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From: DCHAS Secretary <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (18 articles)
Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2016 06:53:05 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: AFB82C3D-167C-4FCD-B781-B37407CEA020**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Saturday, November 12, 2016 at 6:52:51 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 (18 articles)
26 INJURED AFTER HAZMAT EMERGENCY AT PIER 96
Tags: us_ca, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
1 DEAD, SITUATION UNDER INVESTIGATION AFTER PATIENT BRINGS SODIUM CYANIDE TO WATERBURY HOSPITAL
Tags: us_ct, public, discovery, death, cyanide
WORLD‰??S 'SMALLEST MAGNIFYING GLASS' MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO SEE INDIVIDUAL CHEMICAL BONDS BETWEEN ATOMS
Tags: uk, laboratory, discovery, environmental
CHEMICAL REACTION DESTROYED HOLMAN ST. GARAGE
Tags: us_nh, public, fire, response, unknown_chemical
A RAPID OVERVIEW OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH RISKS RELATED TO CHEMICAL HAZARDS IN THE MOSUL HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
Tags: iraq, public, discovery, environmental
HAZMAT CREW CLEANS CHEMICAL SPILL IN WAITE PARK
Tags: us_MN, transportation, fire, response, diesel, hydraulic_fluid
HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO BROOKLINE ANIMAL HOSPITAL
Tags: us_MA, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
TAIWAN PROPOSES LAW FOR PERMANENT CHEMICAL SAFETY BUREAU
Tags: Taiwan, industrial, discovery, environmental, foods
TSCA AMENDMENTS PROMISE NEW CHEMICAL REGULATION IN 2017
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
DEA SEIZES CHEMICAL STASH IN DRUG RAID AT NORTH JERSEY HOME, FEDS SAY
Tags: us_NJ, public, discovery, response, explosives, clandestine, lab
JOHNSON & JOHNSON PRINCIPLES FOR SAFE USE OF CHEMICALS IN PRODUCTS
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental, toxics
CHEMICAL FIRM FINED å£3M FOR TOXIC VAPOUR CLOUD THAT KILLED WORKER
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, death, titanium_tetrachloride
EMERGENCY SERVICES TACKLE POSSIBLE CHEMICAL LEAK AT CARLSBERG BREWERY
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, release, death, unknown_chemical
BOMB SQUAD DEAL WITH POTENTIALLY ‰??EXPLOSIVE‰?? CHEMICAL AT LURGAN SCHOOL
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, discovery, response, other_chemical
TIANJIN CHEMICAL BLAST: CHINA JAILS 49 FOR DISASTER
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, death, illegal, sodium_cyanide
PEOPLE IN HAZMAT SUITS ARRESTED IN SUSPECTED GWINNETT DRUG LAB
Tags: us_GA, public, discovery, environmental, unknown_chemical
SEVEN SUBSTANCES ADDED TO 14TH REPORT ON CARCINOGENS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY INTO CAUSE OF FATAL BASF EXPLOSION
Tags: Germany, industrial, follow-up, death, unknown_chemical
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26 INJURED AFTER HAZMAT EMERGENCY AT PIER 96
Tags: us_ca, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU/BCN) - Two people were hospitalized this morning after a hazmat incident at a recycling center at Pier 96 in San Francisco.
San Francisco Fire reports that 26 people have fallen ill. The two hospitalized have non-life threatening injuries.
Trash and other recycling material at the facility caused them to be ill.
26 injured after hazmat emergency at Pier 96
Firefighter's tweeted the the material is isolated to the pier and no shelter in place is required.
The unknown material was reported at the Recycle Center shortly after 8 a.m.
---------------------------------------------
1 DEAD, SITUATION UNDER INVESTIGATION AFTER PATIENT BRINGS SODIUM CYANIDE TO WATERBURY HOSPITAL
Tags: us_ct, public, discovery, death, cyanide
WATERBURY ‰?? One person is dead after a bizarre incident that occurred in Waterbury Friday.
Several emergency crews, including police, fire and the DEEP emergency response team, responded to Waterbury Hospital. DEEP spokesman Dennis Schain said they were cleaning up ‰??a chemical contamination incident.‰??
It all started when, Friday morning, Waterbury Fire Department and EMS were called to American Electroplating at Thomaston Avenue for a person ‰??in distress with a health issue.‰??
The patient went into cardiac arrest and was transported to Waterbury Hospital, Schain said. At the hospital, a plastic bag was found in his pocket that had ‰??sodium cyanide‰?? written on it, and was a salt in powder form. Powder was found on the patient‰??s clothing.
The man died, according to DEEP Emergency Response Coordinator Ken LeClerc, but he could not say if it was due to the chemical exposure or something else.
How and why the man was exposed to the chemical in the first place is being investigated by Waterbury Police.
