ICMESA plant

Residential/Environmental Exposures. Several incidents in which populations were exposed to potentially high levels of 2,3,7,8-TCDD include an industrial accident that occurred during the production of 2,4,5-TCP at the ICMESA plant in Seveso, Italy and the spraying of roads and other places... 

Application of this method to TCDD, has been previously reported (1 ). The related experiments were performed at the Establishment of the European Community (Ispra) and at the ICMESA plant (Seveso) these reactions, carried out on pure dioxin and on several contaminated materials of the reactor, gave good results... 

After first emergency interventions, the main concern was the disposal of toxic waste from the ICMESA exploded reactor. In the spring of 1982, the vessel was emptied under strict safety precautions. The 41 barrels containing residues were transferred to destination. On the other hand, materials from recovery interventions, building demolition and soil removal were stored in two burrows placed in the towns of Seveso (tank A) and Meda (tank B). Tank A hosted material from the Seveso area and also ruins from ICMESA plant, for a total of about 200,000 m3. Tank B, located near the Certesa stream, hosted materials from the contaminated area placed north of ICMESA and TCDD contaminated mud originating from the Seveso purification plant. The total volume of material was about 80,000 m3. 

The Seveso accident at the ICMESA plant north of Milan in Italy on Jnly 10, 1976 - which may have killed no one, although many people were subseqnently affected by disfiguring chloracne - remains a very important event (see, e.g., [2]). As a result of this accident, 1800 hectares of land became contaminated with the carcinogen 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (or dioxin for short). This accident led ultimately to the European Union s three Seveso Directives which have been... 

Seveso is a small town of approximately 17,000 inhabitants, 15 miles from Milan, Italy. The plant was owned by the Icmesa Chemical Company. The product was hexachlorophene, a bactericide, with trichlorophenol produced as an intermediate. During normal operation, a... 

Industrial accidents have also released high levels of CDDs into the air. In 1976, at least 1.3 kg (2.87 pounds) of 2,3,7,8-TCDD was released into the air as a result of an industrial accident at the ICMESA chemical plant near Seveso, Italy, that was involved in 2,4,5-TCP synthesis (Cerlisi et al. 1989 ... 

The Seveso disaster began on July 10, 1976 at the Industrie Chimiche Meda Societa Azionaria (ICMESA) chemical plant in Meda, Italy. This event became internationally known as the Seveso disaster, after the name of the most severely affected community. An increase in pressure due to an exothermic reaction in a 2,4,5-trichlorophenol-production reactor caused the rupture disk of the safety valve to burst. About 3000 kg of chemicals were released into the air. The release included 2,4,5-trichlorophenol, used in the manufacture of herbicides, and possibly up to 30 kg of the dioxin TCDD (2,3,7,8-tetrachloro-dibenzo-p-dioxin). Dioxin first came to widespread public notice during the Vietnam War, when it was identified as a component of the defoliant Agent Orange. Dioxin has also been considered to be the most toxic human-made substance. 

The ICMESA was a chemical plant (Industrie Chimiche Meda Societa), of 170 workers, property of the firm Givaudan S.A. in Geneva, located 15 km North of Milan. It produced intermediate compounds for the cosmetic... 

The Seveso disaster took place on July 10,1976, when a toxic cloud escaped from the ICMESA chemical plant located in the community of Mead in Lombardy (Italy). The accident was caused by reactor overheating which served to produce 2,4,5-trichlorophenol. At the beginning, a certain vagueness was involved about the released product. There was some thought about 1,2,4,5-tetrachlorobenzene and of polyethylene, but the development of chloracne allowed identification of 2,3,7,8-TCDD, called the Seveso dioxin. 

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