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From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (12 articles)
Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2015 07:37:04 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: 5D444C88-9FA7-4379-B3A4-962B38D415A0**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, March 27, 2015 at 7:36:53 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)
INVESTIGATION DETERMINES FIRE AT WARSAW CHEMICAL WAS AN ACCIDENT
Tags: us_IN, industrial, follow-up, injury, waste
FOUR TREATED FOR CHEMICAL BURNS AT HOPKINSVILLE FACILITY
Tags: us_TN, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical, cleaners
CREWS CLEANING UP CHEMICAL SPILL IN COLBERT COUNTY
Tags: us_AL, transportation, explosion, response, resin
UNDER PRESSURE, CHEMICAL SAFETY HEAD RESIGNS
Tags: public, follow-up, environmental
CONCORD BUSINESS EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SCARE
Tags: us_NC, public, release, response, other_chemical
MONSANTO FINED FOR NOT REPORTING IDAHO CHEMICAL RELEASES
Tags: us_ID, industrial, release, environmental, cyanide, hydrogen, illegal, mercury, sulfur_dioxide
OPINION: LAY SUMMARIES NEEDED TO ENHANCE SCIENCE COMMUNICATION
Tags: public, discovery, response
THE BIZARRE WAY THE U.S. REGULATES CHEMICALS ‰?? LETTING THEM ON THE MARKET FIRST, THEN MAYBE STUDYING THEM
Tags: us_DC, public, discovery, environmental, ag_chems, drugs, pesticides, toxics
HAZMAT UNITS RESPONDING TO LEAK AT PINELLAS COUNTY WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT
Tags: us_FL, industrial, release, response, sulfur_dioxide, water_treatment
FIRE BREAKS OUT AT RUBELLA LAB AT CDC
Tags: us_GA, laboratory, fire, response
CHEMICAL REACTION TRIGGERS FIRE AT SANDBURG MIDDLE SCHOOL
Tags: us_IL, education, fire, response, unknown_chemical
EPA TO REGULATE NANOSILVER PESTICIDES, SEEK SAFETY DATA ON NANOSCALE CHEMICALS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, ag_chems, nanotech, pesticides
---------------------------------------------
INVESTIGATION DETERMINES FIRE AT WARSAW CHEMICAL WAS AN ACCIDENT
Tags: us_IN, industrial, follow-up, injury, waste
An investigation looking into last month's fire at Warsaw Chemical is complete.
According to our reporting partners at 1480 News Now, inspectors have determined that the fire was accidental.
The fire occurred at the company's facility at 290 Argonne Road in Warsaw on February 6.
Six waste water personnel and three firefighters were taken to the hospital for treatment. They were released from medical care the same day.
The fire report revealed that the fire suppression system in the building may not have fully deployed.
---------------------------------------------
FOUR TREATED FOR CHEMICAL BURNS AT HOPKINSVILLE FACILITY
Tags: us_TN, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical, cleaners
Several people were treated for chemical burns after being exposed to an unknown chemical at a Hopkinsville facility Wednesday night.
Hopkinsville Fire Department Capt. Steve Futrell says multiple response vehicles were called to the Douglas Autotech building on Commerce street at approximately 6:51 P.M.
At the scene, four people were treated for decontamination of an acid-based cleaning agent. Three patients were transported via ambulance to Jennie Stuart Medical Center but another suffered severe burns and was flown to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville.
---------------------------------------------
CREWS CLEANING UP CHEMICAL SPILL IN COLBERT COUNTY
Tags: us_AL, transportation, explosion, response, resin
CHEROKEE, Ala. (WAAY)- Both West bound lanes and one East bound lane of highway 72 in Cherokee are open, after a semi truck exploded carrying hazardous chemicals.
Officials responded to the scene around 2 a.m. A little over 6,500 pounds of Resin Solution and 500 pounds of Sodium Metasilicate spilled onto the highway catching fire.
The incident caused both east and west bound lanes of highway 72 to be shut down for hours. Stranding many truckers and residents.
