WINDS OF DEATH

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CHAPTER 5

• WINDS OF DEATH

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• - A chapter about the production and release of
  toxic compounds
• Looks at the evolution of chemical hazard
• --- a production of the interaction of the
  development of the industry and how society
  utilizes chemical products

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I cant think of a better example of the chemical
specialization than the pesticide industry

• Insecticide Herbicide
• Fungicide Nematicide
• Rodenticide Bactericide
• Acaricide Algicide
• Miticide Molluscicide
• Avicide Slimicide
• Piscicide Ovicide

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Pesticide-class chemicals not carrying a
-icide suffix

• Disinfectants
• Growth regulators
• Defoliants
• Desiccants
• Repellents
• Attractants
• Chemosterilants

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• Combining industrial, economic, political, and
  social contexts, gives a better understanding of
  where and why chemical hazards occur
• and why some people and places are more
  susceptible to this risk
• Bhopal, India (1984)
• Guadalajara, Mexico (1992)
• Seveso, Italy (1997)

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• - Accidental releases occur daily, some small and
  unnoticed. Others resulting in significant damage
  to both people and property

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Forms of Impacts

• (1) disruption of organic life- support
  systems
• (2) damage to wildlife
• (3) damage to human health
• (4) damage to property
• (5) nuisance effects
• (smell tastesight)

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Types of Chemical Hazards

• Toxic chemicals substances that are fatal to
  over 50 of test animals at a given concentration
• Hazardous chemicals harmful to humans for a
  number of reasons
• Carcinogen chemicals, radiation, or viruses
  that cause/promote growth of malignancy
  especially resulting in metastasis

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Types of Chemical Hazards, cont

• Mutagens agents like radiation or chemicals
  that cause mutations
• change in the DNA of a living organism
  especially in germ cells
• Teratogens chemicals, radiation, viruses, etc,
  that cause birth defects in human embryos

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Chemical Hazards and Terrorism

• There are many chemical agents available to
  terrorists
• Some of the most widely known and feared and
  would cause the greatest number of injuries

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Chemical Hazards and Terrorism, cont

• (1) Blister Agents (mustard gas) a few drops
  can cause severe injury(attacks eyes, skin,
  respiratory and digestive systems)
  flammable
• In pure state, colorless and odorless
  manufacturers add color (amber, green) and odor
  (mustard, garlic)

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Chemical Hazards and Terrorism, cont

• (2) Blood Agents (hydrogen cyanide) under
  pressure a liquid, in use a gas flammable
• Low concentrations-little effect
• High concentration toxic and rapid death
  (attacks eyes nervous, respiratory digestive
  systems)
• In pure state odor of almonds or peach blooms
• (/-) volatile, dissipates quickly
• () Toxic effects may be delayed

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Chemical Hazards and Terrorism, cont

• (3) Choking Agents (chlorine) many are
  industrial compounds, are readily available
  
• React with H2O to form hypochlorous acid (HClO)
  and hydrochloric acid (HCl ) attacks
  respiratory system (coughing, choking, fluid
  build-up)
• Pungent, bleach-like smell, greenish- yellow gas

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Chemical Hazards and Terrorism, cont

• (4) Nerve agents (Sarin) all are toxic in
  small concentrations
• Odorless, resembles water or a light vegetable
  oil aerosol dispersion best
• Attacks eyes, skin, muscles, respiratory
  system, nervous system, digestive system
• Many dead animals, birds, insects may indicate
  an incident

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The Production of Chemical Hazards

• Many types of hazard are associated with the
  chemical industry. They can generally be classed
  into two categories
• (a) incidents / accidents
• (b) waste products

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The Production of Chemical Hazards, cont

• - Severity and magnitude of the hazard is a
  function of
• (1) type of technological failure
• (2) location of the incident
• Both will affect the spatial area impacted,
  including as it relates to product life cycles

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The Production of Chemical Hazards, cont

• (3) property(ies) of the chemical hazard
• --- persistence resistance to degradation
• hydrolysis (water)
• photolysis (sunlight)
• oxidation (O2 bacteria)
• --- solubility ability to dissolve in water
• --- volatility measure of the tendency of a
  compound to become a gas
• --- absorption tendency to bond with
  organic and inorganic matter

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The Production of Chemical Hazards, cont

• - Because chemical hazard incidents can occur at
  any point in the lifetime of the chemical
  manufacture-to-disposal chemical hazards are
  difficult to manage

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Cutter

• More than any other technological hazards,
  chemical hazards require a thorough understanding
  of the scale and context (social, historical,
  political, economic, environmental) of chemical
  use because of the source of the hazard is so
  randomly distributed (p. 87)

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• Technological change and innovation is the
  driving force in the evolution of world societies
  from rural agrarian to urban industrial
• --- since the Industrial Revolution, the pace
  of innovation has accelerated with marked
  societal results

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Better living through chemistry?

