From Sathyu’s Introduction to Bhopal for Young People
Well over half a million people were exposed. Those exposed had swollen eyes and they were gasping for breath. Medical research showed that once people inhaled the poisonous gases, the poisons went into their blood and as the blood circulated in the body, the poisons in it caused damage to different parts of the body. Breathlessness, cough, diminished eyesight, lack of appetite, numbness in the limbs, fatigue, pain all over the body – these were some of the problems people had.
Peoples’ immune systems were badly affected so they became more prone to tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. Over 100, 000 people remain ill, many without respite for the last 26 years. Research carried out by us at Sambhavna Trust Clinic shows that even the children who were in their mother’s womb at the time of the disaster or those born even two years later were shorter, thinner, lighter and had smaller heads compared to children born to parents who were not exposed to the poisonous gases.
