5 January 2008
Staff Reporter
The Hindu
Chennai: Four out of 11 chemicals detected in a sample of gas that leaked in Manali on December 4 and 5 were found to be above limits prescribed by environmental standards, according to Community Environmental Monitoring (CEM), a Chennai-based voluntary initiative for pollution control.
CEM had the sample tested at Columbia Analytical Services, a laboratory in California that analysed the gas for 89 chemicals.
The lab found that benzene, a carcinogen, was 36 times higher than safety levels prescribed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency; hydrogen sulphide 33 times; bromomethane 1.44 times and carbon disulphide 7.6 times higher than the safety levels.
Seven other chemicals were also detected in the sample.