• - Rapidness of this technological change and its
  complexity has led to a correlated increase in
  unintended and unanticipated consequences
• - Until very recently, societies have taken the
  position that benefits have outweighed
  risks/costs esp chemical industry
• somewhat blindly, I think

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Chemical Industry Temporal Patterns

• Viewed most broadly, two spatial patterns emerge
• (1) Prior to 1900 concentration in
  Britain (soda) and Germany (Dyeing)
• (2) After 1900 diversified and rapidly
  growing

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• Why pattern after 1900?
• --- technological advances / innovations in
  science
• --- internationalization of industry /
  multi-nationals
• --- mechanization increased efficiency
• --- abandonment of batch operations for
  continuous-flow operations

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Product Life Cycles

• Text says that these also played an important
  role in industry transformation / spatial
  organization
• Can be viewed as birth-to-death of of a product
  line or an innovation (p. 89)

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Product Life Cycles, cont

• Four stages
• (1) research and development
  conception, testing, patenting,
  commercialization of a product or innovation
• --- industry concentrated in a few
  locations reflecting factor(s) of
  production

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Product Life Cycles, cont

• Four stages, cont
• (2) new product stage introduction of new
  product / innovation
• --- rapid market growth
• --- market monopolization
• --- core area is reinforced and enhanced as
  skilled labor emigrates
• may become nodal and foster
• business serving employment

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Product Life Cycles, cont

• Four Stages, cont
• (3) maturity competitors enter the product /
  innovation field
• --- innovator firms advantage disappears
• --- need to reduce cost and product is mass
  produced
• --- industry seeks dispersion of facilities
  to control cost and off-set decreased market
  share

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Product Life Cycles, cont

• Four stages, cont
• (4) decline and termination
• --- product or innovation declines and
  eventually disappears
• --- new product of innovation opportunity
• --- often associated with antiquated
  facilities / methods
• --- firm may continue reduced marketing of
  product/innovation

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Historical and Spatial Evolution of the Chemical
Industry

• International Developments pre-1900
• - Text sulphuric acid was the first commercially
  produced chemical (Arabs 8th C)
• - Not until the Industrial Revolution that the
  chemical industry go its start
• --- early 18th C industry production dominated
  by heavy organics, particularly alkali and soda
  ash both in demand for hard soap and glass
  production

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• International Developments pre-1900, cont
• - Initially demand far exceeded supply (vegetable
  sources)
• as a consequence, the impetus existed for
  innovation and the search for alternative
  sources
• (1) Cutter cites the LeBlanc Method
• sulphuric acid and salt to synthesize alkali
  

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• International Developments pre-1900
• - LeBlanc Method inherently dangerous
• Interesting for every ton of synthetic alkali
  produced by LeBlanc, 1.4 tons of tank waste
  resulted
• - By 1863, concern about the effects of
  hydrochloric venting that the British government
  enacted the UK AlKali Act

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• International Developments pre-1900
• (2) Solvay Method for alkali synthesis
• less tank waste cheaper in raw materials
  needed less labor
• became preferred method of
• production
• more capital intensive not accepted in
  Britain factor in the demise of British soda
  industry

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• Other sectors of the chemical industry in Europe
  were equally important
• (1) synthetic dyes from coal tar
• (Switzerland and Germany)
• (2) coal tar gas
• (3) explosives industry

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• Explosives industry developed somewhat
  differently
• --- early industry (esp. if Chinese are
  included)
• --- not dominated by a single country or
  concern
• national defense?
• national pride?
• --- initially greater competition

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• --- eventually saw the evolution of the
  Gunpowder Trust , an oligopoly which
  cooperated in carving out market areas and
  market shares for its members
• --- Factors consolidated producers into two
  giants
• du Pont (U.S.)
• Noble Industries (Scotland)

