ABSTRACT
In December 1984, the release of 40 tons of methyl isocyanate (MIC) in Bhopal, India, emphatically underscored the need for the development of chemical emergency response plans. The great surprise was that so little was known about the toxicity of MIC. It was primarily used as a captive chemical intermediate in the production of carbaryl, and a toxicological prole had never been developed. The lack of a toxicological base was, in part, due to the following: Its acute toxicity was so great that long-term studies had never been considered. In this tragedy, more than 3,800 residents died and an additional 200,000 suffered adverse health effects (Union Carbide Corporation, 2013). The public in India and even worldwide was enraged that an event of this magnitude could happen, because the local community had no idea that such a dangerous chemical was housed in such large quantities, just across the road from their homes (Rusch, 1993; Cavender and Gephart, 1994; Cavender, 2002, 2006).
