The Bhopal Disaster

The Bhopal Disaster
Just after midnight on 3 December 1984, a dense gas cloud formed and rolled through the city of Bhopal and its surrounding villages. The people that inhaled the gas immediately started feeling its affect. They coughed uncontrollably, the gas burning their eyes, noses, and throats. The gas then attacked their central nervous system and, if they were unable to escape the cloud, they fell dead.
The Union Carbide Corporation, an American based corporation, opened the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide factory in 1970 and began producing Sevin, their brand name for carbaryl, a Methyl Isocyanate (MIC)-based pesticide. In 1979, they added a MIC production plant to increase their overall profits. MIC is manufactured by reacting methylamine and phosgene and is highly reactive to water. When water is introduced to MIC, it causes an exothermic reaction subsequently causing the MIC to boil, producing a toxic gas. If confined inside a holding tank, this reaction would cause a substantial amount of pressure.
Two main theories have been published on the cause of the industrial accident that occurred at the Union Carbide pesticide plant: employee sabotage and corporate negligence. Following the events that took place in Bhopal, there were two investigations conducted. The initial investigation was jointly conducted by the Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation. The Union Carbide Corporation also led an investigation headed by chairman, Warren Anderson, and consisted of medical and technical experts, including Jackson Browning. Union Carbide claims that their investigation was hindered by the Indian Government and they were not allowed to interview emp...

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...t entire families died which left no one to identify remains of the deceased. Union Carbide claimed 3,800 people died as a result of this industrial accident. The municipal workers that moved the bodies of the deceased estimated 15,000. However, the local government’s official death toll is 20,000. The Indian Government reported that over a half-million people were exposed to the toxic gas and that survivors are, to this day, still dying from long-term effects of exposure.

Works Cited

Banerjee, B.N. (1986). Bhopal gas tragedy: Accident or experiment. New Delhi, India: Paribus Publishers and Distributors.
Browning, J.B. (1993). Union carbide: Disaster at Bhopal. Retrieved from http://www.bhopal.com/~/media/Files/Bhopal/browning.pdf
Union Carbide. (2013). Frequently asked questions regarding the Bhopal tragedy of 1984. Retrieved from http://bhopal.com/