Chemical Contamination Produces Poisonous Gas

Case Overview

This case takes place in Indiana and involves the transportation of volatile chemicals to industrial facilities in North America. The plaintiff in this case is a business owner that distributes a particular chemical to hundreds of factories and industrial facilities. The plaintiff’s company purchases the chemical from a large producer, who then hires an external company to transport the chemicals. The defendant’s company specializes in transporting hazardous materials.

When the plaintiff purchased a large order of the chemical they required, the defendant transported it. The defendant used a trailer that had been previously used to transport another, different chemical. However, the trailer was not properly cleaned before it was used. As a result, during the drive to deliver the chemical to the customer, the plaintiff began experiencing a number of acute medical problems. Additional medical evaluations have determined that the injuries he has suffered are permanent.

Questions to the Engineering expert and their responses

Are you familiar with the chemical reaction which occurs when the two chemicals in question contact one another?

From the symptoms described, the major toxin was most likely the residual chemical that was not removed from the trailer. This vapor was then subsequently sucked into the cabin.

Could you calculate the concentration of toxins in a set environment and provide analysis for these considerations?

Without knowing the amount of the chemical that remained in the tanks before they were refilled with the other substance, it is impossible to calculate analytically the concentration of toxins in the cabin. However, this concentration can be inferred from the degree of severity of the symptoms, which are well known quantities, but this is the inverse of what you are asking for. The only way to proceed is to make a reasonable estimate of how much might have been in the tanks before refilling, and proceed from there. Assuming the amount of chemicals left in the tanks, then a likely level of toxin accumulation in the cab was X, and this level of toxin produces these symptoms within the human body. I could calculate an X that would fall within a narrow range of the symptomatic scale that is well-studied and documented for ammonia exposure.

About the expert

This expert earned his bachelor's degree Magna Cum Laude in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois prior to receiving his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware. His Ph.D. studies focused on thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, molecular modeling, and sustainable energy, and his dissertation culminated in the publication of a textbook on the thermodynamics of flowing systems. After working as a Senior Researcher for ETH-Zurich, one of the world's leading universities for technology and the natural sciences, he returned to the U.S. and joined the faculty at his current institution, where he is a Professor in and the Associate Head of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He has published over 90 articles in professional engineering and scientific journals, and he continues to be heavily involved in thermodynamics research.

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Specialties:

Engineering