Italian Factory Explosion Releases Dioxin
At a glance:
- Series: Great Events from History II: Ecology and the Environment Series
- Categories: Science, Medicine, Health, Environmental Issues, Disasters
- Subcategories: Ecology, Environment, Conservation, Pollution, Toxic Waste, Bombs, Bombings, Explosions
- Curriculum: Italian History, 20th & 21st Century European History
- Geographical Location: Italy
- Date: July 10, 1976
Article abstract: An explosion at a factory released toxic chemicals into the atmosphere, exposing large numbers of people.
Summary of Event
At 12:40 p.m. on July 10, 1976, six and one-half hours after a chemical plant in Seveso, a working-class suburb of Milan, Italy, had closed down for the weekend, a runaway reaction in one of its reactors produced an explosion that blew a safety valve and vented the contents into the atmosphere. The explosion released a mixture of trichlorophenol, trichlorobenzene, ethylene glycol, sodium chloride, and sodium...
[The entire page is 2360 words long]
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