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Previous by Date: Subject: [DCHAS-L] ADV: CHEMICAL HEALTH AND SAFETY WORKSHOPS Date: Monday, January 12, 2015 7:41:31 PM Author: NEAL LANGERMAN <neal**At_Symbol_Here**chemical-safety.com> |
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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, January 14, 2015 at 7:22:43 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 (12 articles)
LEVELS OF PERSISTENT FLAME RETARDANTS DECLINE IN SAN FRANCISCO BAY
Tags: us_IN, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
HYDROGEN PEROXIDE SPILL BRINGS FIREFIGHTERS TO RITZ-CARLTON
Tags: us_DC, public, release, response, hydrogen_peroxide
RECYCLING PLANT OWNER ADMITS ILLEGAL CHEMICAL DUMPING
Tags: us_KS, industrial, follow-up, environmental, paints
BUSINESS DAMAGED BY ZINC DUST METAL FIRE IN SUBURBAN WEST PALM BEACH
Tags: us_FL, industrial, fire, response, zinc
OIL FIRE AT CHEMICAL PLANT EXTINGUISHED WITH NO INJURIES
Tags: us_TX, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
AIRGAS FIRE RESPONSE; HAZMAT PROCEDURES AND PROTOCOL
Tags: us_KS, industrial, explosion, response, acetylene
HAZMAT TEAM SENT TO TRAIN DERAILMENT NEAR THUNDER BAY
Tags: Canada, transportation, discovery, response, gas_cylinders, petroleum, propane
NEW ANALYSIS SHOWS WEST VIRGINIA'S CHEMICAL SPILL TRAVELED INTO KENTUCKY
Tags: us_KY, public, follow-up, response, other_chemical
TWO DIE IN NITROGEN LEAK AT LG DISPLAY FACTORY
Tags: Republic_of_Korea, industrial, release, death, nitrogen
SEVERAL TREATED AFTER CHEMICAL EXPOSURE AT HOLLY HILL POOL...
Tags: us_FL, transportation, release, injury, chlorine, pool_chemicals, sulfuric_acid
DUPONT WORKERS MAY HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO TOXIC GAS FOR YEARS
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, death, ag_chems, pesticides
FOUR INJURED IN S. KOREAN CHEMICAL-CARRYING SHIP EXPLOSION
Tags: Republic_of_Korea, transportation, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
---------------------------------------------
LEVELS OF PERSISTENT FLAME RETARDANTS DECLINE IN SAN FRANCISCO BAY
Tags: us_IN, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
In the San Francisco Bay, levels of one class of flame retardants have fallen over the past decade, according to a new study. The data on the highly controversial polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) suggest that policies restricting use of a chemical, even a persistent one, can work quickly to reduce its burden on the environment, the researchers say (Environ Sci. Technol. 2014, DOI: 10.1021/es503727b).
‰??The study really shows that once regulations are put in place, things change fairly rapidly in the environment,‰?? says Marta Venier, an environmental chemist at Indiana University, who wasn‰??t involved in the work. ‰??I think we need more and more of these studies to convince regulators‰?? of the value of moving forward with regulations for controversial substances, she adds.
---------------------------------------------
HYDROGEN PEROXIDE SPILL BRINGS FIREFIGHTERS TO RITZ-CARLTON
Tags: us_DC, public, release, response, hydrogen_peroxide
A large drum of hydrogen peroxide was spilled at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Northwest D.C. on Tuesday, bringing D.C. firefighters to the hotel to clean up the potentially hazardous substance.
D.C. fire department spokesman Tim Wilson and a receptionist at the hotel both said that no one had reported any injuries and that the hotel was not being evacuated.
Wilson said that the spill appeared to be from a 55-gallon drum of hydrogen peroxide.
Though hydrogen peroxide is frequently used, in a watery solution, for cleaning and other common purposes, it can cause burns to skin and can trigger explosions in high concentrations.
Wilson said he was not sure why the chemical was at the hotel, but suggested it might be for cleaning. Hotel officials could not be reached.
---------------------------------------------
RECYCLING PLANT OWNER ADMITS ILLEGAL CHEMICAL DUMPING
Tags: us_KS, industrial, follow-up, environmental, paints
WICHITA, KAN. ‰?? The owner of a plastics recycling company in El Dorado pleaded guilty Monday to mishandling waste chemicals and agreed to pay more than $118,000 in restitution to the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom in a media release.
