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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, January 9, 2015 at 7:23:09 AM
A membership benefit of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
All article summaries and tags are archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas
Table of Contents (8 articles)
SODIUM HYDROXIDE DUMP EVACUATES 12 B.C. HOMES OVER HOLIDAYS
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, meth_lab, sodium_hydroxide
CHEMICAL SPILL SLOWS COMMUTE
Tags: us_CT, transportation, release, response, ferric_chloride
ARROW PIERCES SCHOOL FIRE EXTINGUISHER, SETS OFF SMOKE ALARM
Tags: us_SD, education, release, response, dust, fire_extinguisher
WASTE COMPANY SUES INSURER OVER CHEMICAL BLAST CLEANUP
Tags: us_CA, transportation, follow-up, response, other_chemical
JUDGE DENIES STAY IN WEST EXPLOSION CASES
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, response, explosives
WE ARE SLOWLY POISONING OURSELVES WITH BACKYARD BURNINGS
Tags: us_MO, industrial, discovery, environmental, chlorine
O.C. PAINT COMPANY SETTLES LAWSUIT FOR ILLEGAL HANDLING OF TOXIC CHEMICAL
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, death, methylene_chloride
RISK SCIENCE CENTER ARE QUANTUM DOT TVS ‰?? AND THEIR TOXIC INGREDIENTS ‰?? ACTUALLY BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT?
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, metals
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SODIUM HYDROXIDE DUMP EVACUATES 12 B.C. HOMES OVER HOLIDAYS
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, meth_lab, sodium_hydroxide
Twelve homes in the area of Victoria, B.C., were evacuated over the holidays when neighbours spotted a man empting four barrels of what is believed to be sodium hydroxide‰??a key ingredient in methamphetamine production‰??onto a property‰??s lawn.
HazMat crews have been working to remediate the area following the Dec. 18 spill.
Sodium hydroxide is also widely used in the oil and pulp industries, as well as a number of cleaning products.
The investigation is ongoing.
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CHEMICAL SPILL SLOWS COMMUTE
Tags: us_CT, transportation, release, response, ferric_chloride
Greenwich, Conn. (WTNH) ‰?? A tractor trailer leaking a chemical used to clean wastewater caused some problems on the northbound side of I-95 between exits two and three in Greenwich this morning.
The rig was hauling about 34 hundred gallons of a ferric chloride solution, when the driver was alerted that some of the chemical was leaking from a rear valve of the truck. About fifty gallons of the solution spilled before the driver was able to pull into the containment area at a weigh station off of the highway. The Department of Energy and Environmental Emergency Response unit was brought in to clean up spill.
The truck was operated by Kuhnle Brothers Incorporated out of Newbury, Ohio. Despite the spill, state troopers did not have to close the highway.
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ARROW PIERCES SCHOOL FIRE EXTINGUISHER, SETS OFF SMOKE ALARM
Tags: us_SD, education, release, response, dust, fire_extinguisher
Archery practice at West Middle School turned more exciting than usual Tuesday afternoon when an errant arrow pierced a fire extinguisher and set off the school's fire alarm.
At about 12:37 p.m. Tuesday, the Rapid City Fire Department responded to the alarm at the school, at 1003 Soo San Drive.
Firefighters discovered that when a shot by one of the students hit the fire extinguisher, the contents ‰?? a chemical powder ‰?? were released. The powder activated the smoke detectors.
There was no fire, and no one was injured in the incident.
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WASTE COMPANY SUES INSURER OVER CHEMICAL BLAST CLEANUP
Tags: us_CA, transportation, follow-up, response, other_chemical
Jan. 07--SANTA PAULA, Calif. -- The owner of a Ventura County disposal plant shut down by a chemical blast in mid-November has sued its insurer, claiming Allied World Assurance Co. must cover damages up to $7 million.
In the suit filed late last month, Santa Clara Waste Water Co. says the Swiss insurer has steadfastly refused to pay claims resulting from an explosion and fire at the plant west of Santa Paula.
Allied World is objecting based on terms of the insurance coverage as well as reservations about the ongoing criminal probe of the company by the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, the lawsuit says.
Costs of the cleanup and emergency response exceeded $4.5 million and were described as "ever mounting" in the lawsuit filed Dec. 23.
Also named as a defendant in the suit is 805 Trucking Inc., the Oxnard company that owns the truck that exploded.
