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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, June 1, 2012 7:40:45 AM
A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
Connecting Chemistry and Safety at http://www.dchas.org
All article summaries and tags are archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas
Table of Contents (14 articles)
METH TRASH GROWING PROBLEM IN NORTHERN INDIANA WATERWAYS
Tags: us_IN, public, discovery, environmental, corrosives, flammables, meth_lab
TRAFFIC SLOWED ON BROADWAY DURING SEARCH OF FORMER LAB
Tags: us_OH, laboratory, discovery, response, unknown_chemical
MERCURY SPILL CAUSES SCHOOL SCARE
Tags: us_MD, education, release, response, mercury
È STATE INVESTIGATES FORD CITY MERCURY DROPLETS
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, environmental, mercury
EXPLOSION ROCKS HOME IN VACAVILLE
Tags: us_CA, public, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
OZONE LEAK SENDS SIX EMPLOYEES TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_MA, industrial, release, injury, ozone
I-70 REOPENED AFTER HAZMAT SPILL
Tags: us_CO, transportation, release, response, corrosives
METHANOL BLAMED FOR AUTOMOBILE FIRES
Tags: Viet_Nam, public, fire, response, ethanol, gasoline, illegal, methanol
LOCAL & REGIONAL NEWS FOR EUGENE, SPRINGFIELD OREGON
Tags: us_OR, transportation, release, injury, corrosives
UNIPETROL REPORTS FIRE IN CHEMICAL PLANT IN ZALUZI, CTK REPORTS
Tags: Czech_Republic, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
ANOTHER FIRE AT SINCLAIR REFINERY IN WYOMING INJURES 2
Tags: us_WY, industrial, fire, injury, petroleum
PLUME AT SWIM SCHOOL SENDS SEVERAL TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_AZ, education, release, injury, pool_chemicals
7 INJURED AT MEAD JOHNSON IN ZEELAND AFTER CHLORINE LEAK
Tags: us_MI, industrial, release, injury, chlorine, gas_cylinders
FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO MINOR CHEMICAL EXPLOSION AT TUFTS
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, explosion, response, unknown_chemical
---------------------------------------------
METH TRASH GROWING PROBLEM IN NORTHERN INDIANA WATERWAYS
http://www.wsbt.com/news/wsbt-meth-trash-growing-problem-in-northern-indiana-waterways-20120531,0,1143555.story
Tags: us_IN, public, discovery, environmental, corrosives, flammables, meth_lab
BREMEN - More methamphetamine is popping up in our area's waters.
Indiana State Police became aware of the problem after a Marshall County fisherman found several suspicious items floating in the Yellow River near Peach Road and 14th Road which he believed could be meth trash. The State Police Meth Suppression Section and the Underwater Search Rescue/Recovery Team joined forces to clear the meth from the river.
For years, State Police MSS and Clandestine Lab team have been responsible for cleaning up meth labs, and authorities have seen a lot of the meth thrown along the side of roads. Trooper Andy Cochran says it now appears the meth cooks have turned to tossing their trash into our waterways.
Officers spent the better part of a day searching nearly three miles of the Yellow River. "The amount of trash that we found in the river made your stomach turn," said Underwater Search Rescue Sergeant Trent Smith. State Police found more than two dozen plastic bottles that were used as 1-Pot Reaction Vessels or Hydrogen Chloride Gas Generators and empty pseudoephedrine blister packs, burnt foil strips, soiled coffee filters, empty instant cold packs, aquatic tubing, salt, and smoking devices. Officers also removed other non-hazardous trash from the river as they came across it but quickly ran out of space on their boats.
With warmer weather here, more of us will be outside walking, jogging and bike riding in rural areas, and Smith says there's the potential we may come across a meth lab or trash left behind by those who have manufactured meth. Smith reminds us the trash from outdoor meth labs may contain chemicals that are toxic, flammable, corrosive and acidic. When mixed together, the chemicals can be highly explosive. The fumes are toxic and can cause internal damage to organs.
---------------------------------------------
TRAFFIC SLOWED ON BROADWAY DURING SEARCH OF FORMER LAB
http://www.toledoblade.com/Police-Fire/2012/06/01/Traffic-slowed-on-Broadway-during-search-of-former-lab.html
Tags: us_OH, laboratory, discovery, response, unknown_chemical
Northbound Broadway was closed near Maumee Avenue for most of the day Thursday while hazardous materials crews inspected chemicals inside a former medical laboratory.