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• - Additionally, during the period
• (a) growth of pharmaceutical sector---
  Bayer (1898)
• (b) birth of petro-chemical industry---
  fertilizers and pesticides

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The 20th Century and the American Chemical
Industry

• Pre-World War I Rapid Innovations
• U.S. chemical industry in its infancy and largely
  dominated by foreign technology and foreign
  investment
• --- despite 100 years of independence we were
  still a cog in European mercantile colonialism

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The 20th Century and the American Chemical
Industry, cont

• By 1900 U.S. had distinct chemical production
  concentrations
• (1) close to market areas
• (Philadelphia/northern New Jersey)
• (2) close to raw materials
• (West Virginia/Detroit/Pittsburgh, etc)
• (3) close to power sources
• (Niagara Falls)

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• - Interesting few chemical producers in
  Mid-west or in Gulf Coast States
• - Pre-war years were characterized by rapid
  innovation in the industry
• Dow bromides from brine
• Monstanto artificial sweetener
• chemical advancements in plastic and acrylics
• Kodak emulsions and film-making

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The 20th Century and the American Chemical
Industry, cont

• War and Inventiveness
• Armed conflict spark invention and innovation
  esp. for the chemical industry
• (1) war-time embargo brought German
  shortage in nitrogen
• (2) development of caustic chlorine gas,
  mustard gas and chloropicrin
• (3) synthesis of isopropyl alcohol

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The 20th Century and the American Chemical
Industry, cont

• By the end of WWI, the U.S. chemical industry had
  grown significantly while retaining decentralized
  spatial organization
• - The fertilizer industry was the largest single
  sector, followed by explosives

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The 20th Century and the American Chemical
Industry, cont

• The Interwar Years Merger Mania and
  Diversification
• 1920s and 30s were decades of merger and
  acquisition the chemical industry grew and
  expanded operations into new products and markets
• Research takes precedent over manufacturing

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The 20th Century and the American Chemical
Industry, cont

• The Interwar Years Merger Mania and
  Diversification cont,
• Two important discoveries occurred in the
  inner-war period that permanently altered
  American chemical industry
• (1) development of polymerization
• (2) ability to crack molecules

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The 20th Century and the American Chemical
Industry, cont

• The Interwar Years Merger Mania and
  Diversification , cont
• - polymerization allowed customization of
  molecule chains
• - cracking molecules results in more
  feedstock for processing / later new products
• - whole synthetics industry ultimately
  increased need for resources and raw material

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Interesting

• Changing World Technologies, a factory in
  Carthage, MI, utilizing a process called thermal
  depolymerization has developed a way to speed up
  Mother Nature by combining heat and pressure to
  convert turkey by-products (beaks, feathers,
  bones, etc,) into oil

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Interesting, cont

• Claim process will work on anything containing
  carbon
• The only by-products are oil, natural gas, carbon
  materials and water
• Plant produces 3,000 barrels of biofuel weekly
  from 1200 tons of turkey parts (ConAgra
  slaughterhouse supplied)
• Cost 80/barrel smell of burning turkey parts
  threat of increased cost of turkey guts (E
  Magazine, Vol XVI, No. 6)

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The 20th Century and the American Chemical
Industry, cont

• Shortages and Substitutions
• Once again, war spawned shortages and need for
  substitutions sparked technological development
• - Much of this expansion was Federally funded as
  military or patriotic need

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The 20th Century and the American Chemical
Industry, cont

• Shortages and Substitutions, cont
• (1) war time expansion
• (2) affluent American chemical market
• (3) destruction of the German
• petro-chemical industry during and after the
  war made the U.S. industry world leaders after
  the war

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Unheralded Growth and Transition

• 1950-60s brought little technological change
• easier to think of this time as period of
  reorganization / restructuring
• Movement from small operations supplying
  domestic-market need to publicly trades
  corporations of international branch operations
  and product diversification
• demanded larger / more capital intensive
  operations

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Unheralded Growth and Transition, cont

• ? How much of this overseas restructuring was the
  result of birth of U.S. environmental movement
  (NEPA, EPA, etc) and subsequent moratorium on
  production of select chemical production in the
  U.S.
• --- it is clear that increased government
  regulation of pharmaceutical industry did occur

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Unheralded Growth and Transition, cont

