Greetings, and welcome to the first post of this blog. The upcoming posts will focus on a key disaster as a case study that may not be as well known. However, the consequences of these incidents are worth exploring since their effects demonstrate the severity of pollutants, as these incidents often release large quantities that are serious enough to immediately affect health, and emphasize why we should pay more attention towards managing (and preventing) pollution more seriously.
Brief introduction
In July 1976, the town of Seveso, Italy, would awaken to face a persisting nightmare caused by the chemical, 2,3,7,8-tetracholorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) or typically shortened to the term, Dioxin. The severity of the accident resulted in a major cleanup operation set up by the Italian government, which can be viewed here in an attempt to decontaminate the affected areas and minimise its effects. The exposure to such chemicals was due to an explosion at the nearby chemical plant. The accident could be blamed to design problems of the plant, such as the inability of the plant to handle a runaway reaction by means of a “catchpot” despite known problems of runaway reactions at other plants (Kletz 1999, 217) and the usage of an “unnecessarily hot heating medium” (Kletz 1999, 376), contributing to the runaway reaction that culminated in the explosion, contaminating large sections of Seveso (Figure 1).
Figure 1: The spread of fallout in Seveso, taken from (Mocarelli, et al. 2018)
Effects of Dioxin on humans
Post contamination, a study found that the affected residents who were exposed to dioxin by means of inhalation of the fallout, physical contact with the chemical particles and ingestion had relatively slow rates of elimination, continuing to test positive even after 20 years from the initial exposure (Mocarelli, et al. 2018), with the chemical presenting negative effects to affected people such as poorer fertility and higher rates of cancer mortality and compromised immunity, additionally, it could cause blistering of the skin that are chronic in nature (Mocarelli, et al. 2018). While the accident did not cause immediate deaths despite its toxicity, the long-term health consequences resulting from one incident of exposure would continue to plague these affected individuals and demonstrate its harm.
Effects of Dioxin on the Environment
Dioxin is particularly problematic for the environment due to its persistence. The use of dioxin was intentional during the Vietnam War as a herbicide famous known as “Agent Orange” (Kurwadkar, Mandal and Soni 2020). Dioxin affects the natural environment typically by means of the consumption of contaminated foods. There is a tendency for dioxin to bioaccumulate as it propagates through the food web (Kurwadkar, Mandal and Soni 2020).
Of greater concern are the sources where dioxins are produced. Beyond ingestion of contaminated foods, dioxin is also released to the environment through rather normal human activities such as the combustion of fossil fuels, such as to power combustion engine vehicles, a common means to generate electricity, the incineration of municipal wastes and as a byproduct of industrial processes such as the production of paper (Kurwadkar, Mandal and Soni 2020). With dioxins so easily produced, it may be worthwhile considering how we utilise our resources, considering dioxins essentially work like a time bomb, slowly killing us as it gradually bioaccumulates with little to no way of removing it once it is inside our bodies. Perhaps, it is time we pay more attention and change our ways and take these pollutants more seriously, such as reducing car usage or using less electricity, before we become forced to change. Surely, we do not want to suffer a similar fate to those affected by the Seveso accident? Their health has demonstrated the dangers of high exposure to dioxin
References
Kletz, Trevor. 1999. What went wrong? Case Histories of Process Plant Disasters. Elsevier Inc. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-88415-920-9.X5000-2.
Kurwadkar, Sudarshan, Prabir K. Mandal, and Shivani Soni. 2020. Dioxin: Environmental Fate and Health/Ecological Consequences. London: CRC Press. doi:https://doi-org.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/10.1201/9781315170961.
Mocarelli, Paolo, Brenda Eskenazi, Marcella Warner, Paolo Brambilla, Stefano Signorini, and Jennifer Ames. 2018. “The Seveso accident: A look at 40 years of health research and beyond.” Environ Int 121 (1): 71 – 84. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.envint.2018.08.051.
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