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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 (20 articles)
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2015 07:06:51 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: 4AFEF3B5-FE8C-4391-8684-DDFC0FB79FAF**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, October 16, 2015 at 7:06:33 AM
A membership benefit of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
All article summaries and tags are archived at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__pinboard.in_u-3Adchas&d=BQIFaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=jx8aTz-jpdN3BEdfIv7127HQaVuXKDoY8iz70An0xyw&s=KhAPH814aTF6jHwrcKmsnxOGhclUazU__vZLtx8hwyA&e=
Table of Contents (20 articles)
MICHIGAN TECH STUDENT INJURED DURING LAB EXPLOSION
Tags: us_MI, laboratory, explosion, injury, nitric_acid, waste
3 HOSPITALIZED FOR CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING AFTER USING POWER WASHER INDOORS: COPS
Tags: us_NJ, public, release, injury, carbon_monoxide, cleaners
GOLDEN STATE NEWSPAPERS: TRACY PRESS NEWS
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, acetic_acid, chlorine
DPW WORKER SPLASHED WITH CHEMICAL PROMPTING 2 HAZMAT SITUATIONS
Tags: us_MD, transportation, release, injury, unknown_chemical
RESIDENT MIXING CLEANING CHEMICALS CAUSES EVACUATION OF NEW JERSEY APARTMENTS
Tags: us_NJ, public, release, response, cleaners
CHEMICALS DISCOVERED AT INDUSTRIAL SITE
Tags: us_TX, public, discovery, response, benzene, petroleum, toluene, toxics, xylene
TORRANCE, AQMD TO STUDY USE OF ALTERNATIVE TO TOXIC CHEMICAL AT EXXONMOBIL REFINERY
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, gasoline, hydrofluoric_acid
EIGHT TREATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: Australia, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical, gas_cylinders
POOL CHEMICAL REACTION EVACUATES LA FITNESS IN FARMINGTON
Tags: us_CT, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
WIDNES CHEMICAL FIRM CONFIRMS LEAKING DRUM FOUND AT SITE
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, release, response, corrosives
UNIQUE BREED OF INVESTORS HELPS UNIVERSITIES LAUNCH START-UPS
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental
UPDATE: MAN DIES AFTER EXPLOSION AT NORTHEAST NEBRASKA RESTAURANT
Tags: us_NE, public, follow-up, death, unknown_chemical
AZ BEGINS 3-YEAR EFFORT TO IMPROVE BIOSAFETY READINESS
Tags: us_AZ, laboratory, discovery, response, other_chemical
MOM ISSUES PARTIAL STOP-WORK ORDER TO FIRM INVOLVED IN JURONG LAB FIRE
Tags: Singapore, laboratory, follow-up, death, oxygen
CHEMICAL SPILL SHUTS DOWN A PART OF THE WEST LOOP
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, response, xylene
BLAST ROCKS CHINESE PORT 2 MONTHS AFTER FATAL EXPLOSIONS
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, response, unknown_chemical
HAZMAT CALLED TO ANHYDROUS AMMONIA LEAK IN WALL LAKE
Tags: us_IA, transportation, release, injury, ammonia
HAZMAT SPILL AT THE PORT OF BALTIMORE POSES NO HEALTH HAZARDS
Tags: us_MD, transportation, release, response, cleaners
THIEF STEALS RADIOACTIVE ITEMS FROM LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LAB
Tags: us_NM, laboratory, release, response, radiation
HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO POSSIBLE EXPLOSION AT CIRCLE K GAS STATION
Tags: us_CA, public, explosion, response, flammables
---------------------------------------------
MICHIGAN TECH STUDENT INJURED DURING LAB EXPLOSION
Tags: us_MI, laboratory, explosion, injury, nitric_acid, waste
A Michigan Tech student sustained minor injuries during an explosion in a lab around 8:35 on Wednesday night.
A container of nitric acid exploded in a laboratory fume hood in the Minerals and Materials Engineering Building at Michigan Tech. One of the two students working in the lab received lacerations on his arm. He was treated at UP Health-Portage and released. The other student was examined as a precautionary measure and released.