Toledo-Lucas County Health Department spokesman Stacy DeBruyne said there was no threat to public health and no one was evacuated. She also said there was no criminal activity involved.
The fire department was called to the warehouse at 1021 Broadway just after 9 a.m. The street reopened about 7:20 p.m.
Ms. DeBruyne said city inspectors checked the building, formerly occupied by Advanced Clinical Diagnostics laboratory, earlier this week after Toledo's Neighborhoods Department received complaints from the community. During the inspection, chemicals were found inside.
The health department obtained a search warrant to enter the structure.
"We know that there's chemicals inside," Ms. DeBruyne said. "The nature of them we're not sure, and that's why we've involved hazmat [crews]."
---------------------------------------------
MERCURY SPILL CAUSES SCHOOL SCARE
http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/news/region/baltimore_city/mercury-spill-causes-school-scare
Tags: us_MD, education, release, response, mercury
BALTIMORE (WMAR) - A mercury spill evacuated a Baltimore City Public School Thursday afternoon.
Baltimore City Hazmat crews responded to Rognel Heights Elementary School just after 1:00 p.m. for reports of the spill.
School spokesperson Edie Foster-House says the spill was contained to a storage closet, and no one was injured in the incident. The cause of the spill was determined to be a thermometer that had broken in the closet.
The school was evacuated for a short time, and three adults were tested for exposure since some mercury was found on their shoes.
---------------------------------------------
È STATE INVESTIGATES FORD CITY MERCURY DROPLETS
http://www.kittanningpaper.com/2012/05/31/state-investigates-ford-city-mercury-droplets/27633
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, environmental, mercury
Potentially-dangerous mercury droplets were successfully removed from a former Ford City industrial site during the past three months.
During a Department of Environmental Protection public meeting at the Ford City library last night, officials told more than a dozen residents and local borough officials that that some of the chemical found along Eljer Way at the former Ford City Equipment site was recycled in the other end of the state, while nearly 20 tons of contaminated fill was transported out-of-state.
Project Manager Edward Litwin gave the news on behalf of DEP.
"Our samples say there's no more mercury there," Litwin said. "We cleaned it up to our standards. The source of the mercury's gone so we should be - knock on wood - free and clear of this now."
Litwin went on to address community concerns of the clean-up, which was completed May 11.
Carolyn Nicotra of Ford City was the first to raise questions regarding where the mercury came from. Nicotra was tested for the substance by a local physician since she is allergic to it.
She reportedly tested negative, but was concerned, especially after Litwin told her the property owner is undetermined because of ongoing litigation.
---------------------------------------------
EXPLOSION ROCKS HOME IN VACAVILLE
http://www.thereporter.com/news/ci_20758485/explosion-rocks-home-vacaville
Tags: us_CA, public, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
A Vacaville neighborhood was rocked Thursday afternoon after a home on Juniper Street suddenly exploded, blowing out the windows and injuring its two occupants.
Police officers and firefighters responded to the single-story home in the 200 block of Juniper Street around 4:26 p.m. and began evacuating neighboring residences after receiving reports of an explosion.
Upon arrival, officers found two of the home's occupants, believed to be in their 20s, one suffering what Vacaville police Sgt. Charlie Spruill called "severe burns" on both of his arms. Both subjects refused being taken to the hospital by ambulance and, after the severely burned resident had his arms bandaged by medics on scene, sought medical treatment on their own.
A strong chemical odor was coming from inside the home and police issued a "shelter-in-place" order to those in the neighborhood. A portion of Stinson Avenue, which leads to Juniper Street was also closed to keep traffic from the area.
Spruill said the residents told police there were three "vicious pit bulls" inside the home at the time of the explosion, prompting firefighters to carry Tasers when they searched the home. However, the house was cleared without incident.
The exact cause of the explosion is still under investigation.
"They said they were cooking," Spruill said. "The issue is what they were cooking. We have (narcotics officers) here who believe they were possibly manufacturing narcotics."
Spruill said there
was extensive damage throughout the home, ranging from shattered glass and dry wall
The force of the explosion was so powerful that it cracked the yellow stucco of the home's outer wall to the left of the doorway. A sliding door at the back of the home was also blown off its track and across the back yard.
---------------------------------------------
OZONE LEAK SENDS SIX EMPLOYEES TO HOSPITAL
http://wilmington.patch.com/articles/gas-leak-sends-six-employees-to-hospital
Tags: us_MA, industrial, release, injury, ozone
Six Analog Devices employees were transported to area hospitals following a chemical exposure that was controlled quickly thanks to the company's emergency management plan.
