The Seveso Disaster

The Seveso Disaster. Shana Moore-Pierre GPH-GU 2153 Spring 2022.

Learn about the chemical disaster at Seveso, Italy..

Background on Seveso, Italy. ICMESA factory. Table of Contents.

Seveso, Italy. maphill 20 ' south. Some facts: South of the Alps between Lake Como and 13 miles north of Milan Population in 1976 was 17,000 residents “God-Country-Family” mentality and society based on strong catholic traditions 4 60% of the population worked in furniture design and manufacturing in small family businesses 4 This community held strong familial and social values 4.

Industrie Chimiche Meda Società Azionaria. A chemical industry factory located in the town of Meda in the northern outskirts of Seveso Starting in 1971 the factory manufactured 2,4,5 trichlorophenol a toxic substance used in herbicides and prepared hexachlorophene that was used in cosmetics. 3.

Water Vent Water Reflux outlet Recovered solvent Cooling water inlet Condensate outlet Roof vent t Rupture disc Nitrogen TCB Agitator Xylene and glycol load Heating vapour inlet Cooling water Outer shell Outlet gate.

The Explosion. An aerosol cloud that included sodium hydroxide, ethylene glycol, sodium trichlorophenate and an estimated 15 to 30 kg of TCDD over an 18-km. 2 It was later calculated that 1500kg of mixture was released..

Fig.2 Seveso’s Zones of Exposure.

Fig 3. Post Seveso Explosion July 10 -18 1976 Timeline.

https:// www.cbsnews.com /pictures/worst-environmental-disasters/4/.

TCDD Facts. Technical name is 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-para-Dioxin (TCDD) 4 Dioxin is a persistent organic pollutant meaning it takes an extensive amount of time to break down in the environment. 7 Dioxin has been classified as a known human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. 2 It has a 7-year half life in humans. 1 Dioxins are highly toxic and can cause cancer, reproductive and developmental problems, damage to the immune system, and can interfere with hormones. 7.

Contamination Clean Up. For years there was no universally accepted way to clean the contaminated soil, demolished structures or vegetation. Eventually it was regionally accepted to use soil scarification up to 40cm in depth 4 . Contaminated materials were disposed in basins relocated to Zone A totaling 50,000 tons. 4 The project took 4 years from 1977 to complete. 4.

Fig. 3 Short and Long-Term Effects. Ecological Effects 3 Human Health Effects 3 Socioeconomical Effects 3 Air pollution Edema Food insecurity Deforestation Spontaneous abortions Increased Police Presence Soil Contamination Prenatal defects Land Dispossesion Biodiversity loss Chloroacne Loss of Livelihood Water pollution Pregnancy complications Militarization Lung Disease Displacement Cancer Death Mental Health Concerns Endocrine System Damages GI tract Irritation 6.

The condemned of Seveso | Maclean's | JULY 25, 1977.

”there is no clear-cut adverse health effects attributed to TCDD, besides chloracne has been observed.”.

The Seveso Women’s Cohort Study (SWHS). The Seveso Women's Health Study (SWHS), funded by the United States’ National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Regione Lombardia Italy, is the only comprehensive study to date of the health of a female population exposed to TCDD. 2.

New in Italy: Victum of V»or Aug Allowed to New Times She to the town Milan With •s toxic Exemption on A bortion Reported in Italy SEVESO. Aug_ 2 (Reu. Victims of Poison Vapor two already have' mayor said today that [c Government had to the t ions for Women by vapor • The mayor. who to be identified one nr the towns war-11 b deadly met Health Lucia. no in Milan and said afterward: •greed abort if thev wish." any reasnn_ but it der"ood that the Government i •n emergency decree t hat would in the north or Milan to have The decision to the highly TCDD chemical that was released Swig•owned lcmes• factory here three •go have Chil— drcn. than woæn from Might Be Allowed to been cleared of r" dents. End Pregnancies More than 30 people to With •nd intern.' complaints. COVering the Mr. F•ko. the Health Already medically at Another SO. either today's meeting in sough t •t • was taking vice from in Milan. Word On the world, Among them on is Ton Thut Of' me than H • noi- reputed to be the from authority On in Long line' the Of dioxin drove and The chemical in den with their Shutters rolled and forces du the Armed by The professor WAS to i here : , to prevent A said. have to leave their The or the Chemical Tempo quoted Thut- Ws Cloud W's by JS •n explosion at the factory pected to her soap as •n • n t •dote he would have the ancm•l fats and natural oils e the d in the chemical. that or his town.

Seveso Women Zone A Zone B 167 814. Though the majority of the TCDD exposure was experienced by the women of Zone A the study mainly consisted of women from Zone B..

Window for Dioxin Damage: Sperm Quality in Men Born after the Seveso Disaster | Environmental Health Perspectives | Vol. 119, No. 5.

FIG.6 Pregnancy outcomes of SWHS Daughters and Sons 2nd Generation Seveso Italy 2014-2016 2 Daughters (n = 76) Sons (45) Total pregnancies 134 76 Live births 96 53 Spontaneous Abortions 32 10 Voluntary Abortions 4 3 Ectopic pregnancy 2 1 Still births 0 1 Unknown 0 1 Preterm births 9 5 Low birthweight 7 7.

The Seveso Directive. The European Union created regulations to work to prevent another major disaster like Seveso This policy includes 8 : Requirements to classification, labeling and packing of chemicals Major Accident Prevention Plans & Safety Management Systems Security measures to protect critical infrastructure Environmental liability and criminal charges against industries Safety procedures for off-shore gas and oil operation.

Lessons from Seveso. Stricter regulatory checkpoints were created to prevent accidents. This disaster contributed to legislation such as the Seveso Directive and the TSCA (1976) in the USA. The process of transforming a disaster into an epidemiological study and train professional on how to act during a crisis was created. 2,5 Greater knowledge and incentive to research TCDD and its effects grew and still occur today. We observed multigenerational impact of chemical exposure and radiation.

References. Bertazzi , Pier Alberto The Seveso Accident: A Prototype of Environmental Epidemiology Challenge, Epidemiology: November 2006 - Volume 17 - Issue 6 - p S82 Eskenazi B, Warner M, Brambilla P, Signorini S, Ames J, Mocarelli P. The Seveso accident: A look at 40 years of health research and beyond. Environ Int . 2018;121(Pt 1):71-84. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2018.08.051 Ejolt . Disaster of Seveso, Italy: Ejatlas . Environmental Justice Atlas. https:// www.ejatlas.org /conflict/disaster-of- seveso . Accessed April 10, 2022. Mocarelli , P. (2001). "Seveso: a teaching story." Chemosphere 43 (4): 391-402. Fabiano, B., et al. (2017). "A perspective on Seveso accident based on cause-consequences analysis by three different methods." Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 49: 18-35. Caramaschi F, del Corno G, Favaretti C, Giambelluca SE, Montesarchio E, Fara GM. Chloracne following environmental contamination by TCDD in Seveso, Italy. Int J Epidemiol. 1981;10(2):135-143. doi:10.1093/ ije /10.2.135 Us Epa , O. R. D. (2022). "Learn about Dioxin.” (2022). "Seveso - Major accident hazards - Environment - European Commission." from https://ec.europa.eu/environment/seveso/index.htm . Eskenazi , B., et al. (2010). "Serum Dioxin Concentrations and Time to Pregnancy." Epidemiology 21 (2): 224-231..