“This Sunday, November 17, an industrial incident on the Adisseo Saint Clair du Rhône platform has caused very high concentrations of sulfur dioxide in the area since 10 hours. The alert threshold of 500 µg/m3 for 3 hours has been exceeded”: this was announced today, Sunday, November 17, by the Regional Air Quality Observatory, Atmo.
So what exactly happened?
The incident took place on Sunday morning.
Contacted by our colleagues from Dauphiné Libéré, Adisseo acknowledges “significant releases”, linked to “the restarting of an amino acid unit” but assures for his part that it is not an “accident”.
You should know that Adisseo is one of the world leaders in the production of additives and nutritional solutions for animal feed. The site is also classified as Seveso “high threshold”.
What type of gas is it exactly?
Sulfur dioxide or SO2 is a colorless, non-flammable gas with a penetrating odor that irritates the eyes and respiratory tract.
It is further soluble in water and can be oxidized in wind-borne water droplets.
It usually comes from the combustion of fossil fuels (coals, fuel oils, etc.), during which the sulfur impurities contained in the fuels are oxidized by the oxygen in the air O2 into sulfur dioxide SO2.
“It acts in synergy with other substances, notably fine particles. Its effects can be amplified by smoking,” also specifies the Air Observatory, Atmo.
We will perhaps know more on Monday from Adisseo management, whose explanations seem quite limited for the moment.
Photo: Adisseo’s chemical platform in Saint-Clair-du-Rhône
