En el caso del Chaitén, se puede presumir que fluoruros, cloruros y sulfuros están incorporándose al aire que respiramos, además de las visibles partículas de anhídrido silícico calcinado que de ser simples arenas se han convertido en microcristales de vidrio con bordes afilados.
Conocer los riesgos de un problema como el que sufrimos no es asustar a la población, sino prevenirla para que esos riesgos puedan minimizarse en todo lo posible.
El artículo que sigue lo hemos tomado parcialmente de fluoridation.com en su idioma original, pero recomendamos su lectura completa.
A Secret History of America's Worst Air Pollution Disaster
by Chris Bryson
The anniversary of the worst recorded industrial air pollution accident in US history - which occurred 50 years ago this October in Donora, Pennsylvania -will go virtually unmarked. The Donora incident, which killed 20 and left hundreds seriously injured and dying, was caused by fluoride emissions from the Donora Zinc Works and steel plants owned by the US Steel Corporation.
In the aftermath of the accident, US Steel conspired with US Public Health Service (PHS) officials to cover up the role fluoride played in the tragedy. This charge comes from Philip Sadtler, a top industrial chemical consultant who conducted his own research at the scene of the disaster.
Fifty years later, Earth Island Journal has learned, vital records of the Donora investigation are missing from PHS archives. Fifty years later, US Steel continues to block access to their records of the Donora disaster, including a crucial air chemical analysis taken on the final night of the tragedy.
