Nuclear and Chemical Accidents

1952

Dec. 12, Chalk River, nr. Ottawa, Canada: a partial meltdown of the reactor's uranium fuel core resulted after the accidental removal of four control rods. Although millions of gallons of radioactive water accumulated inside the reactor, there were no injuries.

1953

Love Canal, nr. Niagara Falls, N.Y.: was destroyed by waste from chemical plants. By the 1990s, the town had been cleaned up enough for families to begin moving back to the area.

1957

Oct. 7, Windscale Pile No. 1, north of Liverpool, England: fire in a graphite-cooled reactor spewed radiation over the countryside, contaminating a 200-square-mile area.

South Ural Mountains: explosion of radioactive wastes at Soviet nuclear weapons factory 12 mi from city of Kyshtym forced the evacuation of over 10,000 people from a contaminated area. No casualties were reported by Soviet officials.

1976

nr. Greifswald, East Germany: radioactive core of reactor in the Lubmin nuclear power plant nearly melted down due to the failure of safety systems during a fire.

1979

March 28, Three Mile Island, nr. Harrisburg, Pa.: one of two reactors lost its coolant, which caused overheating and partial meltdown of its uranium core. Some radioactive water and gases were released. This was the worst accident in U.S. nuclear-reactor history.

1984

Dec. 3, Bhopal, India: toxic gas, methyl isocyanate, seeped from Union Carbide insecticide plant, killing more than 2,000 and injuring about 150,000.

1986

April 26, Chernobyl, nr. Kiev, Ukraine: explosion and fire in the graphite core of one of four reactors released radioactive material that spread over part of the Soviet Union, eastern Europe, Scandinavia, and later western Europe. 31 claimed dead. Total casualties are unknown. Worst such accident to date.

1987

Sept. 18, Goiânia, Brazil: 244 people contaminated with cesium-137 from a cancer-therapy machine that had been sold as scrap. Four people died in worst radiation disaster in Western Hemisphere.

1999

Sept. 30, Tokaimura, Japan: uncontrolled chain reaction in a uranium-processing nuclear fuel plant spewed high levels of radioactive gas into the air, killing two workers and seriously injuring one other.

2004

Aug. 9, Mihama, Japan: nonradioactive steam leaked from a nuclear power plant, killing four workers and severely burning seven others.

Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001457.html

Labels: air, earth, ozone, science, water

Where is acid rain a problem?

Acid rain is a problem in eastern Canada because many of the water and soil systems in this region lack natural alkalinity - such as a lime base - and therefore cannot neutralize acid naturally. Provinces that are part of the Canadian Precambrian Shield, like Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, are hardest hit because their water and soil systems cannot fight the damaging consequences of acid rain. In fact, more than half of Canada consists of susceptible hard rock (i.e., granite) areas that do not have the capacity to effectively neutralize acid rain. If the water and soil systems were more alkaline - as in parts of western Canada and southeastern Ontario - they could neutralize or "buffer" against acid rain naturally.

In western Canada, there is insufficient information at this time to know whether acid rain is affecting these ecosystems. Historically, lower levels of industrialization - relative to eastern Canada - combined with natural factors such as eastwardly moving weather patterns and resistant soils (i.e., soils better able to neutralize acidity), have preserved much of western Canada from the ravages of acid rain.

However, not all areas in western Canada are naturally protected. Lakes and soils resting on granite bedrock, for instance, cannot neutralize precipitation. These are the conditions found in areas of the Canadian Shield in northeastern Alberta, northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba, parts of western British Columbia, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories . Lakes in these areas are as defenseless to acid rain as those in northern Ontario. If sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions continue to increase in western Canada, the same sort of harmful impacts that have happened in eastern Canada could occur.

Visit the Atlantic region web site for more information on acid rain in this region.

Visit The NatChem Website for information on how to obtain deposition data and maps.

http://www.ec.gc.ca/acidrain/acidfact.html

Labels: air, ocean, water, weather

What causes acid rain?

Acid deposition is a general term that includes more than simply acid rain. Acid deposition primarily results from the transformation of sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides into dry or moist secondary pollutants such as sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄), ammonium nitrate (NH₄NO₃) and nitric acid (HNO₃). The transformation of SO₂ and NOx to acidic particles and vapours occurs as these pollutants are transported in the atmosphere over distances of hundreds to thousands of kilometers. Acidic particles and vapours are deposited via two processes - wet and dry deposition. Wet deposition is acid rain, the process by which acids with a pH normally below 5.6 are removed from the atmosphere in rain, snow, sleet or hail. Dry deposition takes place when particles such as fly ash, sulphates, nitrates, and gases (such as SO₂ and NOx), are deposited on, or absorbed onto, surfaces. The gases can then be converted into acids when they contact water.

http://www.ec.gc.ca/acidrain/acidfact.html

Labels: air, ocean, water

About Air Toxics, Health and Ecological Effects

	Regulations and Other Toxics Programs

• What are toxic air pollutants?
• What are the health & environmental effects of toxic air pollutants?
• Where do toxic air pollutants come from?
• How are people exposed to air toxics?
• Can I find out about the toxics in my community?
• What progress has EPA made in reducing toxic emissions?
• Health and ecological effects resources
• Links to other air toxics resources

What are toxic air pollutants?