Four homes near the area had to be evacuated because of safety concerns.
---------------------------------------------
UNDER PRESSURE, CHEMICAL SAFETY HEAD RESIGNS
Tags: public, follow-up, environmental
March 26, 2015 Facing pressure from the White House and members of Congress from both parties, the head of the Chemical Safety Board is resigning effective Thursday.
Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso announced his resignation to staff in an email Thursday evening; the news was confirmed by CSB. He led the agency since 2010, a tenure dogged by internal turmoil and allegations that he mismanaged and overstressed the staff.
Moure-Eraso had just three months left in his five-year term at CSB, the independent agency tasked with investigating chemical incidents and issuing recommendations.
"It has been a privilege to serve the agency since June 2010," Moure-Eraso wrote to the staff. "My wishes are for the continued success and productivity of the Board. Good luck to the Board and the staff in all your projects at the CSB. I am forever grateful for the hard work of the agency that has led to so many successes over the past five years."
The White House asked Moure-Eraso to step aside, which the administration communicated to lawmakers this week.
---------------------------------------------
CONCORD BUSINESS EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SCARE
Tags: us_NC, public, release, response, other_chemical
CONCORD, N.C. -- Emergency first responders are on the scene of a HazMat situation in Concord.
The Concord Fire Department says they responded to Star America Chemical in the 100 block of Cabarrus Avenue around 10:40 Thursday morning.
Authorities say a chemical fire and fume release prompted a full evacuation, 88 employees, from the building, along with a handful of residences nearby, while some nearby residents sheltered in place.
NBC Charlotte's crew on scene says a barrel with hydrogen sulfite was found to have a hole, and subsequently leaked about 30 pounds of the chemical.
The Concord Fire Department says it appears the fire was caused by a reaction to moisture being introduced into the container.
Authorities say the spill does not present an immediate threat to the public.
EMS units responded and evaluated the evacuees. Two people, both pregnant women, were taken to the hospital as a precaution.
---------------------------------------------
MONSANTO FINED FOR NOT REPORTING IDAHO CHEMICAL RELEASES
Tags: us_ID, industrial, release, environmental, cyanide, hydrogen, illegal, mercury, sulfur_dioxide
BOISE, Idaho (AP) ‰?? Monsanto Co. has agreed to pay $600,000 in fines for not reporting hundreds of uncontrolled releases of toxic chemicals at its eastern Idaho phosphate plant.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday announced the agreement involving the biotechnology company‰??s Soda Springs facilities.
Federal officials say the chemicals released are hazardous and can pose serious health risks. Monsanto in a statement noted there were no allegations that the releases exceeded state of federal standards, or that they contributed to any known health concerns in the Soda Springs area.
Federal officials said the releases occurred between 2006 and 2009, with the plant emitting hydrogen cyanide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury. Companies are required by law to report such releases immediately.
‰??Each of these chemicals are hazardous and can pose serious health risks to workers and the community if mishandled or released in an uncontrolled manner,‰?? federal officials said in a statement.
---------------------------------------------
OPINION: LAY SUMMARIES NEEDED TO ENHANCE SCIENCE COMMUNICATION
Tags: public, discovery, response
At first blush, the notion of lay summaries seems a simple idea with admirable aims: Scientists write summaries of journal articles emphasizing the broad significance of re- search in accessible language. However, viewed from an ivory tower that has been besieged by an increasing amount of paper- work, scientists could easily regard lay sum- maries as just one more hurdle in peer- reviewed publishing, another administrative task to fit into an already busy agenda.
But rather than an unrewarding burden, scientists (and journal publishers) should con- sider widespread adoption of lay summaries‰?? accompanying online publications and made publicly available with traditional abstracts‰?? as a way to increase the visibility, impact, and transparency of scientific research. This is a particularly important undertaking given the changing science media landscape.
