This archive report was first published on 5 August 2020.
Published on August 5, 2020, a devastating explosion rocked the port of Beirut, Lebanon, killing dozens and causing unprecedented damage. The blast was attributed to 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer commonly used in agriculture and construction.
Ammonium nitrate is an odorless crystalline substance that has been the cause of numerous industrial explosions over the decades. When combined with fuel oils, it creates a potent explosive widely used by the construction industry, but also by insurgent groups like the Taliban for improvised explosives.
Its dangers are well-documented, with notable incidents including a 2013 fertilizer plant explosion in Texas that killed 15 people and was ruled deliberate, and a 2001 chemical plant explosion in Toulouse, France that killed 31 people but was accidental.
"If you look at the video (of the Beirut explosion), you saw the black smoke, you saw the red smoke, that was an incomplete reaction," said Jimmie Oxley, a chemistry professor at the University of Rhode Island. "I am assuming that there was a small explosion that instigated the reaction of the ammonium nitrate -- whether that small explosion was an accident or something on purpose I haven't heard yet."
"We wouldn't have this modern world without explosives, and we wouldn't feed the population we have today without ammonium nitrate fertilizer," she said. "We need ammonium nitrate, we just need to pay good attention to what we're doing with it." Despite its dangers, ammonium nitrate remains indispensable in agriculture and construction. In fact, many countries in the European Union require that calcium carbonate be added to ammonium nitrate to create calcium ammonium nitrate, which is safer. Regulations have been tightened significantly in the United States after the Oklahoma City attack in 1995, with facilities that store more than 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms) of ammonium nitrate subject to inspections.