Toxic air pollutants, also known as hazardous air pollutants, are those pollutants that are known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health effects, such as reproductive effects or birth defects, or adverse environmental effects. EPA is working with state, local, and tribal governments to reduce air toxics releases of 188 pollutants to the environment. Examples of toxic air pollutants include benzene, which is found in gasoline; perchlorethlyene, which is emitted from some dry cleaning facilities; and methylene chloride, which is used as a solvent and paint stripper by a number of industries. Examples of other listed air toxics include dioxin, asbestos, toluene, and metals such as cadmium, mercury, chromium, and lead compounds.

What are the health and environmental effects of toxic air pollutants?

People exposed to toxic air pollutants at sufficient concentrations and durations may have an increased chance of getting cancer or experiencing other serious health effects. These health effects can include damage to the immune system, as well as neurological, reproductive (e.g., reduced fertility), developmental, respiratory and other health problems. In addition to exposure from breathing air toxics, some toxic air pollutants such as mercury can deposit onto soils or surface waters, where they are taken up by plants and ingested by animals and are eventually magnified up through the food chain. Like humans, animals may experience health problems if exposed to sufficient quantities of air toxics over time.

Where do toxic air pollutants come from?

Most air toxics originate from human-made sources, including mobile sources (e.g., cars, trucks, buses) and stationary sources (e.g., factories, refineries, power plants), as well as indoor sources (e.g., some building materials and cleaning solvents). Some air toxics are also released from natural sources such as volcanic eruptions and forest fires.

How are people exposed to air toxics?

People are exposed to toxic air pollutants in many ways that can pose health risks, such as by:

• Breathing contaminated air.
• Eating contaminated food products, such as fish from contaminated waters; meat, milk, or eggs from animals that fed on contaminated plants; and fruits and vegetables grown in contaminated soil on which air toxics have been deposited.
• Drinking water contaminated by toxic air pollutants.
• Ingesting contaminated soil. Young children are especially vulnerable because they often ingest soil from their hands or from objects they place in their mouths.
• Touching (making skin contact with) contaminated soil, dust, or water (for example, during recreational use of contaminated water bodies).

Once toxic air pollutants enter the body, some persistent toxic air pollutants accumulate in body tissues. Predators typically accumulate even greater pollutant concentrations than their contaminated prey. As a result, people and other animals at the top of the food chain who eat contaminated fish or meat are exposed to concentrations that are much higher than the concentrations in the water, air, or soil.

Can I find out about the toxics in my community?

• National Air Toxics Assessment -- This site provides emissions and health risk information on 33 air toxics that present the greatest threat to public health in the largest number of urban areas. Maps and lists are available and can be requested by state or county level.
• Toxics Release Inventory -- This database includes information for the public about releases of toxic chemicals from manufacturing facilities into the environment through the air, water, and land. You can access the data by typing in your zip code.
  
  

What progress has EPA made in reducing toxic emissions?

• Controls for industrial and commercial sources of toxics -- EPA has issued rules covering over 80 categories of major industrial sources, such as chemical plants, oil refineries, aerospace manufacturers, and steel mills, as well as categories of smaller sources, such as dry cleaners, commercial sterilizers, secondary lead smelters, and chromium electroplating facilities. These standards are projected to reduce annual air toxics emissions by about 1.5 million tons. For more information about these rules, see Taking Toxics Out of the Air.
• Controls for cars and trucks -- EPA and state governments (e.g., California) have reduced emissions of benzene, toluene, and other air toxics from mobile sources by requiring the use of reformulated gasoline and placing limits on tailpipe emissions. Important new controls for fuels and vehicles are expected to reduce selected motor vehicle air toxics from 1990 levels by more than 75% by 2020. For more information, see Mobile Source Air Toxics.
  
• Indoor air -- EPA, in close cooperation with other Federal agencies and the private sector, is actively involved in efforts to better understand indoor air pollution and to reduce people's exposure to air pollutants in offices, homes, schools, and other indoor environments. For more information, see Indoor Air Quality.
  

Health and ecological effects resources

• The Health Effects Notebook for Hazardous Air Pollutants -- Detailed information about the health effects of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) is available in separate fact sheets, for nearly every HAP specified in the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.
• Mercury -- Learn more about mercury and what is being done to protect your health.
• Air Pollution and Health Risk -- Find out how we know when a risk from a hazardous substance is serious. Learn how researchers estimate risk, and how the government uses this information to develop regulations that limit our exposure to hazardous substances.
• Evaluating Exposures to Toxic Air Pollutants: A Citizen's Guide -- Toxic air pollutants can increase the chance of health problems and cause ecological impacts. This publication explains the process that EPA uses to determine how much of a toxic air pollutant people are exposed to and how many people are exposed.
• Risk Assessment for Toxic Air Pollutants: A Citizen's Guide -- Find out more about risk assessment, which is the process used to estimate the risk of illness from a specific human exposure to a toxic air pollutant.
• Taking Toxics Out of the Air -- This brochure describes what air toxics are, where they come from, and how they impact people and the environment.
  
  

Links to other air toxics resources

• Chemical Accident Prevention and Preparedness -- includes information about leaks and spills, prevention of accidental releases of toxic chemicals, emergency planning, and community right-to-know issues.
  
• EPA's Technical Air Toxics Website -- includes more details about efforts underway to reduce air toxics.
  
• Toxics Release Inventory -- contains information about more than 650 toxic chemicals that are being used, manufactured, treated, transported, or released into the environment.
  
• Mobile Source Air Toxics-- provides information on regulations for air pollutants from mobile sources .

Labels: air, health, ozone