Varma D R, Guest I
Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
J Toxicol Environ Health. 1993 Dec;40(4):513-29. doi: 10.1080/15287399309531816.
The Bhopal accident, the world's worst industrial disaster, in which nearly 40 metric tons of methyl isocyanate (MIC) was released from the Union Carbide pesticide plant, occurred nearly 10 yr ago during the night of December 2 and 3, 1984. Over 3000 people residing in areas adjacent to the plant died of pulmonary edema within 3 d of the accident. Follow-up studies revealed pulmonary, ophthalmic, reproductive, immunologic, neurological, and hematologic toxicity among the survivors. Despite high reactivity, MIC can traverse cell membranes and reach distant organs, perhaps as a reversible conjugate with glutathione, which may explain some of the systemic effects of MIC. MIC can be degraded as a result of pyrolysis and interaction with water, but none of the breakdown products can duplicate the toxicity observed in Bhopal and in animal models. MIC may be the most toxic of all isocyanates because of its very high vapor pressure relative to other isocyanates and because of its ability to exert toxic effects on numerous organ systems.
博帕尔事故是世界上最严重的工业灾难，1984年12月2日至3日夜间，联合碳化物公司农药厂泄漏了近40公吨异氰酸甲酯（MIC）。事故发生后的3天内，居住在工厂附近地区的3000多人死于肺水肿。后续研究发现，幸存者存在肺部、眼部、生殖、免疫、神经和血液系统毒性。尽管异氰酸甲酯反应活性高，但它可以穿过细胞膜并到达远处器官，可能是与谷胱甘肽形成可逆共轭物，这或许可以解释异氰酸甲酯的一些全身效应。异氰酸甲酯可因热解和与水相互作用而降解，但所有分解产物都无法复制在博帕尔和动物模型中观察到的毒性。由于异氰酸甲酯相对于其他异氰酸酯具有非常高的蒸气压，且能够对多个器官系统产生毒性作用，它可能是所有异氰酸酯中毒性最强的。
