Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
PARTIAL HISTORY OF POLLUTION
AND POLLUTION CONTROL
BY THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
Year
ca. 2500
The Sumerians used sulfur compounds for insect control.
BC
ca.1500
The Chinese used naturally occurring chemicals to control
insects in grain.
BC
>
1700
Copper pollution in Palestine due to copper smelting
thousands of years before.
1773
Discharge of hydrogen chloride into the air from the
manufacture of soda ash. Continued until 1864 when early
pollution control laws were passed.
>
1900
Sulfuric acid manufacture released both sulfur oxides and
arsenic into the environment.
1906
The Pure Food and Drug Act established the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA).
1917
Workers making explosives for World War I developed
jaundice from dust inhalation.
1921
A chemical nitrate plant in Germany exploded, killing more
than 600 people.
1935
The Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA), a trade
group, established a Water Resources Committee to study
the effect of their industry on water bodies.
1947
A ship in Texas City, TX, loaded with ammonium nitrate
exploded, killing 462 people and injuring more than 3000.
1948
The CMA established an Air Quality Committee to study
methods for improving air quality.
1958
The Delaney Amendment to the Food and Drug Act addressed
the control of food additives.
1959
Cranberries destroyed by the federal government due to
contamination by a weedkiller.
1960
A drug prescribed in the 1950s to prevent miscarriages was
reported to cause cancer and other problems in female
children of the drug recipients.
