THE INCREASE IN CHEMICAL ACCIDENTS - A CH ALLENGE FOR PUBLIC-HEALTH

Chemical accidents involving explosions, large fires and leakages of h azardous substances occuring during transport, storage and industrial production of chemicals constitute a real challeng to health, environm ental and industrial safety professionals. The aim of this article is to discuss the main questions that this kind of accident provokes, in terms of public helth, particularly in developing countries such as Br azil. The paper defines and characterises these accidents and the vari ous health risk they involve excluding the leakages of hazardous subst ances during ''normal'' production in industry - through the combinati on of quantitative and qualitative information drawn from the internat ional literature on the subject. From some examples of chemical accide nts such as occurred in Bophal (India), Vila Soco (Brazil), Sao Paulo (Mexico) and data of the World Health Organization (WHO), the authors seek to show that these events present a worsening, in terms of immedi ate deaths and injuries, in developing countries. The statistics of ch emical accidents which occurred during the last ten years (1984 to 199 3) in the State of Rio de Janeiro are used taken as a frame reference for the purpose of bringing to light the great number of occurrences m ade with no registration of basic information regarding assessment or surveillance. The complexity of causes and consequences, together with the structural problems of developing countries, present public healt h professionals and institutions, with some important tasks especially those os health risk assessment and the formulation of strategies to prevent and control future major chemical accidents.