TRANSPORTATION OF CHEMICALS : HAZARDS FOR PEOPLE AND ENVIRONMENT

Prijevoz kemikalija brodom počeo se razvijati polovicom dvadesetog stoljeća. U to vrijeme, kemijska industrija nije bila snažno razvijena, potrebe za transportom kemikalija nisu bile velike te su se u tu svrhu koristili tankeri za prijevoz nafte i naftnih derivata. Razvoj kemijske industrije nametnuo je potrebu za izgradnjom specijaliziranih brodova za prijevoz kemikalija, kako bi se minimizirao rizik njihovog prijevoza za ljude i okolinu. Danas se za prijevoz kemikalija koriste posebno izgrađeni brodovi, čiji tehnički zahtjevi moraju udovoljavati odredbama konvencija Međunarodne pomorske organizacije. Radi smanjenja rizika u prijevozu kemikalija i unapređenja sigurnosti ljudi i okoliša, potrebno je poznavati fizikalno-kemijska svojstva kemikalija, štetne posljedice koje one mogu prouzročiti ukoliko dospiju u živi organizam ili u okoliš, kao i popravne mjere i radnje koje se u tim slučajevima poduzimaju.The maritime transportation of chemicals begun to develop in the middle of the 20th century. At that time, the chemical industry was not strongly developed, the needs for chemical transportation were not great and oil tankers were used for this scope. The development of the chemical industry imposed on the need to build specialized vessels for transportation of chemicals. Today, the International Maritime Organization provides special technical requirements for chemical tankers, to minimize the risk of transportation and cargo handling for people and environement. It is very important for the tanker crew to know the physical and chemical properties of the tanker's cargo, to avoid the negative consequences that may arise if the chemicals are released in the environment or entered into a living organism, as well as to know the corrective measures and actions that have to be taken in those cases