1.

0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 THE DISASTER

The Seveso disaster was an industrial accident that occurred around 12:37 pm on July 10, 1976,
in a small chemical manufacturing plant at seveso approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) north
of Milan in the Lombardy region of Italy. It resulted in the highest known exposure to 2,3,7,8-
tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). This plant was located around the residential populations.
Because of that, it gave rise to numerous scientific studies and the industrial safety regulations
was being standardized. ( Brenda et. al, 2004)

1.2 THE CAUSE

This explosion was caused by an uncontrolled exothermic reaction (Bertazzi and di Domenico
1994). The explosion then lead to release of an aerosol cloud containing sodium hydroxide,
ethylene glycol, sodium trichlorophenate, and up to 30 kg of TCDD (Mocarelli et al. 1990). This
cloud was deposited over an 18-km2 and spread to 6 km south-southeast of the plant (di
Domenico et al. 1980b).

1.3 THE EFFECT

This sudden release of a cloud chemical substances gave immediate signs of hazard. Vegetation,
birds, and courtyard animals were seriously affected because of the cloud. People who happened
to be on the deposition path of the cloud developed nausea, headache, and eye irritation, and a
few children were admitted to the local community hospitals for skin lesions on exposed parts of
the body (Hay,1982).

The presence of TCDD as the main component of the toxic cloud was made known 10 days after
the accident. Fear for the health of local residents was justified by the known high toxicity of
TCDD in animals and its ability to cause cancer under experimental conditions (Huff,1990).
1.4 THE EFFECTED AREA

The contaminated area was divided into three major zones which were A, B, and R in decreasing
order of surface soil concentrations of TCDD (Bisanti et al. 1980). Zone A, with 15.55,477
g/m2 TCDD in surface soil samples, sustained an almost immediate 25% animal mortality rate.
Residents of zone A were evacuated within 20 days of the explosion. Most families were able to
return to their homes by 1977, after the least contaminated areas of zone A had been
decontaminated (Needham et al. 1997/1998).

The residents of zone B, with surface soil TCDD levels ranging from < 5 to 43.8 g/m2, were
not evacuated but were warned about the risk of consuming locally grown produce and meat.
Children up to 12 years of age and pregnant women were relocated out of the area on a daily
basis, and breast-feeding was strongly discouraged (Mocarelli et al. 1992).

Zone R, with surface soil TCDD levels ranging from < 5 to 9.7 g/m2, had about 30,000
residents. These residents were neither evacuated nor warned about ways to reduce exposure.
Zone non-ABR, an area of more than 180,000 residents surrounding the other zones, was
designated as the unexposed area. The few soil samples taken near the border between zone
non-ABR and zone R were all below the level of detection (di Domenico et al. 1980a).

REFERENCES
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Bisanti L, Bonetti F, Caramaschi F, Del Corno G, Favaretti C, Giambelluca S, et al. 1980.

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