1. Chemical Disasters
Heather Melendez
Professor Beam
Chem 50H

2. Global and Individual Perspectives
• Most incidents go unreported unless serious damage to
people of the environment is involved
• We live in a society dependent on chemical reactions to
manufacture everything from the food we eat to the
cleaning products we use
• Many chemical disasters have been devastating to the world
that require accountability not cover ups
• Even in our own communities, chemical incidents occur daily

3. Global: Bhopal Disaster
• Around 1:00 am on Monday December 3, 1984
• In the City of Bhopal in Central India
• A highly toxic cloud of Methyl Isocyanate was released from
the chimney stacks of the Union Carbide Pesticide Plant
• 2,500 people died immediately
• Over 200,000 people were injured and people are still
affected to this day with deformities and cancer

4. Causes
• A storage tank containing Methyl
Isocyanate (MIC), which is used to make
the insecticide Carbaryl was exposed to
water that leaked into the storage tank
containing 40 cubic meters of MIC
• When H2O and MIC mixed an exothermic
chemical reaction occurred causing a
safety valve to burst due to the pressure
and released 20-30 tons of MIC into the
atmosphere within 1 hour

5. Products and Reactions
• Methylamine (1) reacts with phosgene (2) producing methyl isocyanate (3)
which reacts with 1-naphthol (4) to yield carbaryl (5)
• Night of Disaster
• 2CH3NCO + H2O ---> C3H8N2O + CO2 + heat
• Methyl isocyanate + water yields 1,3-dimethylurea + carbon dioxide and heat
• CH3NCO + C3H8N2O ---> C5H11N3O2 + heat

6. Reasons and Solutions
• Poorly designed safety system and working
equipment
• To save money a portion of the safety equipment
had not been operational in 4 months
• The hazardous manufacturing plant was built
near a highly populated city
• Green Chemistry Principles need to be
implemented
• Hazardous chemicals like MIC need to be stored
in smaller containers
• Reduce the production of toxic chemicals and use
the chemicals during the course of the reaction
instead of storing large amounts
• Finding alternatives to toxic chemicals to use for
insecticides

7. National: IHOP incident
• At 9:15 am on February 17, 2012
• At an IHOP restaurant in South
Charleston, West Virginia
• A toxic cloud of Chloramine gas spread
throughout the restaurant
• 50 people had respiratory injuries
• 9 people’s injuries were severe enough
to be hospitalized

8. Causes
• A kitchen employee mixed chlorine bleach and a delimer, which
contained ammonia as its main ingredient, to clean a dishwashing
machine
• The mixture of the two chemicals created a chemical reaction producing
the poisonous Chloramine NH2Cl vapor that spread through the
restaurant

9. Products and Reactions
• The NaOCl Sodium Hypochlorite bleach decomposed to form HOCl
Hypochlorous acid, which reacts ammonia to form toxic Chloramine
fumes
• NaOCl → NaOH + HOCL
• HOCl → HCl +O
• Then the Ammonia NH3 and Chlorine gas Cl2 react to form
Chloramine NH2CL , which is released as a vapor
• NaOCL + 2HCl → Cl2 + NaCl + H2O
• 2NH3 + Cl2 → 2NH2Cl

10. Consequences
• U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the IHOP
restaurant for 5 alleged serious safety and health violations
• Failure to provide training, safety assessments, protective eye wear,
eyewash facilities, and display of MSDS information for chemical in the
workplace
• The key to avoiding such incidents is education and the use of proper
safety equipment, such as gloves and protective eyewear, or this can
happen

11. Solutions
• Using environmentally friendly green chemical cleaners
• Reading chemical warning labels thoroughly
• Wearing protective gloves and glasses

12. Local: UCLA Laboratory Fire
• One of the most infamous chemical accidents
in a college laboratory resulting in death
occurred on December 29, 2008
• Research assistant, Sheri Sangji, worked in the
UCLA chemistry laboratory testing a reaction
she had previously tested in the attempt to
produce more product.
• She had detailed lab notes for the procedure
• However fatal mistakes were made costing her
life

13. Products and Reactions
• Sangji planned to generate vinyllithium by reacting vinyl bromide with
two equivalents of tert-butyllithium, t-BuLi, as the first step of a larger
synthesis.
• t-BuLi is a pyrophoric chemical, which ignites spontaneously in the
presence of oxygen
• t-BuLi + O2 → t-BuOOLi
t-BuLi + H2O → t-BuH + LiOH

14. Causes
• As Sangji was drawing up approximately 50 mL
of t-BuLi in a 60 mL plastic syringe, the plunger
came out of the barrel and the t-BuLi was
exposed to the air igniting into flames
• Also in the fume hood was an open flask of
hexane, which she knocked over when the t-
BuLi reacted and it ignited the solvent catching
her synthetic sweater on fire
• Instead of using the safety shower, another
researcher tried to help by wrapping a lab coat
around her to put the fire out, but it caught on
fire

15. Solutions
• Follow proper procedure including
wearing proper protective wear
and check that all equipment is
functioning properly
• Make sure all chemicals from
previous work is cleaned up and
stored properly
• Be thoroughly educated as to what
dangerous reactions can occur if
the wrong chemicals are combined
• When an emergency in the lab
happens do not panic, follow
emergency protocol by using the
safety showers and eye wash
stations

16. Green Chemistry
• The lesson that can be learned from these chemical
disasters are:
• Use proper protective equipment
• Have regulations being followed and safety
equipment in proper working order
• Being educated about the chemicals being used, we
can avoid injuries and death
• Going green in chemistry and finding new
alternatives to antiquated chemical products is by far
the healthiest change that can be made for people
and the environment

17. Works Cited
Baxter, Ann, Michael Hyland, Sarah Sager, and Brooks Jarosz. "UPDATE: OSHA Cites South Charleston IHOP for Chlorine Incident."
WSAZ RSS. Gray Digital Media, 2 May 2012. Web. 04 Nov. 2013.
Gregory, Kathryn. "Chemical Cloud at IHOP; 9 Hospitalized ." Chemical Cloud at IHOP; 9 Hospitalized - News - The Charleston
Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports -. Wvgazette.com, 17 Feb. 2012. Web. 04 Nov. 2013.
Helmenstine, Ph.D., Anne M. "Why You Shouldn't Mix Bleach and Ammonia - Bleach and Ammonia Chemical Reactions."
About.com Chemistry. About.com/chemistry, 20 Aug. 2010. Web. 04 Nov. 2013.
Distinguished Member, Expert. "Chemical Forum - Chemistry Help :: View Topic - Bhopal - Balanced Equation." Chemical Forum -
Chemistry Help :: View Topic - Bhopal - Balanced Equation. Chemicalforum.webqc.org, 22 Feb. 2011. Web. 04 Nov.
2013.
Kemsley, Jyllian N. "Learning From UCLA." CEN RSS. American Chemical Society, 3 Aug. 2009. Web. 04 Nov. 2013.
"Tert-Butyllithium." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Oct. 2013. Web. 04 Nov. 2013.
Vijayan, V. K. (2010). Methyl isocyanate (MIC) exposure and its consequences on human health at Bhopal. International Journal Of
Environmental Studies, 67(5), 637-653.