Brian J. Riley, 41, Andover, Kan., owner of Integrated Plastic Solutions, LLC., pleaded guilty to one count of negligent exposure to a hazardous air pollutant. In his plea, he admitted the company stored hazardous wastes at its facility in the form of paints, solvents and other chemicals. The paints and solvents contained ethyl benzene, which is classified as a hazardous air pollutant. After becoming aware that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment was investigating the company‰??s waste handling practices, Riley allowed some paints and solvents to be dumped on the IPS grounds, releasing ethyl benzene and exposing employees to the risk of flash fire and explosion.
Sentencing is set for March 30. He faces a maximum penalty of a year in federal prison and a fine up to $100,000. Grissom commended the Environmental Protection Agency and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Metzger for their work on the case.
---------------------------------------------
BUSINESS DAMAGED BY ZINC DUST METAL FIRE IN SUBURBAN WEST PALM BEACH
Tags: us_FL, industrial, fire, response, zinc
SUBURBAN WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Rescue crews battled a business fire in the 3700 block of Shares Place on Tuesday morning.
At 9:40 a.m., crews responded to reports of a commercial fire after callers reported flames and smoke coming from the business.
First-arriving crews reported a fire in the outside filtration system for the building, according to Cpt. Albert Borroto of Palm Beach County Fire Rescue.
The fire was identified as a zinc dust metal fire that is reactive to water. This caused firefighters to use a dry chemical to extinguish the fire.
---------------------------------------------
OIL FIRE AT CHEMICAL PLANT EXTINGUISHED WITH NO INJURIES
Tags: us_TX, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
A Tuesday afternoon fire at an Orangeburg chemical plant sent plumes of black smoke billowing upward and across Cannon Bridge Road for several minutes before being extinguished by the facility‰??s in-house emergency-response crew.
A fire at SI Group (formerly Albemarle) began about 4:25 p.m. and was extinguished within 20 minutes by the plant‰??s incident-response team, SI Group Plant Manager Tyler Windsor said.
"We believe what was burning was a heat-transfer fluid ‰?? a heavy oil that is used to transfer heat to different processes," Windsor said. "It is non-toxic like a hydrocarbon fire."
"We don‰??t know what the exact failure mechanism was, but there was a release. It found an ignition source and it started to burn," he said.
Windsor said the plant was not evacuated and there were no injuries.
"Relative to the whole facility, it was a small portion of the plant," Windsor said. "It was a relatively isolated area."
---------------------------------------------
AIRGAS FIRE RESPONSE; HAZMAT PROCEDURES AND PROTOCOL
Tags: us_KS, industrial, explosion, response, acetylene
WICHITA, Kansas ‰?? Contractors were on site Tuesday at Airgas Distribution Center, located at 2018 S. West Street, as crews worked to board up and secure the building following Monday‰??s fire.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. However, investigators said Tuesday that damage at the site is estimated at nearly $1.7 million.
....
‰??While they were inside the structure performing interior fire attack operations, there were several explosions inside the building. They immediately evacuated [the] building,‰?? said Captain Kelly Zane, with Wichita Fire.
KSN learned after firefighters put out the flames, the city-county health department largely takes over the safety of any potential hazmat situation, especially when its effects could impact the general public.
‰??They‰??ll work with the company to make sure that it gets properly cleaned up. They actually do air mediation, monitoring downwind when the fire is burning. So, they go as far as to check the water runoff to make sure nothing is in the water,‰?? said Battalion Chief Rich Harris, with the Wichita Fire Department.
The largest concern involving a potential hazmat situation on Monday actually came for firefighters on the scene.
‰??Propane bottles, Acetylene bottles, Oxygen, so, all those things are considered dangerous to us,‰?? said Chief Harris.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT TEAM SENT TO TRAIN DERAILMENT NEAR THUNDER BAY
Tags: Canada, transportation, discovery, response, gas_cylinders, petroleum, propane
A hazmat team was flown in to assist with a train derailment near Thunder Bay, Ont., Tuesday that involves hazardous goods, the Ontario Provincial Police say.
At least seven cylinder cars went off the tracks about 45 km east of Nipigon, Sgt. Shelley Garr said.
Several of the derailed cars contain propane and crude oil, Garr stated in a press release, but no leaks have been confirmed.
---------------------------------------------
NEW ANALYSIS SHOWS WEST VIRGINIA'S CHEMICAL SPILL TRAVELED INTO KENTUCKY
Tags: us_KY, public, follow-up, response, other_chemical
The chemical that contaminated West Virginia‰??s drinking water supply last year traveled father and lingered longer than had been previously recorded, according to a new study by U.S. Geological Survey researchers.
