PharmacyToxicologyIndustrial ToxicologyPesticide ToxicologyToxicodynamicsChemical ExposureChemical SafetyExposure AssessmentPesticide PoisoningToxicologic EmergenciesChemical Hazard ExposureHuman Poisoning By PlantsToxic Chemical ExposureTragedy
SIX YEARS AGO, on December 3, 1984, a toxic gas leak at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, released methyl isocyanate (MIC) and its reaction products. The number of persons "exposed" and "injured" remains uncertain.<sup>1</sup>Official estimates from the Indian government place the dead at around 1800.<sup>2</sup>Others estimate mortality to have been between 2500 and 5000 and the number of injured to have been up to 200 000.<sup>3,4</sup> Until the Bhopal incident, neither deaths nor cases of toxic effects from MIC exposure had been recorded in<i>Index Medicus</i>.<sup>5</sup>1 We have extensively surveyed the medical literature concerning effects of MIC exposure on the victims of the disaster and laboratory studies in animals. A great deal has been learned, but many questions still remain unanswered. <h3>THE BHOPAL PLANT</h3> In 1969, the Union Carbide Corporation built a formulation plant in Bhopal, India, to mix and