ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on industrial disasters or major accidents as defined by the European Economic Community. Most industrial disasters occur through a sudden, dramatic incident which leaves no ambiguity about the serious hazard being posed to the surrounding environment and population. The nature of the event is by no means obvious, not just in the case of subtle, unobserved environmental contamination, but even when the disaster is overt. The ecological, social, political, and cultural context in which the disaster occurs might well override the magnitude of the release in relevance. Information on potential sources of chemical disasters should be collected, updated, and made available to the scientific community at the national and international level. The type of chemical hazard is by no means the only predictor of the potential disastrous impact. Exposure ascertainment may be based on measurements of the types and concentrations of chemicals in various environmental media.
