Seveso Disaster

Around midday on Saturday July 10, 1976, an explosion occurred in a TCP (2,4,5-trichlorophenol) reactor of the ICMESA chemical plant on the outskirts of Meda, a small town about 20 kilometres north of Milan, Italy. A toxic cloud containing TCDD (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin), then widely believed to be one of the most toxic man-made chemicals , was accidentally released into the atmosphere. The dioxin cloud contaminated a densely populated area about six kilometres long and one kilometre wide, lying downwind from the site . This event became internationally known as the Seveso disaster, after the name of a neighbouring municipality that was most severely affected 

* Release Assessment

> TCDD (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin)

- it is a polychlorinated dibenzodioxin (dioxin)

- an organic compound

- one of the most toxic chemical man- made chemicals.

* Exposure Assessment

 > An explosion of TCDD (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin) was accidentally released in th environment.

 >  The dioxin cloud contaminated a densely populated area about six kilometres long and one kilometre    
     wide,   lying downwind from the site.

> 6 tonnes of material were distributed over an 18 km^2 area.
>  The four most impacted municipalities included Seveso (1976 population 17,000), Meda (19,000), Desio     

     (33,000), and Cesano Maderno (34,000).

 > Acute illness among affected workers and added to the burden of existing chronic sickness caused by   

     prolonged exposure to the same chemicals under unsanitary conditions.