I think this is closer to Chernobyl than an oil spill. Act accordingly. The amount that's in the air is over 5000ppm based on people smelling it. Given the incompetence seen so far, expect it to travel far and fast.
Hopefully the air shifts east and doesn't go anywhere near the Ozarks.
This release is large enough it will circle the globe and the entire northern hemisphere will get some level of contamination, cancer and death rates and birth defects will follow. On a side note, I miss the ozarks, pretty places, real people.
My questions are how long these persist in the air (half-life) and how much of each. Here's my quick research:
From :
Vinyl Chloride in the Environment
- Vinyl chloride can be released into the environment (mainly the air) during its production or use. In the air, it is degraded by reaction with photochemically-generated hydroxyl radicals; its half-life is about 1–2 days.
- Liquid vinyl chloride evaporates easily. Vinyl chloride in water or soil evaporates rapidly if it is near the surface.
- Vinyl chloride can migrate to groundwater. In anaerobic groundwater, degradation occurs slowly.
- Vinyl chloride is also mobile in soil and susceptible to leaching.
- Vinyl chloride does not accumulate in plants or in animals.
:
The physico-chemical properties indicate that hydrogen chloride released into the environment is distributed into the air and water. Hydrogen chloride can react with hydroxyl radicals to form chloride free radicals and water and its half-life time is calculated as 11 days
. Fuuuuck.
The half-life for phosgene's reaction with hydroxyl radicals in air, however, is estimated at 44 years, and the hydrolysis pathway in air is sluggish, resulting in the potential for phosgene to persist in the atmosphere.
:
By means of a variety of analytical techniques, the combustion profile of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) has been determined. This profile includes flame temperatures, soot content, and a combustion gas analysis. Depending on the amount of VCM-air premixing prior to combustion, the temperature of a VCM flame ranges from 950° to 1466°C. Similarly, the soot or unburned carbon content of a VCM flame varies from 3 to 6 weight percent. An analysis of the combustion gases from VCM reveal the following composition: HC1 27,000 ppm; CO2 58,100 ppm; CO 9500 ppm; phosgene 40 ppm; and VCM trace. From a hazard standpoint, the gross quantity of hydrogen chloride is the main source of danger in a VCM fire.
So at least it doesn't produce a lot of phosgene compared to HC1 (with half-life of 11 days).
It's worse than Chernobyl. 5000ppm is a death sentence.
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