1975 The Kepone disaster in Hopewell, Virginia. Workers at Life Science Products Company were poisoned while making the pesticide Kepone (chlordecone). Kepone and its waste materials were dumped into the James River and its tributaries from 1966 to 1975 by Allied Chemical Company and LifeSciences Product Company.
Toxic Dust: The History and Legacy of Virginia’s Kepone Disaster, Virginia Museum of History and Culture.
1976 Seveso Disaster. An industrial accident that resulted in the release of toxic chemicals and high exposure to TCDD to residents in and near Seveso, Italy. Health effects are still being studied, and include mortality, diabetes, cancer, neonatal thyroid function, and lower sperm counts.
Eskenazi, B., Warner, M., Brambilla, P., Signorini, S., Ames, J., & Mocarelli, P. (2018). The Seveso accident: A look at 40 years of health research and beyond. Environment international, 121(Pt 1), 71–84.
1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) enacted; it grandfathered in thousands of unevaluated chemicals in commerce at the time.
1977 Pesticide workers develop infertility. A number of cases of infertility were discovered among men working in a California pesticide factory. The suspected cause was exposure to the chemical 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP).
Whorton, D., Krauss, R. M., Marshall, S., & Milby, T. H. (1977). Infertility in male pesticide workers. Lancet (London, England), 2(8051), 1259–1261.