• Example clioquinol thalidomide (Cantergan)
  and phocomelia deformity
• I would add that this regulation was complicated
  by indirect biological response example
  exposure to
• --- formaldehyde and sickhouse syndrome
• --- sodium fluoroacetate

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Unheralded Growth and Transition, cont

• There are also immune system depressants that
  turn off body natural defenses
• Widespread access to TV makes media become a
  leading mass marketing tool
• chemical sales becomes big business
• Economies of scale drove chemical industry
  thinking
• (drive for efficiency and market share)

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Unheralded Growth and Transition, cont

• Also, during this period chemicals as weapons of
  war again make appearance
• now directed against their operating
  environment not them
• ex napalm, dev. In WWII by Dupont and
  Standard Oil CO. reappears
• Also a growing backlash against the chemical
  industry
• Rachel Carson, Silent Spring
• common ground movement of anti-war, consumer
  protection and environmental, groups

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Safety and Environmental Awakening

• With what we developed and what we knew at the
  time, is the U.S. chemical industry good or
  bad?
• Mowrey and Redmond vs Ames
• - After 1970 the chemical industry for first time
  comes under concerted, organized and unified
  regulatory effort

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Safety and Environmental Awakening, cont

• (1) Legislative - Occupational Safety and Health
  Administration (OSHA)
• --- legislative act unifying worker protection
  across the U.S.
• --- set health and safety standards for
  workplaces of 10 or more workers
• --- Standards set for noise, chemical agents,
  temperature, workplace
• safety, worker training and exposure

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Safety and Environmental Awakening, cont

• (2) Accidents brought occupational and
  environmental exposure
• Firemaster (1974) fire retardant of
  polybrominated biphenyls was mistakenly delivered
  to a agricultural feed plant instead of
• Nutrimaster , a dairy additive thousands of
  farm animals died, animal deformities

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• A Michigan feed worker accidentally mixed a bag
  of Firemaster into feed. Before discovered,
  thousands of cows (as well as pigs chickens
  sheep) in southwestern Michigan were affected.
  As were humans who ate the meat and eggs, drank
  the milk, etc
• 23,000 cattle 1.5 million chickens thousands
  of pigs and sheep were slaughtered
• why? simple mistake - same company, similar
  names, similar packaging

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Safety and Environmental Awakening, cont

• (2) Cont
• kepone (early 1970s) a pesticide poisons the
  James River and chemical workers
• Lathrop, CA (1978) EPA closed a
  dibromochloropropane where chemical workers
  became sterile and pesticide residue contaminated
  soil and groundwater

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Safety and Environmental Awakening, cont

• These episodes and others fueled chemophobia
  and brought renewed calls for tighter legislation
• The chemical industry continued growth and
  expansion, esp. in petro-chemicals
• helped Texas, Louisiana, New York, New
  Jersey, California become leading chemical
  states and older industrial concentrations
  dispersed

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Risk and Hazards Assessment

• Accidents have always been part of the chemical
  industry
• both in reality and perceptually
• history has repeated itself with multiple
  accidents in the same location
• reliable data on accidents is complicated by
  a lack of dependable data on type and
  circumstance
• further, big accidents get the press

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Risk and Hazards Assessment, cont

• It is easy to conclude that worldwide there is a
  general underestimation of accident hazard
• Globally there is no comprehensive data base,
  though attempts are in place
• SARA Title III (U.S.)
• EU Seveso Directive
• Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazard
  (U.K.)
• UN International Programme on Chemical Safety
• UN International Register of Potentially Toxic
  Chemicals

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Airborne Toxic Releases

• International Patterns
• As would be expected, there are conflicting
  reports on the trend in chemical accidents
  (Cutter)
• General consensus that greatest frequency of
  these accidents are LDCs
• lack industrial infrastructure development /
  safety and response infrastructures
• --- this is somewhat balanced more reported
  accidents lesser severity

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Airborne Toxic Releases, cont

• The U.S. Hazardscape
• Cutter opens section with a statement that
  examination of the global patterns of
  accidents reveal little about the contextual
  nature of the hazard
• How should we be trained to react to releases?
• Time limit time of exposure
• Distance distance yourself from the threat
  uphill and upwind
• Shielding learn common substance that form a
  barrier / protect (Schellhorn)

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Airborne Toxic Releases, cont

