Chemical accident

Process safety's scope extends however to fires and explosions from hazardous materials generally not referred to as 'chemicals', such as refined and unrefined hydrocarbon mixtures.

[2] The most dangerous chemical accident recorded in history was the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy in India, in which more than 3,000 people died after highly toxic methyl isocyanate was released at a Union Carbide pesticides factory.

The release happened after the storage tank safety valve had failed to contain the excess pressure created by the exothermic reaction between water and methyl isocyanate.

[5] In the United States, concern about chemical accidents after the Bhopal disaster led to the passage of the 1986 Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.

Based on such information, citizens can identify the vulnerable zones in which severe toxic releases could cause harm or even in some cases death.