John Brown, Wilmington Fire Department Deputy Chief, said crews received a call after 10 p.m. on Wednesday for an ozone leak at a processor inside the building. By the time crews responded to the Woburn Street scene, the building was evacuated and all chemical readings were at zero.
The six employees who were in the area of the processor when the leak was reported were transported to the hospital, but it was strictly for precautionary reasons, Brown said.
"It was an event, but a non-event because of the systems they have in place there," said Brown. "The response involved a lot of people and equipment, but everything that was supposed to be in place was and everything worked as it was supposed to."
---------------------------------------------
I-70 REOPENED AFTER HAZMAT SPILL
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20120530/NEWS/120539996/1078&ParentProfile=1055
Tags: us_CO, transportation, release, response, corrosives
SILVERTHORNE Ñ Eight bags of hydrated lime powder that toppled off the back of a semi-truck Wednesday morning caused eastbound I-70 to close for clean-up for six-and-a-half hours.
Eastbound lanes were closed from Vail to Silverthorne until 5:30 p.m. Wednesday after highway traffic began to gridlock in Frisco.
The highway was coated in lime when a flatbed truck dropped several bags of the powder at mile marker 204 on the hill between Frisco and Silverthorne. Lime is a corrosive chemical that can cause burns to the skin and eyes as well as lungs and respiratory passages if inhaled.
Clean-up efforts were delayed as local emergency responders waited for a Colorado State Patrol hazmat team to arrive from another incident in Weld County.
---------------------------------------------
METHANOL BLAMED FOR AUTOMOBILE FIRES
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/social-issues/225474/methanol-blamed-for-automobile-fires.html
Tags: Viet_Nam, public, fire, response, ethanol, gasoline, illegal, methanol
HA NOI Ñ Methanol, a low-quality additive in petroleum, has been found to be one of the main causes of hundreds of automobile fires over the past two years. However, loop-holes in legal regulations are leading to ineffective management of the use of the chemical.
Results from an investigation by the Refinery and Petrochemical Technology Research Centre and HCM City University of Technology showed that poor quality fuel, mixed with low-quality additives such as methanol and ethanol, was the chief cause of automobile and motorbike fires. This kind of fuel can lead to petrol leakages caused by damaged fuel lines and high gas pressure.
Dr Le Van Hieu of the Chemical Technique Centre said methanol was officially banned from being added to petroleum because it was a toxic chemical that could cause blindness, unconsciousness and death, as well as environmental pollution.
However, methanol was not listed in technical standards that must be measured or checked during inspections of petroleum quality.He said that authorities did not check methanol levels, and it was a mistake to assume it would not be present in petroleum.
---------------------------------------------
LOCAL & REGIONAL NEWS FOR EUGENE, SPRINGFIELD OREGON
http://www.kval.com/news/local/At-least-three-people-injured-during-hazardous-materials-incident-Portland-155757555.html
Tags: us_OR, transportation, release, injury, corrosives
PORTLAND, Ore. - Firefighters said eleven people were injured after two chemicals inadvertently mixed at a Southeast Portland Darigold milk plant.
Portland Fire and Rescue spokesman Paul Corah said a tanker truck driver showed up at the plant, hooked up a wrong hose and pumped a corrosive acid into a tank.
The incident happened at Darigold's facility at 2720 SE 6th Avenue.
"I was talking with a customer and we heard 'evacuate the building, this is not a drill'" said Ken Ward, who works across the street from the plant. "We heard it a couple of times."
Corah said the truck driver pumped in 450 gallons of acid into a tank that contained 1,150 gallons of a caustic liquid.
The mixing set off a chemical reaction and the tank heated up to 120 degrees. Fire crews were worried the tank might melt if it hit 150 degrees. It if does melt, toxic fumes could be released into the air. Crews are working to cool the tank with water so chemicals can be safely removed.
Corah said the driver noticed something was wrong when he saw yellow gas that shouldn't have been there. He was among the people who were injured.
A Darigold spokesman said the truck driver was from a third-party vendor.
---------------------------------------------
UNIPETROL REPORTS FIRE IN CHEMICAL PLANT IN ZALUZI, CTK REPORTS
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-30/unipetrol-reports-fire-in-chemical-plant-in-zaluzi-ctk-reports.html
Tags: Czech_Republic, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
Unipetrol AS (UNIP), the biggest Czech oil refiner, said a fire broke out this morning at its chemical plant in the town of Zaluzi u Litvinova, CTK reported.
