Spolana
Encyclopedia
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
chemical plant
Chemical plant
A chemical plant is an industrial process plant that manufactures chemicals, usually on a large scale. The general objective of a chemical plant is to create new material wealth via the chemical or biological transformation and or separation of materials. Chemical plants use special equipment,...
in Neratovice
Neratovice
Neratovice is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has cca 16,400 inhabitants. The Spolana chemical plant resides there. The town is part of the Prague metropolitan area....
established in 1898.
The chemical factory is situated approximately 25 kilometres north of Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
at the confluence of the Košátecký Brook and the River Elbe. It hit the headlines in 2002 when the river flooded and the Spolana plant found itself under water.
Dioxin hot-spot
Between 1965 and 1968 Spolana produced the chlorine herbicide 2,4,5-T. The former communist regime delivered it through various traders to Vietnam, where U.S. Army used it as a component for Agent OrangeAgent Orange
Agent Orange is the code name for one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. Vietnam estimates 400,000 people were killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with birth...
. During production, a huge amount of dioxins
Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds
Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds are by-products of various industrial processes, and are commonly regarded as highly toxic compounds that are environmental pollutants and persistent organic pollutants . They include:...
were created and the former factory buildings are one of the most contaminated places on the Earth. In the years 1964 to 1968 about 80 people from Spolana suffered from dioxin contamination. 55 of them were hospitalised. Besides the victims amongst Spolana workers, also American soldiers and Vietnamese were contaminated with dioxins in herbicides used for the Agent Orange production.
In 2004 published State Health Authority study, which analysed the level of toxic substances in human blood near Spolana. According to study is dioxin level in blood in Neratovice
Neratovice
Neratovice is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has cca 16,400 inhabitants. The Spolana chemical plant resides there. The town is part of the Prague metropolitan area....
, Libiš
Libiš
Libiš is a village and municipality in Mělník District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. -References:*This article was initially translated from the Czech Wikipedia....
and Tišice
Tišice
Tišice is a village and municipality in Mělník District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. -References:*This article was initially translated from the Czech Wikipedia....
about twice the level of those from the control group in Benešov
Benešov
Benešov is a town in the Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic, about southeast of Prague. The Konopiště castle and the Czech national mountain Blaník are near the town.-History:...
. Quantity of dioxin chemicals near Spolana is significantly higher than background level in another countries, e.g., USA, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
or Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency even the background level can cause the risk of cancer 1:1000 up to 1: 10000, i.e., about 100x higher than what is considered as a risk acceptable in the society.
External links
- Agent Orange in Spolana Neratovice
- Official web page
- Miroslav ŠutaMiroslav ŠutaMiroslav Šuta is a Czech environmental expert and non-fiction writer.He has been a member of the National committee for chemical safety since 1997 and several working groups of European Environmental Bureau ....
: Agent Orange a Spolana, Literární noviny, 24/2008