In today's society, we as a race have come to depend upon thousands of different chemicals to support our daily state of being. We have slowly evolved from complete independence, to a near symbiosis with the environment on an atomic scale. This is evident in the foods we eat, the machines we use, and even the air we breathe. On the other hand, chemicals and related materials have proved to be toxic disasters when the tiniest mistakes are made. Beware humanity; our saviour lies within the killer. And that is the issue that I shall deal with in this essay, essentially how chemicals can detrimentally affect the human condition.

Over the course of our superiority as mammals, humans have created more deviant things than those with beneficial purposes. It is innately within us to kill, rather than save. Chemicals have been doing both jobs since the beginning of time. Over the course of the past 20 years, over 200, 000 have died indirectly or directly as a result of chemical disasters. Several of the larger scale disasters will be looked at in detail farther on.

So just how safe is our system today? Well, it is recorded that on average, there are 19 reports of accidental toxic

chemical releases every day in the United States. There does not exist any single list that states all of the hazardous chemical factories out there. "Nobody even knows how many of these companies exist, or where they are" states Gerald Poje, member of the US Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.

Due to a combination of human and mechanical error, a small amount of water floated into the tank of MIC. The violent reaction that took place has been recorded as the worst industrial disaster in history. The water in the MIC was the catalyst that resulted in an explosion, destroying the MIC tank and sending the poisonous gas shooting out of the 30m high chimney.

As a result of the calm night air, and the fact that residents lived literally steps away from the factory, 2500 people died within 5 days of the accident, 50 000 people were put in hospitals, and over 1000 animals were killed. The death toll, as of today, is over 16 000- with 10 to 15 people dying every month due to cancers and other MIC related symptoms. When inhaled, the MIC attacks mucous glands, creating super-dense droplets of it that fall into the lungs of the victim, collapsing the lungs and at times, causing a pulmonary oedema (blood from a failing heart deposits into the lungs, drowning the victim). Ultimately, this disaster raised awareness of chemical safety p

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Approximate Word count = 902
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)