The Day of Chemical Safety is annually celebrated in the Russian Federation in memory of the tragic event - the ecological disaster that occurred in the Republic of Chuvashia in 1974.
Chemical Safety Day, also called the Day of Fight for Human Rights from Chemical Hazard, is celebrated in Russia every year on April 28.
April 28 events
The tragic events that took place that day at the chemical weapons plant located in Novocheboksarsk, a relatively small town in the Republic of Chuvashia, became a sad reason for the occurrence of this memorable date. The unfinished finished product shop caught fire, and the air bombs in the room burned down with it. At the same time, they were filled with a filling of the most dangerous toxic substance - the so-called V-gas, which was released in a significant amount into the atmosphere.
According to experts, the total volume of gas released into the environment was several tons. As a result of this incident, a large number of workers of the plant suffered: according to some information, the number of people whose health was damaged exceeded 3000. However, only 200 workers were officially recognized as victims, and information about the catastrophe was carefully hidden and was practically unknown outside Novocheboksarsk …
Chemical Safety Day
The events that happened at the Novocheboksarsk chemical weapons plant remained hidden from the general public for several decades. Attention to them was drawn after the collapse of the Soviet Union: in 1997, the Russian public environmental organization - the Union for Chemical Safety - came up with an initiative to establish a memorable date in honor of this tragedy. Initially, April 28 was planned to be called the Day of Fight for Human Rights from Chemical Hazard, but then it was given a shorter and more capacious name - Chemical Safety Day.
This day can hardly be called a holiday: those who celebrate this date strive to do everything to avoid a repetition of this and similar catastrophes in the history of mankind. In honor of the Day of Chemical Safety, it is customary to organize various seminars, conferences and other training and educational events aimed at increasing the level of literacy of people in this area and informing them about the possible consequences of improper handling of hazardous chemicals. In addition, much attention on this day is traditionally paid to the urgent topic of the proliferation of chemical weapons, which poses a threat to all of humanity.