• For example
• (1) A doctor in Richland, WA, you see an
  inordinate number of cancer patients. A check
  shows no reported chemical or radioactive
  accidents in your area. Random occurrence?
  Probably not.
• You are downwind of Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
  For 28 yrs (circa 1970) Hanford had routinely
  released radioactive metals and chemicals into
  the atmosphere. Because it was SOP, it is not
  classed as an accident

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Airborne Toxic Releases, cont

• Or
• (2) Tired of problems at Richland, you move east
  to Long Island, where you encounter much the same
  scenario of cancer clustering. Coincidence?
  Probably not.
• Long Island is home to Brookhaven National
  Laboratory, a center for pure scientific study.
  One of their experiments was the Gamma Forest.
  Here for 15 yrs (to 1980), 20 hrs a day, high
  concentrations of radioactive cobalt was pumped
  through 100 acres of forest to examine that the
  impact might be. Again, SOP, not reported, not
  an accident.

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Airborne Toxic Releases, cont

• - Cutters figures and studies have become
  somewhat dated
• - Cutter provides us a literature view of
  chemical incidents (p. 103), but concludes that
  even the cited studies do not give an
  understanding of the increasing hazards of
  chemical use.
• For the limited analysis Cutter does here, she
  confines herself to airborne chemical releases.
  published accounts

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Airborne Toxic Releases, cont

• Frequency and Distribution
• - A total of 339 incidents occurred 1900-1990,
  compared to 333 worldwide
• --- majority 1970s and 80s
• --- Cutter notes that beginning 1950 there is
  almost a doubling each succeeding decade
• --- point sources dominated the numbers /
  transport sources (shipping and pipelines)
  showed fewer numbers
• --- by state TX CA NJ LA NY PA IL

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Airborne Toxic Releases, cont

• Chemical Accidents
• Year Total Acute Releases
• U.S. Inter U.S. Inter
• 00-09 4 2
  0 0
• 10-19 14 19 1
  0
• 20-29 12 18 5
  3
• 30-39 6 20 3
  2
• 40-49 15 25 6
  4
• 50-59 18 27 5
  8
• 60-69 53 36 29
  14
• 70-79 118 89 50
  41
• 80-89 99 97 66
  38

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Airborne Toxic Releases, cont

• Chemical Accident Sources and Totals
• Year Total Stationary Transport Pipelines
  Unknown
• 00-09 4 4 0
  0 0
• 10-19 14 12 0
  0 0
• 20-29 12 11 1
  0 0
• 30-39 6 3 3
  0 0
• 40-49 15 8 5
  1 1
• 50-59 18 12 4
  1 1
• 60-69 53 35 10
  3 5
• 70-79 118 55 43
  8 12
• 80-89 99 53 38
  2 6

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Airborne Toxic Releases, cont

• Chemical Type
• Cutter summarizes with six categories of accident
  by chemical type
• (1) Acute SARA provided
• --- majority of accidents (1970-1990) were
  from stationary sources from this class
• (2) Radiation
• (3) Ammunition and Explosives
• (4) Oil and Natural Gas
• (5) Known chemicals not covered previously
• (6) Unknown chemical agents

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Airborne Toxic Releases, cont

• Severity
• - Frequently hard to judge because the most
  visible indictors are also the most obvious
• - Author observations on fatalities by chemical
  type
• Munitions explosions resulted in greatest
  fatalities
• Acute releases resulted in less deaths, but more
  injuries than other classes
• Radiation class was relative injury-free
• but long-term effects are down played

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Context of Risk

• According to Cutter
• (1) incidents are increasing nationally and
  internationally
• (2) toxicity of materials involved is
  increasing
• It is noteworthy the chemical industry as a whole
  (by SIC codes) has one of the best safety records
  among manufacturers but this is little comfort
  if you are one of the 50,000 persons evacuated
  from more than 100 accidents in Cutters study
  period

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Context of Risk, cont

• Historically, risk has shifted
• From early dependence on heavy inorganics and
  small operations where exposure was occupational
• to
• Large specialized and diversified operations,
  heavily capital dependent and operating on the
  basis of economies of scale
• Hazard increased with growth and
  diversification

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Context of Risk, cont

• Some locations have been left more vulnerable to
  chemical hazards than others
• vulnerability The likelihood that an
  individual or group will be exposed to and
  adversely affected by a hazard.
• --- By our social geography, the South has been
  particularly vulnerable to this threat

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