The explosion occurred as the students were disposing of outdated nitric acid. They had transferred it to a waste container and placed it in the fume hood, following proper procedure.
The building was evacuated as a precautionary measure, and the Houghton Fire Department, Houghton Police Department, Hancock Police Department and Houghton County Sheriff‰??s Office joined Michigan Tech Public Safety and Police Services to clean up the lab. Al Niemi, director of occupational safety and health services at Tech, gave the all-clear at 10:35 p.m., and the building was reopened.
---------------------------------------------
3 HOSPITALIZED FOR CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING AFTER USING POWER WASHER INDOORS: COPS
Tags: us_NJ, public, release, injury, carbon_monoxide, cleaners
Three men were sent to the hospital and a business building in Morris Township was evacuated after carbon monoxide caused sickness to dozens Thursday morning, Morris Township police said.
Police responded to a report of a hazardous materials incident at 65 Columbia Turnpike at 11 a.m. for initial reports of two men passing out from the use of cleaning chemicals, police said.
When police arrived they found one man unresponsive while two others were having difficulty breathing, police said. All three were transported to Morristown Medical Center for further evaluation and none sustained life-threatening injuries, police said.
The investigation is still active, but police believe the men, contractors hired to clean a bathroom inside the Twin Oaks Tennis Center, were using a gas-powered power washer in a closed bathroom and were overcome by the carbon monoxide produced by the machine.
---------------------------------------------
GOLDEN STATE NEWSPAPERS: TRACY PRESS NEWS
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, acetic_acid, chlorine
The mixture of two chemicals by a cleaning crew at Taylor Farms, 100 W. Valpico Road, created a hazardous vapor that sent 20 people to the hospital this morning.
According to Tracy Fire Department Division Chief Andrew Kellogg, the accident happened before 6 a.m. He said the two chemicals were acetic acid and chlorine. According to the U.S. Poison Control Center, the mixture of those two substances ‰?? chlorine can be found in bleach and acetic acid is common in vinegar ‰?? can create a chlorine gas that attacks the mucous membranes inside the nose and lungs.
The hazmat team from the Defense Logistics Agency depot is inside the building to determine how far the vapor spread and how to clean it up.
Kellogg said the vapor does not pose a danger outside the Taylor Farms building to homes and businesses nearby. He said the 20 people with moderate to serious injuries were taken to several area hospitals by six ambulances, including one from Alameda County.
---------------------------------------------
DPW WORKER SPLASHED WITH CHEMICAL PROMPTING 2 HAZMAT SITUATIONS
Tags: us_MD, transportation, release, injury, unknown_chemical
BALTIMORE ‰??A Department of Public Works laborer was splashed with some chemical while working leading to one of two hazmat situations that forced the Mercy Medical Center emergency room to shut down for a short time.
A person was taken to the Mercy Medical Center emergency room around 11:15 a.m. Thursday after being exposed to a potentially hazardous material following a trash compactor explosion, fire officials said.
The hospital's emergency room was temporarily shut down as officials work to limit the exposure of the person to others in the hospital, officials said. The emergency room reopened around 2:15 p.m., the Baltimore Office of Emergency Management said.
DPW officials said a trash truck worker was splashed by some type of chemical while a load was being compacted in the 3000 block of Rosalia Avenue in Northeast Baltimore.
The laborer's supervisor drove the victim in the load packing truck to Mercy Medical Center downtown and the victim crossed the street to get to the emergency room, officials said.
---------------------------------------------
RESIDENT MIXING CLEANING CHEMICALS CAUSES EVACUATION OF NEW JERSEY APARTMENTS
Tags: us_NJ, public, release, response, cleaners
A housing facility in New Jersey was evacuated Wednesday due to a hazardous material incident caused by a resident mixing cleaning chemicals.
About 80 residents evacuated Seashore Gardens, on W. Jimmie Leeds Road in Galloway Township, after someone pulled the fire alarm, shortly before noon.
No one was hurt.
Residents re-entered their homes after crew ventilated the building, which is neither a nursing or assisted living facility.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICALS DISCOVERED AT INDUSTRIAL SITE
Tags: us_TX, public, discovery, response, benzene, petroleum, toluene, toxics, xylene
ECTOR COUNTY, Texas -
Environmental Protection Agency officials released more information about chemicals detected at an abandoned oil drum operation at Marco Avenue and Market Street.
