Coalite Chemicals

In a later accident in Germany at the BASF factory in Ludwigshafen where trichlorophenol was made, 250 individuals were exposed and about half suffered chloracne. FoUow-up of the individuals affected revealed that more died of cancer than expected. After another accident in the Netherlands in 1963, four men who had suffered chloracne after being involved with the clean-up may have died as a result of exposure, as their deaths occurred not long afterwards. Another accident occurred in the UK at the Coalite Chemicals Factory in 1968 following which about eighty people suffered chloracne. 

On an average high-temperature coke oven tar contains 0.4-0.6% phenol, 0.8-1% cresols, 0.2-0.5% xylenols. In the United Kingdom, cresols have been traditionally produced from low-temperature coal tars obtained in the production of smokeless fuels. The key player has been Coalite Chemicals. Similarly, in Germany Rutgers VFT AG has developed excellence in coal tar chemistry and has been producing cresylic acids and 3,5-xylenols for years. CdF Chimie in... 

These phenoxy herbicides are very popular in W. Europe and Japan. Total Western European capacity for p-chloro-o-cresol exceeds 21-22,000 tpa. Major producers of PCOC include Coalite Chemicals, UK (9000 tpa) and Rhone-Poulenc (5000 tpa), UK, and BASF (7000 tpa) in Germany. These companies along with Bayer and Chemie Linz, which also produce PCOC in plants with flexible operations are the major producers of the chlorophenoxy carboxylic acid pesticides. 

It was known before the disaster that if a reaction mixture such as that in the reactor at Seveso was heated to around 493 K, an uncontrollable exotherm would develop with concomitant production of dioxin and a dangerous pressure rise. This had happened at Coalite Chemicals, UK, in April 1968. This incident was caused by a failure in the system controlling the temperature of the oil which was used for heating the reactor. In the clean-up which followed there were a number of cases of chloracne. 

An accident occurred at the Coalite Chemical Company Limited at Bol-sover, Derbyshire, UK. It involved a runaway reaction in a trichlorophenol reactor. The reaction reached 523 K, the reactor exploded and the supervising chemist was killed. The plant was closed down and then reopened after two... 

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