Seveso disaster facts for kids
The Seveso disaster was a serious chemical accident that happened on July 10, 1976. It took place near the small Italian town of Meda, which is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Milan in Lombardy.
During the accident, a chemical factory exploded. This explosion released a large amount of a very toxic chemical called dioxin (specifically, TCDD) into the air. This poisonous cloud spread over an area about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) long and 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) wide. The disaster is named after the nearby town of Seveso.
This event led to the highest known exposure to TCDD for people living in homes. Because of this accident, many studies were done, and new safety rules were created. The European Union now has a special rule, called the Seveso-II-directive, to help prevent similar accidents.
The Company Involved
The company where the accident happened was named Icmesa. It was owned by another company called Givaudan, which is part of an even larger company called Roche. Icmesa made a chemical called Trichlorophenol. This chemical is used to create a disinfectant called Hexachlorophene. The factory was located near four towns, and one of them was Seveso.
Immediate Impact
Even though about 20,000 people lived in Seveso, none of them died directly from the poison. However, the dioxin killed about 3,000 farm animals and pets in the area. To stop the dioxin from getting into the food chain and harming more people or animals, another 70,000 animals had to be killed.
Long-Term Health Problems
Even many years after the accident, scientists continued to study its effects. About 30 years later, they found that babies born in the areas affected by the dioxin were six times more likely to have problems with their thyroid gland.
Scientists are still studying these children. They want to see if the dioxin exposure affected their growth or their brain development, such as their IQ.
Images for kids
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A Carabinieri (Italian police) in a special suit puts up signs warning about the toxic chemicals.
See also
In Spanish: Desastre de Seveso para niños