Thousands of steel and plastic containers at the site have been leaking toxins into the ground, contaminating water wells and creating significant fire hazards, NewsWest 9 previously reported.
Approximately 15,000 drums were left on the 4.5-acre plot of land after a company that operated under the names "Ector Drum" and "Lone Star Drum" went out of business in 2011, according to Bill Rhotenberry, a federal on-scene coordinator with the EPA.
"We're seeing some BTEX chemicals [at the site]," he told NewsWest 9. "Those are volatile chemicals that are commonly found in crude oil and oil field chemicals."
"BTEX" chemicals include benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes. Prolonged exposure to the chemicals has been linked to brain damage, increased risk of cancer and groundwater contamination.
---------------------------------------------
TORRANCE, AQMD TO STUDY USE OF ALTERNATIVE TO TOXIC CHEMICAL AT EXXONMOBIL REFINERY
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, gasoline, hydrofluoric_acid
Facing public pressure in the wake of a four-hour community workshop on safety issues at the troubled ExxonMobil refinery, the Torrance City Council has decided to study safer alternatives to a potentially lethal chemical used to produce gasoline at the plant.
The panel on Tuesday directed staff to explore the cost of studying alternatives to dangerous modified hydrofluoric acid, perhaps in conjunction with the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which also wants to reassess use of the chemical.
Partnering with the AQMD and its experts in the field presumably would help Torrance save money on any study of the issue.
ExxonMobil developed the product in the 1990s in response to community concerns about the use of unmodified HF, which if released into the atmosphere has the potential to cause gruesome burns and injuries. A 1987 fire at the refinery had raised fears of a catastrophic accident, and the modified hydrofluoric acid was seen as less dangerous to the community.
---------------------------------------------
EIGHT TREATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: Australia, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical, gas_cylinders
Six people have been decontaminated and two others suffered skin irritations after a chemical leak at a freight company in Sydney's west.
Emergency crews were called to a warehouse in Britton St, Smithfield around 4.30pm after 12 metal cylinders were found to be leaking an unknown liquid.
The eight people affected were treated in hospital and have been released.
Hazmat crews evacuated the area and worked for more than three hours before declaring the site safe at around 8pm, a Fire NSW spokesman said.
---------------------------------------------
POOL CHEMICAL REACTION EVACUATES LA FITNESS IN FARMINGTON
Tags: us_CT, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
FARMINGTON, CT (WFSB) -
Dozens of people were evacuated from a popular gym near the Farmington/New Britain line due to a hazmat situation at its pool on Wednesday morning.
Police said it happened at the LA Fitness, which is located near the Westfarms mall, around 11 a.m.
The building was evacuated after gym-goers reported a haze in or around the pool water. About 50 people were inside the LA Fitness before the evacuation.
‰??There was definitely an urgency. I didn't even know what was going on,‰?? eyewitness Tom DeSimone said. ‰??I had my headphones in and he pretty much ran over to us and told us we needed to evacuate the building immediately.‰??
Authorities said the chemical mixture was not hazardous, but haze was thick enough to trigger fire alarm. No word on what the chemical mixture is.
---------------------------------------------
WIDNES CHEMICAL FIRM CONFIRMS LEAKING DRUM FOUND AT SITE
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, release, response, corrosives
A CHEMICAL firm in Widnes has confirmed that a drum leaking a ‰??low hazard material‰?? was found at the site over the weekend which led to several road closures.
Firefighters were called to Pentagon Fine Chemicals on Lower Road in Halebank just before 4.25pm on Sunday, October 11.
Road closures were set up in the area and Merseyside police said that there had been a reported leak of Benzyl Chloride.
According to the Health Protection Agency, the chemical can cause irritation to the eyes and if breathed in, produces ‰??corrosive and toxic fumes‰?? if it reacts with water, and is ‰??toxic‰?? if ingested.
Merseyside police added that the leak was later contained, and residents were asked to remain indoors and keep their windows closed as a precaution during the incident.
