On December 3, 1984, one of the world's worst industrial accidents occurred in Bhopal, India. Along with Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, Bhopal stands as an example of the dangers of industrial development without proper attention to environmental health and safety.

A large industrial and urban center in the state of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal was the location of a plant owned by the American chemical corporation, Union Carbide, Inc. and its Indian subsidiary, Union Carbide India, Ltd. The plant manufactured pesticides, primarily the pesticide carbaryl (marketed under the name Sevin), which is one of the most widely used carbamate class pesticides in the United States and throughout the world. Among the intermediate chemical compounds used together to manufacture Sevin is methyl isocyanate (MIC)—a lethal substance that is reactive, toxic, volatile, and flammable. It was the uncontrolled release of MIC from a storage tank in the Bhopal facility...