The Sandoz chemical spill was a major environmental disaster caused by a fire and its subsequent extinguishing at Sandoz agrochemical storehouse in the Schweizerhalle industrial complex, Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland, on 1 November 1986, which released toxic agrochemicals into the air and resulted in tons of pollutants entering the Rhine river, turning it red.[1]
The chemicals caused a massive mortality of wildlife downstream, killing, among other animals, a large proportion of the European eel population in the Rhine,[2] although the situation subsequently recovered within a couple of years.[3] Among the major resulting water pollutants were dinitro-ortho-cresol, the organophosphate chemicals propetamphos, parathion, disulfoton, thiometon, etrimphos and fenitrothion, as well as the organochlorine metoxuron.[4]
The cause of the blaze was never established.[5] In 2000, Vincent Cannistraro, a former senior U.S. intelligence official, stated that the Soviet KGB had ordered the East German Stasi to sabotage the chemical factory. According to him, the operation's objective was to distract attention from the Chernobyl disaster six months earlier in the Soviet Union.[6][7][8] The Swiss authorities were considering opening investigations again.[7][5][needs update] No evidence of this presumed sabotage has ever surfaced.[citation needed]
As a consequence of the incident Sandoz extended its health, safety and environment activities and introduced new procedures for risk and emergency management, including auditing.[9]
↑ Güttinger, Herbert; Stumm, Werner (June 1992). "Ecotoxicology An Analysis of the Rhine Pollution caused by the Sandoz Chemical Accident, 1986". Interdisciplinary Science Reviews. 17 (2): 127–136. doi:10.1179/isr.1992.17.2.127.
↑ Anton Lelek & Christian Köhler (1990). Restoration of fish communities of the rhine river two years after a heavy pollution wave. Regulated Rivers: Research & Management 5 (1): 57-66.
↑ Halfon, Efraim; Büggemannr, Rainer (January 1989). "Environmental Hazard Ranking of Chemicals Spilled in the Rhine River in November 1986". Acta Hydrochimica et Hydrobiologica. 17 (1): 47–60. doi:10.1002/aheh.19890170107.
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance or energy. Pollutants, the components of pollution, can be either foreign substances/energies or naturally occurring contaminants.
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, meteorology, mathematics and geography to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems. Environmental science emerged from the fields of natural history and medicine during the Enlightenment. Today it provides an integrated, quantitative, and interdisciplinary approach to the study of environmental systems.
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies, with a negative impact on their uses. It is usually a result of human activities. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. Water pollution results when contaminants mix with these water bodies. Contaminants can come from one of four main sources. These are sewage discharges, industrial activities, agricultural activities, and urban runoff including stormwater. Water pollution may affect either surface water or groundwater. This form of pollution can lead to many problems. One is the degradation of aquatic ecosystems. Another is spreading water-borne diseases when people use polluted water for drinking or irrigation. Water pollution also reduces the ecosystem services such as drinking water provided by the water resource.
An environmental disaster or ecological disaster is defined as a catastrophic event regarding the natural environment that is due to human activity. This point distinguishes environmental disasters from other disturbances such as natural disasters and intentional acts of war such as nuclear bombings.
Sandoz Group AG is a Swiss company that focuses on generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars. Prior to October 2023, it was part of a division of Novartis that was established in 2003, when Novartis united all of its generics businesses under the name Sandoz. Before this, the company existed as an independent pharmaceutical manufacturer until 1996, when it was merged with Ciba-Geigy to form Novartis. Prior to the merger, it specialized in medicines used in organ transplants, such as Sandimmune, and various antipsychotics and migraine medicines. Its headquarters were in Holzkirchen, Germany and after the spin-off from Novartis, the headquarters moved to Basel, Switzerland. Sandoz is one of the leading global generics businesses.
An agrochemical or agrichemical, a contraction of agricultural chemical, is a chemical product used in industrial agriculture. Agrichemical refers to biocides and synthetic fertilizers. It may also include hormones and other chemical growth agents.
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Environmental hazards are those hazards that affect biomes or ecosystems. Well known examples include oil spills, water pollution, slash and burn deforestation, air pollution, ground fissures, and build-up of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Physical exposure to environmental hazards is usually involuntary
Marine pollution occurs when substances used or spread by humans, such as industrial, agricultural and residential waste, particles, noise, excess carbon dioxide or invasive organisms enter the ocean and cause harmful effects there. The majority of this waste (80%) comes from land-based activity, although marine transportation significantly contributes as well. It is a combination of chemicals and trash, most of which comes from land sources and is washed or blown into the ocean. This pollution results in damage to the environment, to the health of all organisms, and to economic structures worldwide. Since most inputs come from land, either via the rivers, sewage or the atmosphere, it means that continental shelves are more vulnerable to pollution. Air pollution is also a contributing factor by carrying off iron, carbonic acid, nitrogen, silicon, sulfur, pesticides or dust particles into the ocean. The pollution often comes from nonpoint sources such as agricultural runoff, wind-blown debris, and dust. These nonpoint sources are largely due to runoff that enters the ocean through rivers, but wind-blown debris and dust can also play a role, as these pollutants can settle into waterways and oceans. Pathways of pollution include direct discharge, land runoff, ship pollution, bilge pollution, atmospheric pollution and, potentially, deep sea mining.
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Firewater refers to water that has been used in firefighting and requires disposal. In many cases, it is a highly polluting material and requires special care in its disposal.
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Water pollution in the United States is a growing problem that became critical in the 19th century with the development of mechanized agriculture, mining, and industry, although laws and regulations introduced in the late 20th century have improved water quality in many water bodies. Extensive industrialization and rapid urban growth exacerbated water pollution as a lack of regulation allowed for discharges of sewage, toxic chemicals, nutrients and other pollutants into surface water.
This is a list of notable events relating to the environment in 1986. They relate to environmental law, conservation, environmentalism and environmental issues.
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The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to ongoing widespread and possibly serious and long-term environmental damage. The Ukrainian government, journalists and international observers describe the damage as ecocide.
Legacy pollution or legacy pollutants are persistent materials in the environment that were created through a polluting industry or process that have polluting effects after the process has finished. Frequently these include persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals or other chemicals residual in the environment long after the industrial or extraction processes that produced them. Often these are chemicals produced by industry and polluted before there was widespread awareness of the toxic effects of the pollutants, and subsequently regulated or banned. Notable legacy pollutants include mercury, PCBs, Dioxins and other chemicals that are widespread health and environmental effects. Sites for legacy pollutants include mining sites, industrial parks, waterways contaminated by industry, and other dump sites.
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