For more than a decade, a chain of evidence has accumulated that demonstrates that thousands of people living around the now-abandoned Union Carbide factory site in Bhopal, India, are suffering direct exposure to toxic substances from their water supplies. A number of the contaminants, described by a range of studies, are environmentally persistent, remaining in harmful concentrations for decades and readily moving between
environmental media. Properties of the observed contaminants include not just carcinogenicity but also neurotoxicity and potential damage to organs, with most being especially harmful to children and foetuses. Some contamination studies indicate human exposure has already occurred at concentrations that could result in adverse and irreversible health effects.