Published online in the journal Chemosphere, the peer-reviewed research shows that the chemical ‰?? 4-Methylcyclohexanemethanol, also known as crude MCHM ‰?? was present at very low concentrations in Charleston, West Virginia‰??s tap water more than six weeks after the spill began on Jan. 9, 2014. The official tap water ban in Charleston was lifted five days later, with the Center for Disease Control saying concentrations of MCHM had reached an ‰??appropriate‰?? level of below 50 parts per billion. By Feb. 25, the researchers said Charleston‰??s tap water still measured crude MCHM concentration of 1 part per billion.
The researchers also say they detected crude MCHM in the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky, meaning the chemical traveled at least 390 miles downriver from the spill. Though prominent spill researchers have long speculated that the chemical traveled across state lines, the study‰??s leader author Bill Foreman told ThinkProgress that his represented, ‰??as far as I know of, the first, reported, published-in-a-journal documentation of [crude MCHM] found there in the Louisville area.‰??
---------------------------------------------
TWO DIE IN NITROGEN LEAK AT LG DISPLAY FACTORY
Tags: Republic_of_Korea, industrial, release, death, nitrogen
Two people have died and four others were injured in a nitrogen leak at an LG Display factory in the South Korean city of Paju. The Korea Herald reports that the employees had been carrying out repair works on the ninth floor of the factory, around 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) north of Seoul, when the accident occurred just after midday local time.
In a translated statement provided to The Verge, an LG Display spokesperson said that the leak occurred at Factory P8 while the employees were working on equipment in LG Display's LCD TV production line that was down for regular maintenance. One man died from nitrogen suffocation at the scene, while a second was pronounced dead en route to a nearby hospital. Another four people were involved in the accident: LG says one is seriously injured, while the other three are in less serious conditions. LG Display offered its consolation and apologies to the dead and said it would try its best to "control the accident and prevent recurrence."
---------------------------------------------
SEVERAL TREATED AFTER CHEMICAL EXPOSURE AT HOLLY HILL POOL...
Tags: us_FL, transportation, release, injury, chlorine, pool_chemicals, sulfuric_acid
VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. ‰?? Officials said several people were treated following an incident involving chemicals at a Holly Hill pool supply store on Monday evening.
The incident happened at a store on Center Avenue at Third Street shortly after 6 p.m.
According to officials, a truck driver was making a delivery at the store and hooked up his vehicle to what he believed was a chlorine tank. The tank was actually holding sulfuric acid and the combination caused a dangerous chemical reaction, officials said.
The truck driver had to be taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. At least three other people also needed treatment after being overcome by fumes, including a firefighter, according to authorities.
"They were in the house and they smelled something really bad, and they felt like they couldn't breathe, said witness Theresa Araneda
Fire officials said they have wrapped up their investigation.
---------------------------------------------
DUPONT WORKERS MAY HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO TOXIC GAS FOR YEARS
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, death, ag_chems, pesticides
HOUSTON
Records show that employees at a Houston-area pesticide plant where a poisonous gas killed four workers in November may have been exposed to dangerous fumes for years.
The Houston Chronicle (http://bit.ly/1DCumOm">http://bit.ly/1DCumOm ) obtained reports with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality about the La Porte plant owned by chemical manufacturer DuPont.
Four of the company's workers died last year after being exposed to leaking methyl mercaptan, which is used to manufacture insecticide and fungicide.
The newspaper found the company reported malfunctions with an exhaust and ventilation system inside the plant during maintenance activities for the last six years, and that it appears no one alerted officials with the Occupational Health and Safety Administration about that.
DuPont has declined to comment. Federal officials and the state agency are investigating the deaths.
---------------------------------------------
FOUR INJURED IN S. KOREAN CHEMICAL-CARRYING SHIP EXPLOSION
Tags: Republic_of_Korea, transportation, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Four people have been confirmed injured Sunday in a chemical-carrying ship explosion incident in South Korea's southeast coast, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The ship that transports chemicals moored in the country's southeastern port city of Ulsan, and exploded at around 2:39 p.m. local time for unidentified reasons.
The Ulsan firefighting agency was quoted as saying that four have been confirmed wounded without commenting on other details.
The explosion was believed to have happened while various kinds of gas were being loaded into the vessel, but the exact cause is still under investigation.
The maritime accidents management agency dispatched ships and airplanes to the site to help rescue efforts.
---------------------------------------------
Ralph Stuart
secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Secretary
Division of Chemical Health and Safety
American Chemical Society
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