Accidents pollution

Nuclear power plants of the future are to be designed and operated with the objective of better fiilfiUing the role as a bulk power producer that, because of reduced vulnerabiUty to severe accidents, should be more broadly accepted and implemented. Use of these plants could help stem the tide of environmental damage caused by air pollution from fossil-fuel combustion products (64). 

Occupational and environmental exposure to chemicals can take place both indoors and outdoors. Occupational exposure is caused by the chemicals that are used and produced indoors in industrial plants, whereas nonoccupa-tional (and occupational nonindustrial) indoor exposure is mainly caused by products. Toluene in printing plants and styrene in the reinforced plastic industry are typical examples of the two types of industrial occupational exposures. Products containing styrene polymers may release the styrene monomer into indoor air in the nonindustrial environment for a long time. Formaldehyde is another typical indoor pollutant. The source of formaldehyde is the resins used in the production process. During accidents, occupational and environmental exposures may occur simultaneously. Years ago, dioxin was formed as a byproduct of production of phenoxy acid herbicides. An explosion in a factory in... 

Seveso, Italy, caused wide-spread pollution of the industrial site as well as its surroundings. Serious effects of dioxin were detected both in dontestic animals, such as cows and sheep, and in humans, the most serious early effects being a serious skin disease, chloracne, and alterations in the function of the immune system. Follow-up studies have demonstrated that this accident also increased the cancer risk in exposed individuals. ... 

Inflow exceeding outflow can lead to oil pollution if there is inadequate containment. It can lead to fire or explosion and thus to injury by way of creating an oil spill. This type of accident is more time-dependent and lower in magnitude of damage, and thus an even lower level of safety will be acceptable. 

Formerly known as Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA). A trade association of chemical manufacturers, representing more than 90 percent of the production for basic industrial chemicals in the US. Administers research in areas significant to chemical manufacturing such as air and water pollution control operates Chemical Transportation Emergency Center (CHEMTREC) to control and report chemical accidents. ACC is organized by industrial groups and also by issue groups that sen>e as coordinators and advocators in their fields of specializations. 

Fatal accident rate Lost-time injury rate Capital cost of accidents Number of plant/community evacuations Cost of business interruption Cost of workers compensation claims Number of hazardous material spills (in excess of a threshold) Tonnage of hazardous material spilled Tonnage of air, water, liquid and solid effluent Tonnage of polluting materials released into the environment Employee exposure monitoring Number of work related sickness claims Number of regulatory citations and fines Ecological impact of operations (loss or restoration of biodiversity, species, habitats)... 

Before tlie 1970s, there was little legislation regarding tlie prevention of air and water pollution. Although some of the early laws approached the issue of pollution prc cntion. none of tliis legislation provided for emergency plamiing and response in the event of an accident. 

Anotlier act that lias Iiad a major impact on tlie general area of healtli, safety and accident management is tlie Pollution Prevention Act of 1990. The major tlieme of the act was to provide an importance to reduce tlie generation of wastes/pollutants/cheniicals tliat can create healtli, safety and accident management problems. Details of the act are provided later. 

In addition to tlie normal, everyday pollutant emissions into water systems is tlie ever-present tlireat of a discharge resulting from an accident, an emergency, or a combination of these. The dispersion and ultimate fate of such pollutants is a major concern to the enviroiunental engineer. It is for this reason that the present section on dispersion applications in water systems luis been included. Much of tliis material has been "excerpted" and edited from one of the classic works in tliis field by Tliomaim and Mueller... 

Two of the main environmental concerns are the atmospheric pollutants generated by ship s engines, and the possibility ol damaging oil spills from accidents and ship operations. 

Both PCDDs and PCDEs are refractory lipophilic pollutants formed by the interaction of chlorophenols. They enter the environment as a consequence of their presence as impurities in pesticides, following certain industrial accidents, in effluents from pulp mills, and because of the incomplete combustion of PCB residues in furnaces. Although present at very low levels in the environment, some of them (e.g., 2,3,7,8-TCDD) are highly toxic and undergo biomagnification in food chains. 

Oil spill-treating agents may be applied from boats, hydrofoils, aircraft, or helicopters in the case of large-scale pollution. For minor incidents such as car accidents, the application is done by hand. 

While we recognize the major concern attendant on widespread use of nuclear power in particular reactor malfunction, we note that no reactor accident that harmed any member of the public has occurred in any facility meeting international safety standards (Chernobyl did not meet the standards). Eossilfuel pollution from power plants is estimated to cause 40,000 to 70,000 deaths per year in the United States alone. 

Cristaldi, M., E. D Arcangelo, L.A. Ieradi, D. Mascanzoni, T. Mattei, and I.V.A. Castelli. 1990. 137Cs determination and mutagenicity tests in wild Mus musculus domesticus before and after the Chernobyl accident. Environ. Pollut. 64 1-9. 

Sawidis, T. 1988. Uptake of radionuclides by plants after the Chernobyl accident. Environ. Pollut. 50 317-324. 

Environmentally hazardous projects are those where the risk of accidents is very high, which can result in a major and sometimes even catastrophic chemical pollution of the environment. Frequently, these disasters take casualties among the plant personnel, as well as among the nearby settlements population, which were the cases with the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster in Ukraine, or with the pesticide plant accident in Bhopal, India. 

---