Experience from past chemical incidents such as the 9/11 incident in New York, has shown that the consequences of a chemical incident involving a mixture of chemicals are widespread, complex, multi‐dimensional and protracted. Similarly, the industrial disaster caused by a chemical plant in Minamata, Japan that led to methylmercury contamination of the marine environment and subsequent contamination of the food chain, demonstrated that the consequences of widespread and long‐lasting contamination incidents are complex and multidimensional. hemical incidents may contaminate food production systems (e.g. farmland), inhabited areas (e.g. urban or rural areas) and water environments (e.g. marine or inland waterways) and extend to public or private drinking water supplies.