Some of the nastiest chemicals released during the war were polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. Banned in the United States since 1977, PCBs are still used as insulating fluids in Yugoslavian transformers and other electrical equipment. Widespread bombardment of such installations, intended to disrupt electrical power supplies, may have released large quantities of PCBs into the soil. PCBs are carcinogenic and can impair fetal development. An estimated 18,000 tons of these chemicals were discharged during the April 1999 bombing of a petrochemical complex in Panc evo, which lies on the banks of the Danube River and which once manufactured fertilizers and polyvinyl chloride.
Ammonia can permanently damage the eyes, nose, mouth, and lungs.
Exposure to vinyl chloride can lead to liver cancer. Ethylene dichloride, which can damage the heart, brain, kidneys, and lungs, was disgorged into a channel that flows into the Danube-the source of drinking water for millions of people in Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Moldova. The Walt Disney Company. Back to Homepage .