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JUDGE DENIES STAY IN WEST EXPLOSION CASES
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, response, explosives
The judge presiding over the West fertilizer plant explosion litigation Wednesday denied a request from defense attorneys to delay proceedings for at least 90 days.
Judge Jim Meyer of Waco‰??s 170th State District Court heard about an hour of arguments from attorneys involved in the extensive legal battle before denying the defense request to stay the proceedings indefinitely or to at least delay them three months.
The plaintiffs opposed the request.
Dallas attorney Carlos Balido, who represented the majority of defendants at the hearing, asked for the delay because he said the defense has not been given access to evidence collected at the scene by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
He argued that the ATF criminal investigation is ongoing and that the results could change the direction of the West litigation.
Waco attorney Steve Harrison, who represents many of the plaintiffs, argued that the defense was seeking a ‰??delay for delay sake.‰??
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WE ARE SLOWLY POISONING OURSELVES WITH BACKYARD BURNINGS
Tags: us_MO, industrial, discovery, environmental, chlorine
Times Beach, Mo., a community of about 2,000 near St. Louis, was evacuated by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1983 after it was determined that waste industrial oil sprayed on the town's dirt roads (to suppress dust) contained dioxin, a dangerous carcinogen that bioaccumulates in the human body.
Dioxin is perhaps best known from its presence in Agent Orange, the deadly defoliant used during the Vietnam War. Dioxin causes birth defects, suppresses the immune system and is toxic at very low levels of exposure.
Dioxin is an unwanted byproduct of industrial processes such as bleaching paper, the manufacture of herbicides, metal smelting and the incineration of materials containing chlorine, such as the common plastic PVC (polyvinyl chloride).
Coming shortly after the discovery of toxic wastes buried beneath Love Canal, in New York, the Times Beach disaster fueled public concern about toxic waste.
Passage of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Superfund law for toxic cleanups now holds industry accountable for "cradle to grave" handling of the toxic substances they generate.
Much has been done since 1983 to reduce human exposure to dioxin: In the Bluegrass, public concerns about dioxin helped drive the adoption of alternatives to incineration for the destruction of chemical weapons stored near Richmond. Thanks to smart government regulations, human exposure to dioxin from industrial sources is diminishing.
However, there are increasing concerns about human exposure to dioxin from backyard trash burning. Experts say that one backyard burn barrel can generate as much dioxin as a municipal incinerator burning 400,000 pounds of trash a day.
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O.C. PAINT COMPANY SETTLES LAWSUIT FOR ILLEGAL HANDLING OF TOXIC CHEMICAL
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, death, methylene_chloride
An Orange County paint manufacturer was ordered to pay a nearly $1 million settlement this week over the illegal handling of a toxic substance that resulted in the death of an employee.
In November 2011, employee Roberto Magdariaga was overwhelmed and died as a result of toxic fumes from methylene chloride, a colorless solvent, while working at the Vista Paint Corporation's Fullerton facility. Another employee was seriously injured, according to a statement from the Orange County District Attorney's office.
Officials said Vista Paint failed to establish a safe procedure for use of the hazardous chemical, failed to properly train employees and didn't report to regulatory authorities as required.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration website, methylene chloride is a potential carcinogen that may cause mental confusion, lightheadedness, nausea, vomiting and headache in the short term. Continued exposure may also cause eye and respiratory tract irritation and may make symptoms of angina more severe, the agency said on its website.
The company was ordered to pay a total of $950,000 to settle a civil lawsuit in December. The judgment was signed by Orange County Superior Court Judge Frederick P. Horn and was finalized this week, according the OCDA.
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RISK SCIENCE CENTER ARE QUANTUM DOT TVS ‰?? AND THEIR TOXIC INGREDIENTS ‰?? ACTUALLY BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT?
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, metals
Earlier this week, The Conversation reported that, ‰??The future is bright, the future is ‰?| quantum dot televisions.‰?? And judging by the buzz coming from this week‰??s annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that‰??s right ‰?? the technology is providing manufacturers with a cheap and efficient way of producing the next generation of brilliant, high-definition TV screens.
But the quantum dots in these displays also use materials and technologies ‰?? including engineered nanoparticles and the heavy metal cadmium ‰?? that have been a magnet for health and environmental concerns. Will the dazzling pictures this technology allow blind us to new health and environmental challenges, or do their benefits outweigh the potential risks?
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Ralph Stuart
secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Secretary
Division of Chemical Health and Safety
American Chemical Society
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