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Abstract
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A terrible explosion of ammonium nitrate occurred on 4 August 2020, killing 270 people and injuring more than 6000, in the Lebanese capital: Beirut. This disaster stole the show from all that is happening in the country like revolt, corona and bankruptcy.
Officially, a fireworks explosion had detonated nearly 3000 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in one of the port's warehouses producing a huge blast [1]. "The most dangerous thing is that no one knows what exploded besides ammonium nitrate and how toxic the dust is," reclaimed Greenpeace Middle East and North Africa program manager in Beirut [2]. Lebanon's health minister called for an emergency evacuation to all the regions near the blast because of the hazardous and toxic chemicals produced by the incident.
On its own, ammonium nitrate is usually used as a fertilizer, but it is also an essential compound in the production of industrial explosives [3]. It is not combustible but has a fire-promoting effect due to its positive oxygen balance +20%. It enables the content of oxygen in excess. For this reason, ammonium nitrate is the essential oxidizing salt in multiple types of explosives [4].
An explosion involving ammonium nitrate produces toxic ammonia (NH3), nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitric oxide (NO) gases [5,6]. The nitric oxide reacts rapidly with oxygen to form the toxic nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas, which has a reddish-brown color. The nitrogen dioxide was probably responsible for the color of the cloud observed in Beirut after the explosion. Inhalation of nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide causes acute respiratory distress syndrome, diffuse distal airway inflammation, pulmonary edema and methemoglobinemia [7,8].
The department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Hotel Dieu de France Hospital was interested in the hazards and dangers of ammonium nitrate on women's health as it was the only hospital in the blast region (eastern Beirut and Achrafieh) receiving casualties and treating wounded patients. All the other facilities were destroyed.
Language: en |