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Vinyl chloride/ decomposes on burning producing toxic and corrosive fumes(hydrogen chloride and phosgene). [International Labour Office.Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety. 4th edition, Volumes 1-41998. Geneva, Switzerland: International Labour Office,1998.104.263]**PEER REVIEWED**HAZARDOUS POLYMERIZATION:Polymerization occurs if heated in sunlight or presence of air; reactionis exothermic. [Environment Canada; Tech Info for Problem Spills: VinylChloride (Draft) p.1 (1983)]**PEER REVIEWED**POLYMERIZED IN PRESENCE OF CATALYST [Budavari, S. (ed.). The Merck Index -Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs and Biologicals. Rahway, NJ: Merck andCo., Inc., 1989.1572]**PEER REVIEWED**Prolonged exposure of cylinders or tank cars to heat or fire may cause thematerial to polymerize with possible container rupture. [Association ofAmerican Railroads. Emergency Handling of Hazardous Materials in SurfaceTransportation. Washington, DC: Association of American Railroads, Bureauof Explosives, 1994.1109]**PEER REVIEWED**... Tends to self-polymerize explosively if peroxidation occurs, andseveral industrial explosions have been recorded. [Bretherick, L. Handbookof Reactive Chemical Hazards. 4th ed. Boston, MA: Butterworth-HeinemannLtd., 1990244]**PEER REVIEWED**/Vinyl chloride/ will polymerize readily due to heating & under theinfluence of air, light, & on contact with a catalyst, strongoxidizing agents & metals such as copper & aluminum, with fire orexplosion hazard. [International Labour Office. Encyclopaedia ofOccupational Health and Safety. 4th edition, Volumes 1-4 1998. Geneva,Switzerland: International Labour Office, 1998.104.263]**PEER REVIEWED**PRIOR HISTORY OF ACCIDENTS:After a train derailment in Canada on Mar 10, 1980, in a blizzard in which2 of 12 boxcars were found to be leaking and large quantities of vinylchloride were spilled in the snow, a max of 10 ppm was found ingroundwater at the center of the spill site. Levels dropped below thedetection limit of 0.02 ppm 10 weeks after the spill. [Charlton J et al;p.245-67 in Hazard Assessment of Chemicals Vol 2; Saxena J ed(1983)]**PEER REVIEWED**Travelling from Belgium to the BUNA works in Schkopau, ten of eighteentank wagons filled with vinyl chloride (VC) derailed on theMagdeburg-Halle railway line just outside Schonebeck station. One wagonexploded & 4 others went up in flames. Buildings & trees ingardens located in the immediate vicinity of the track caught fire &burned. 4 owners of garden plots suffered burns. A total of 28 peoplereceived inpatient treatment in a nearby hospital, another 268 people weretreated as outpatients. The typical symptoms of fume poisoning such asheadache, nausea, irritations of respiratory tract & eyes were theprimarily diagnosed problems. The vegetation was damaged by flue gases& developing HCl causing fire & caustic burns. Fire brigades &special task forces succeeded to control the looming danger of health& environmental hazards by cooling the burning wagons & pumpingthe liquid gases from the tank wagons. Vinyl chloride which was releasedover several days was measured in residential areas to be 0.06-8 ml/m3