast history of accidents, varying in size. The worst mining disaster in the history of Australia occurred in 1902 at Mount Kembla mine and claimed the lives of 96 miners. The incident was the result of an explosion. 81 miners were killed in the 1887 gas explosion in the Bulli Mine. The loss of life left 150 children fatherless and around 50 women were suddenly…

Before I discuss how utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics would respond to what took place, I am first going to briefly describe the situation. “While most of the population slept during the night of December 3, 1984, a toxic cloud of over forty tons of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas escaped from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, central India. Heavier than air, the gas blanketed the slums surrounding the facility and spread over the city of 800,000 people. At least 2,000 died…

From the early 1900s, Zonolite vermiculate mine was a primary worldwide that produce 80 percent of vermiculite production. However, the toxicity that was not clarified from government and mining fill to the miners were slowly killing in the town, Libby. Based on the article, A Town Left to Die, written by Andrew Schneider, it depicted how people suffer from the toxins in the air, asbestos, which came from the vermiculate mining. Agent What agent was responsible for the illness in the Libby…

Air Pollution Policy and Controversy Rachel Carson boldly warned the American people in 1962 that if the United States continued its agricultural and industrial practices, songbirds would cease to exist. Losing an important part of the ecological food chain would have repercussions, possibly worse than we could imagine. While literature like Silent Spring helped bring attention to environmental concerns in the mid to late 1900s, several fatal disasters struck a stronger chord. Smog in…

Hazardous Chemical: Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) In December of 1984 in Bhopal India there was an extremely large chemical leak (Schlager, 2008). The chemical was called methyl isocyanate (MIC) and was used as an intermediate to create a pesticide, or a substance that is used for killing organisms called Seven. Seven, which kills several different types of bugs and is used specifically in Asia but globally as well, is also an insecticide, or a beneficial chemical that kills insects (Living With…

horrific consequences of unfettered industrialism and the ignorance of a world that turns a blind eye to ecological calamities that do not happen in their own backyards. Shell Oil disregarded the impassioned pleas of mothers who felt the burning of their skin and the agony of cancers caused by the carcinogens emitted by oil and gas residuals. The inhabitants of Nigeria, however, found no help from those who promised both profits and a restored environment. In a similar way, the film One Night…