Seveso disaster

The Seveso disaster was a chemical accident on 10 July 1976, at the small Italian town of Meda, 20 km from Milan in Lombardy. There was an leak at a chemical factory which released a lot of the toxic poison dioxin, TCDD, into the air. The cloud of poison gas covered an area 6 km long and 1 km wide. It was named after the municipality of Seveso.  It resulted in the highest known exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) in residential populations  There were many studies and new regulations after the accident. The European Union directive covering the protection against such accidents is known as Seveso-II-directive today. 

The company where the accident happened was called Icmesa. It was owned by Givaudan, who is  owned by Roche. Icmesa produced Trichlorophenol, which is used to produce the disinfectant Hexachlorophene. The company was located in four communes; one of them Seveso. 

None of the 20,000 people who lived in Seveso died, but the poison killed 3,000 farm animals and pets. Another 70,000 animals had to be killed to stop the dioxin from getting into the food chain.

Long term problems
Thirty years after the accident, scientists reported that babies born in the area affected by the dioxin were six times more likely to have thyroid problems. The affected people, now in their forties, are being studied to see if it stopped them growing properly, or reduced intellectual development (IQ).

References

Category:1976 in Europe
Category:1970s crimes in Europe
Category:1970s disasters in Europe
Category:1970s in Italy

Category:Disasters in Italy
Category:1976 events
Category:Province of Monza and Brianza
Category:July events