The Chemical Safety Board is seeking public comment through May 10 on the design of a congressionally mandated National Academies of Sciences study (.pdf file) on the use of highly toxic methyl isocyanate in pesticide manufacturing.
Congress appropriated $600,000 for the study after a fatal explosion occurred near a 37,000-pound-capacity MIC storage tank at the Bayer CropScience pesticide manufacturing complex in West Virginia in 2008. A sudden MIC release at a pesticide manufacturing plant in Bhopal, India, in December 1984 resulted in the deaths of thousands of citizens.
CSB is requesting comment on the study design and timetable, appropriate composition of the study panel, and the examination of other chemicals.
