Abstract
A town named “Nitro” seems a likely place for an explosion, but the explosion that put Nitro, West Virginia, on the map was more like a steam kettle blowing its seals than a stick of dynamite going off. Nitro grew up around chemicals. The United States government built a munitions factory there during World War I; later, a rubber products company bought and used the factory buildings. Then the Monsanto Company set up operations there to manufacture a wide range of chemicals, including trichlorophenol and the commercially successful herbicide 2,4,5-T. Until 1953, no one knew that dioxin contaminated trichlorophenol, but dioxin literally burst onto the scene in 1949.
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References
United States District Court, Southern Court of West Virginia. Durland, J. R. Verbal testimony in James R. Boggess et al. versus Monsanto Company. Vol. 7-A. June 26, 1984.
United States District Court, Southern Court of West Virginia. Durland, J. R. Verbal testimony in James R. Boggess et al. versus Monsanto Company. Vol. 8. June 27, 1984.
United States District Court, Southern Court of West Virginia. Kelly, R. E. Verbal testimony in James R. Boggess et al. versus Monsanto Company. Vol. 86-A. December 5, 1984. Dr. Kelly was referring to a letter written by Dr. Louis Schwartz on May 11, 1949, that described the white powder.
Ashe, W. F., and R. R. Suskind. Reports on chloracne. Monsanto Chemical Company, Nitro, West Virginia. October, 1949 and April, 1950. Typescript. Department of Environmental Health, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati.
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© 1986 Michael Gough
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Gough, M. (1986). The Nitro Explosion. In: Dioxin, Agent Orange. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-6130-3_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-6130-3_10
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