---------------------------------------------
THE BIZARRE WAY THE U.S. REGULATES CHEMICALS ‰?? LETTING THEM ON THE MARKET FIRST, THEN MAYBE STUDYING THEM
Tags: us_DC, public, discovery, environmental, ag_chems, drugs, pesticides, toxics
Chemicals are everywhere ‰?? we‰??re made of them, and so are the products we use and the objects we come into contact with. Naturally, some of these substances could be bad for our health, perhaps capable of causing cancer and other diseases.
Regulators have presumably barred unsafe chemicals from being made and used, right? Not so. In fact, only a tiny percentage of chemicals are regulated.
How could this be? A major reason is that the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), a 1976 law that protects humans and the environment from toxic industrial chemicals (pesticides, drugs and cosmetics are handled under different laws), has created so many hoops for regulators to jump through that it has often rendered them powerless. That‰??s one rationale that the Government Accountability Office, Congress‰??s nonpartisan watchdog arm, has cited in repeatedly calling toxic chemicals regulation one of the government‰??s ‰??high-risk‰?? programs.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT UNITS RESPONDING TO LEAK AT PINELLAS COUNTY WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT
Tags: us_FL, industrial, release, response, sulfur_dioxide, water_treatment
A sulfur dioxide leak at the South Cross Bayou Wastewater Treatment was patched up Wednesday afternoon.
Hazmat units responded to the leak in the one ton cylinder just before noon and crews were able to patch it around 2 p.m.
The leak was confined to the building and systems in place were working, according to a statement from the Lealman Fire Dept. There was no leak outside of the building.
Employees at the building on 54th Ave. in Lealman were evacuated as a precaution. Traffic was shut down at 54th Ave. between Belcher Rd. and Park St. but the roads have since been reopened.
---------------------------------------------
FIRE BREAKS OUT AT RUBELLA LAB AT CDC
Tags: us_GA, laboratory, fire, response
ATLANTA ‰?? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention closed one of its laboratory buildings Wednesday after an overnight fire.
According to a CDC spokesman, this is the first building closure caused by a fire in the past 25 years.
CDC officials say the fire broke out around midnight in the Rubella lab in Building 18.
No one was injured and there was no release or loss of containment of any germs.
Officials say the laboratory's sprinkler system estinguished the fire before firefighters arrived.
Now, the building has water damage, which is why 470 employees were told to stay home.
Officials are investigating the cause of the fire but say early indications point to a piece of laboratory equipment that malfunctioned.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL REACTION TRIGGERS FIRE AT SANDBURG MIDDLE SCHOOL
Tags: us_IL, education, fire, response, unknown_chemical
A fire Wednesday morning in a Sandburg Middle School science classroom damaged ceiling tiles, class supplies and audio-video equipment, but no one was injured.
The Elmhurst Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at 9:45 a.m. March 25 at the school, according a city news release.
Firefighters found heavy smoke coming from the first-floor science classroom. All students and staff had been evacuated and accounted for.
The fire, which investigators believe was caused by a chemical reaction, was put out by an automatically activated sprinkler system, the release stated.
Fire department personnel cleaned up the area, replaced the activated sprinkler head and they ventilated the area with a smoke ejector.
---------------------------------------------
EPA TO REGULATE NANOSILVER PESTICIDES, SEEK SAFETY DATA ON NANOSCALE CHEMICALS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, ag_chems, nanotech, pesticides
The Environmental Protection Agency on March 25 unveiled two precedent-setting regulatory moves on nanomaterials.
First, the agency will require registration under the federal pesticides law of products containing nanoscale silver that are designed to control microbes. EPA will not, however, classify all nanosilver products as pesticides, the agency says in a response to a 2008 petition from activist groups that are seeking stronger regulation of nanomaterials. The agency indicated it would not immediately act against unregistered antimicrobial nanosilver products, such as socks, now sold in the U.S.
Second, EPA separately proposed a one-time requirement for makers of nanoscale commercial chemicals currently on the market to notify the agency about all available health and safety data for their products. Under this Toxic Substances Control Act proposal, these manufacturers would also have to submit production volume and processing, use, exposure, and release information to EPA.
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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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