Was the industrial accident at the Bhopal India pesticide plant just a fluke?
The Bhopal disaster which left more than 2,000 persons dead and 100,000 injured for life destroyed the myth that the chemical industry claims to have a good safety record. Major accidents in West Virgina, U.S., and in Switzerland shortly thereafter reinforced the fact that pesticide production facilities in industrialised countries are also vulnerable. The chemical processes needed to produce the active ingredients in pesticides are often highly complex. Unexpected runaway chemical reactions, as at Bhopal, are ever present risk. This risk is compounded by the reluctance of chemical companies to keep surrounding communities fully informed about the hazardous chemicals and process in their midst. • But don’t most of modern technology’s benefits including those of pesticides – inevitably bring some risk? And don’t these benefits outweigh the drawbacks? The pesticide industry uses risk/benefit arguments to defend pesticide use. Yet we still do not know about all the way in which pesticides
