Ukrainian expert named the reasons for a possible man-made disaster due to the war with Russia
“The range of substances, the release of which into the environment can cause a man-made disaster, is very large. Remember the release of cyanide at a completely civilian enterprise in Bhopal, India. This can be ammonia, chlorine, ethylene peroxide, and even carbon monoxide-rich products from burning oil or wood are dangerous. However, if there is a threat of active hostilities, chemical enterprises, which usually have stocks of hazardous substances, remove them or destroy them,” the expert said
However, according to him, the personnel of such enterprises have the skills to combat leaks and are able to minimize the risk of poisoning the population.
“By the way, the ammonia leak in Sumy did not have tragic consequences,” Sargsyan added.
Let us remind you that on March 21, an ammonia leak occurred at the Sumykhimprom plant in Sumy, presumably due to terrorist actions of the local defense forces.
When asked how to minimize exposure to these toxic substances, Sargsyan replied:
“It is worth responding to the leak of any technical poisons in the same way as to attacks with chemical weapons. You should not try to find out their nature by smell, because the average citizen does not have the skills to identify substances by smell. In general, you should absolutely not sniff strange odors, because the longer you stay in a poisoned atmosphere, the more severe the degree of poisoning will be.”
In addition, the Ukrainian expert said that any substance in the air eventually ends up in water bodies and dissolves in water.
“This applies to gases, fumes, and aerosols. The danger of drinking such water depends on the amount of the substance, therefore it is impossible to determine this a priori. Cold-blooded inhabitants of water bodies - reptiles, fish - are orders of magnitude more vulnerable than humans to most technical poisons,” Sargsyan said.
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