There were no casualties during the accident and the fire is under control, the newswire quoted Mikulas Duda, a spokesman for Unipetrol's refinery unit, as saying.
---------------------------------------------
ANOTHER FIRE AT SINCLAIR REFINERY IN WYOMING INJURES 2
http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/another-fire-at-sinclair-refinery-in-wyoming-injures/article_d82141b7-ebf3-58cb-857c-f1de74d8980d.html
Tags: us_WY, industrial, fire, injury, petroleum
CASPER, Wyo. Ñ Two workers at the Sinclair refinery near Rawlins were injured in a late-night fire on Friday, a Sinclair spokesman said.
One worker was treated and immediately released from a hospital while the other was treated but not released until Monday. Sinclair didn't reveal the names of the workers.
Carbon County Memorial Hospital in Rawlins, which likely treated both workers, didn't immediately respond to an information request.
The "brief fire" occurred at 11 p.m. Friday during start-up of a pump in the refinery's alkylation unit, Sinclair spokesman Clint Ensign said in an email Tuesday.
Damage was limited to the pump and the refinery is currently operating, he said.
A spokeswoman for the Wyoming Occupational and Safety Health Administration didn't respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
The fire was the refinery's second in less than a month, and the latest in a long string of safety and environmental problems at the refinery.
A May 8 flash fire in the refinery's gas recovery unit burned four workers, three severely.
---------------------------------------------
PLUME AT SWIM SCHOOL SENDS SEVERAL TO HOSPITAL
http://azstarnet.com/news/state-and-regional/plume-at-swim-school-sends-several-to-hospital/article_ed2dbb55-771a-595a-bb1f-e0115b5ab1cc.html
Tags: us_AZ, education, release, injury, pool_chemicals
Several children and a swimming coach who were exposed to a non-life-threatening plume caused by a mixture of chemicals for swimming pools were taken to a hospital after inhaling the fumes.
The Arizona Republic reports (http://bit.ly/MPcmn7) that an employee at a location of the Hubbard Family Swim School accidentally mixed the substances Saturday.
The plume was caused by a mixture of muriatic acid and chlorine.
Authorities treated eight people for exposure and sent five people to the hospital as a precautionary measure.
---------------------------------------------
7 INJURED AT MEAD JOHNSON IN ZEELAND AFTER CHLORINE LEAK
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/article/213547/2/Five-injured-at-Mead-Johnson-in-Zeeland-after-chlorine-leak
Tags: us_MI, industrial, release, injury, chlorine, gas_cylinders
ZEELAND, Mich. (WZZM) -- Seven people suffered minor injuries today when chlorine leaked at a Zeeland factory.
It happened around 1:15 p.m. Tuesday at the Mead Johnson Nutrition plant on East Main Street.
Alarms registered that a small chlorine leak had occured. The leak was in a small cylinder that was part of a water treatment system. Firefighters believe the chlorine was leaking out of a valve, possibly due to corrosion.
Chlorine is a chemical that can make it hard to breathe, and exposure can lead to pneumonia.
The affected employees were taken to local hospitals to be checked out for breathing concerns. Five patients went to Holland Hospital, and the two others were taken to Spectrum Health Zeeland Community Hospital.
---------------------------------------------
FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO MINOR CHEMICAL EXPLOSION AT TUFTS
http://somerville.patch.com/articles/firefighters-respond-to-possible-chemical-explosion-at-tufts
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, explosion, response, unknown_chemical
The Somerville Fire Department responded Tuesday evening to a "a minor explosion and a small spill" at a Tufts University chemical lab, according to Somerville Fire Department District Chief Jim King.
The minor explosion caused some mild acid to be spilled, King said, and no one was injured in the incident.
The small explosion happened at 62 Talbot Ave. in Somerville at a building called the Pearson Memorial Laboratory on the Tufts University campus.
Initial reports of a chemical explosion at the laboratory prompted a rapid and heavy response from fire personnel at about 6:15 p.m., according to scanner transmissions.
Somerville Patch was on the scene at about 6:30 p.m., shortly after firefighters arrived, and at the time students and workers in the laboratory had been evacuated from the building but were not sure what had happened.
According to King, it was pressureized plastic bottle that exploded, and the district chief described the workers in the laboratory as "young PhDs." Although the explosion was minor, they called the fire department out of caution.
By about 6:50 p.m. fire personnel cleared the area and workers were able to go back into the building.
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