A Pentagon spokesman said: ‰??An incident involving a single leaking drum of a low hazard material occurred around 4pm on Sunday, October 11, at Pentagon Fine Chemicals Halebank site.
---------------------------------------------
UNIQUE BREED OF INVESTORS HELPS UNIVERSITIES LAUNCH START-UPS
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental
Ushering new technologies from the university lab to the marketplace has long been a challenge, with many stalling indefinitely due to a lack of funding. But a model of investing has developed over the past 15 years to help bridge that gap with some stunning successes, according to an article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society.
Ann M. Thayer, a senior correspondent at C&EN, notes that the traditional venture capital approach doesn‰??t make the kind of long-term investments necessary to develop early, basic research into something marketable. This process can take a decade or longer. Plus, since 2001 when the tech bubble burst, the pot of private seed money to support start-up companies has been limited, leaving a large funding void in its wake. Universities have tried to plug this hole with grants and development money, but they‰??ve still come up short.
Right before the tech implosion, however, at least two investment firms with a different kind of strategy were founded in the U.K. Unlike venture capitalists, the new breed of investors behind these firms enters into disciplined, long-term partnerships with universities. For the leaders in the field, the strategy has so far paid off in spades. Imperial Innovations and IP Group are now worth $1 billion and $2 billion respectively. Seeing this success, others have been extending the approach to work with U.S. universities and labs. But the model has not worked for all firms trying to replicate it, suggesting that its future remains uncertain.
---------------------------------------------
UPDATE: MAN DIES AFTER EXPLOSION AT NORTHEAST NEBRASKA RESTAURANT
Tags: us_NE, public, follow-up, death, unknown_chemical
Allen, Neb. According to the Dixon County Sheriff's Office, 70 year old Gerald Koch has died after a small chemical explosion. Koch died Sunday from his injuries.
Koch, along with his wife Carol Koch, were cleaning a bathroom at Henry's Pub and Grill in Allen, Nebraska on October 8 when the explosion happened. Allen, Nebraska is in Dixon County, about 2.5 hours north of Lincoln.
Henry's Pub and Grill is owned by the couple's son. They were preparing for the restaurant to open.
---------------------------------------------
AZ BEGINS 3-YEAR EFFORT TO IMPROVE BIOSAFETY READINESS
Tags: us_AZ, laboratory, discovery, response, other_chemical
PHOENIX (AP) -
Arizona officials are responding to the 2014 Ebola outbreak with a three-year plan to improve the biosafety readiness of the State Public Health Lab and of facilities of other agencies.
The state Department of Health Services says initial work will focus on sharpening skills of the lab's staff so it can improve the lab's operations and use new techniques.
The department says the next stage of the plan will involving sharing newly developed biosafety assessment tools and skills with clinical laboratory partners of the Lab.
The plan concludes with providing assistance to the partners to fill any gaps they detect in their own biosafety risk assessments.
---------------------------------------------
MOM ISSUES PARTIAL STOP-WORK ORDER TO FIRM INVOLVED IN JURONG LAB FIRE
Tags: Singapore, laboratory, follow-up, death, oxygen
SINGAPORE ‰?? The Ministry of Manpower has issued a stop-work order on production and bottling of hydrocarbons as well as the buying and selling of bottled gases stored at the adjacent area near the lab where a fire broke out yesterday (Oct 12), killing one and injuring seven.
But employees of Leeden National Oxygen working in adjacent buildings which were unaffected have returned to work.
Issuing this update today (Oct 13), the MOM said investigations into the fire are ongoing. Among the seven injured, three remain hospitalised.
The fire broke out on yesterday morning in a laboratory used for the analysing, testing, calibrating and mixing of gases, causing explosions. The company‰??s in-house Company Emergency Response Team responded to the incident first before Singapore Civil Defence Force firefighters arrived.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL SPILL SHUTS DOWN A PART OF THE WEST LOOP
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, response, xylene
An 18-wheeler truck spilled about 2,300 gallons of chemicals and caused a major traffic jam along part of the West Loop.
About 5 p.m. Tuesday, the truck lost part of its load along the West Loop at Hempstead.
The spill and the cleanup effort resulted in a total closure of the northbound West Loop at the scene.
Houston Fire Department officials said the truck was hauling xylene, which is sometimes used as a solvent. They said it is not corrosive but could be flammable.
HFD hazardous-materials crews are at the scene. There were no reports of any injuries.
---------------------------------------------
BLAST ROCKS CHINESE PORT 2 MONTHS AFTER FATAL EXPLOSIONS
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, response, unknown_chemical
BEIJING
The port city of Tianjin in northern China was rocked by a warehouse blast, police said Tuesday, two months after massive explosions in the city left 173 people dead or missing.
The blast hit a warehouse for alcohol materials in the city Monday night and started a fire, but no casualties were reported, local police said.
Tianjin had been ordered after the August blasts to perform thorough checks to eliminate workplace hazards, with a special focus on warehouses storing chemicals. The new blast underlines the challenges that China faces in ensuring workplace safety.
Tianjin police said they detained the owner of a chemical company that illegally rented a private warehouse from an area resident to store chemicals. The resident, identified by his family name, Huo, was also detained, police said.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT CALLED TO ANHYDROUS AMMONIA LEAK IN WALL LAKE
Tags: us_IA, transportation, release, injury, ammonia
An anhydrous ammonia leak in Sac County resulted in medical personnel being called to treat a railroad crew member for chemical exposure in Webster County Tuesday night.
Fort Dodge Assistant Fire Chief Lenny Sanders said the leak occurred in Wall Lake. He said someone on a train coming into Webster County from Sac County was apparently exposed to the chemical. The train stopped near Barnum so that the individual could receive treatment.
At about 8:20 p.m., Barnum firefighters and paramedics from Trinity Regional Medical Center were called to a railroad crossing near 201st Street and Hayes Avenue to assist the individual. Those first responders then called for the Region V Hazardous Materials Response Team operated by the Fort Dodge Fire Department.
Emergency personnel determined that the chemical leak was in Wall Lake. The hazardous materials team was on its way there late Tuesday night.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT SPILL AT THE PORT OF BALTIMORE POSES NO HEALTH HAZARDS
Tags: us_MD, transportation, release, response, cleaners
hazmat spill was reported at the Dundalk Marine Terminal Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
Richard Scher, a spokesman with the Maryland Port Administration, said a cargo ship was lifting a pallet that included approximately nine plastic jugs filled with a tank cleaning chemical. As it was being lifted, the pallet shifted, spilling some of the cleaning solution.
He said no injuries were reported, and that the incident had no impact port cargo operations.
Fire department land and boat units, the coast guard and the Maryland Department of the Environment were on the scene.
---------------------------------------------
THIEF STEALS RADIOACTIVE ITEMS FROM LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LAB
Tags: us_NM, laboratory, release, response, radiation
LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (KRQE) ‰?? Not a very smart thief, stealing lab tools contaminated with radiation from Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Investigators believe a LANL contractor might have done just that, and put the public at risk in what is just the latest problem with theft at the high security lab.
Los Alamos Police are calling the man a ‰??person of interest,‰?? but not a suspect.
Richard Atencio, an employee of Compra Industries, had total access to LANL‰??s Technical Area-54, which is a radioactive waste storage area.
The incident started as a theft, but quickly turned into a full-on HAZMAT situation last month.
According to a search warrant, on September 29, a witness saw a man in a brown shirt throwing things out of the trunk of a Honda Accord into bushes on LANL grounds. The man was tossing the things across the way from TA-54, where items have been reported missing over the past year.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO POSSIBLE EXPLOSION AT CIRCLE K GAS STATION
Tags: us_CA, public, explosion, response, flammables
firefighters responded to a hazmat call at a Circle K gas station near 75th Avenue and Glendale early Tuesday morning.
Crews said a man pumping fuel saw some flames spark up from across the parking lot and a worker also heard some type of explosion.
Hazmat crews were called to the scene and with meters, they checked the readings on some flammable caps. They say it was a mechanical pump that moves the fuel had a shortage in a pump and fumes collected. Some sparks may have ignited. Firefighters say this is a one-time event; there was no leaking or vapor reading -- everything is intact.
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