The fire department shut down the Emergency Room and isolated the heating and ventilation system so as not to spread the chemical. American Electroplating also hired an environmental contractor to do the decontamination of the ER and ambulance that transported the victim.
Normal operations have since resumed, and no other victims showed signs of exposure to the sodium cyanide.
DEEP will not test the powder ‰??given the circumstances,‰?? but law enforcement may further investigate.
---------------------------------------------
WORLD‰??S 'SMALLEST MAGNIFYING GLASS' MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO SEE INDIVIDUAL CHEMICAL BONDS BETWEEN ATOMS
Tags: uk, laboratory, discovery, environmental
Using the strange properties of tiny particles of gold, researchers have concentrated light down smaller than a single atom, letting them look at individual chemical bonds inside molecules, and opening up new ways to study light and matter.
Single gold atoms behave just like tiny metallic ball bearings in our experiments, with conducting electrons roaming around, which is very different from their quantum life.
Jeremy Baumberg
For centuries, scientists believed that light, like all waves, couldn‰??t be focused down smaller than its wavelength, just under a millionth of a metre. Now, researchers led by the University of Cambridge have created the world‰??s smallest magnifying glass, which focuses light a billion times more tightly, down to the scale of single atoms.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL REACTION DESTROYED HOLMAN ST. GARAGE
Tags: us_nh, public, fire, response, unknown_chemical
LACONIA ‰?? The investigation of the fire that destroyed a garage at 30 Holman St. this week concluded that it was started by a slow chemical reaction. Fire Chief Ken Erickson said earlier in the day residents were cleaning out the garage. Investigators believe that motor oil mixed with fertilizer stored on a plastic shelf at ground level, leading to a chemical reaction that generated heat and sparked fire. The fertilizer burned intensely and flames reached plastic shelving. Erickson said that the typical materials stored in a residential garage contributed to a fast-spreading fire.
Erickson encouraged residents to read the labels on the products they store. He explained that oils, particularly organic oils like linseed oil, are generally applied with rags, which should be handled with care since the residue of oil can generate heat as it decomposes. Pool chlorine and chemical fertilizers, he said, may lead to similar chemical reactions that can cause fire.
---------------------------------------------
A RAPID OVERVIEW OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH RISKS RELATED TO CHEMICAL HAZARDS IN THE MOSUL HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
Tags: iraq, public, discovery, environmental
This report provides a rapid, not fully exhaustive, overview of the chemical hazards related to ongoing military operations that aim to retake the city of Mosul in Iraq from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The report is primarily targeted at humanitarian responders and clusters on the ground for consideration and advice in operational decision-making. The analysis focuses on events involving the release of chemical substances, most notably the burning of oil wells and the fire at the Al-Mishraq Sulphur mining and processing complex. The report provides an overview of the major expected short- and long-term environmental and health impacts associated with the recent events and needs to be followed up with a more detailed assessment of implications on health, environment and livelihoods.
The duration of the oil well fires were analysed by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNITAR-UNOSAT) using fire detection data made available by the NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System. The analysis shows that an initial fire at one or two wells occurred on 8 May 2016, lasting less than one day. Subsequently, on several dates in June small-scale fires burned for durations of less than one day. The current fire complex began on 3 July with daily fire detections occurring until about 12 July. Starting from this date, the number of fire detections increased, and have since then stayed consistently high. Satellite images show that the area around the Al-Qayyarah oil fields has been exposed to oil smoke plumes for around 90 days. Images by the NASA Earth Observatory show the sulphur plume spreading across northern Iraq, Syria and Turkey, where acidic precipitation were reportedly expected over 28-!
29 October according to meteorological forecasts carried out by the State Meteorological Agency of Turkey.
The burning oil wells, the Al-Mishraq facility fire and other conflict related hazards are impacting the health of the affected population in the short term ‰?? where hundreds of people were treated for exposure to chemicals, and millions are exposed to soot and gases from the burning oil wells.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT CREW CLEANS CHEMICAL SPILL IN WAITE PARK
Tags: us_MN, transportation, fire, response, diesel, hydraulic_fluid
Firefighters from Waite Park and St. Cloud helped clean up a chemical spill Wednesday on Willow Creek Drive in Waite Park.
Oil, hydraulic oil and diesel fuel were leaking and entering into a storm sewer as a result of a vehicle fire involving a West Central Sanitation garbage truck, according to St. Cloud Fire Department. The incident was reported at about 2:15 p.m. Wednesday. A release from the Waite Park Police Department said the garbage truck was fully engulfed in flames. The driver wasn't in the truck at the time of the fire, and no one was injured.
St. Cloud Fire Department responded to aid in the clean-up of hazardous materials. The hazmat team was able to pool the runoff, then separate the oils from water using hydrophobic pads and pillows. A tank trap was then used to capture fuel as it was leaking from the fuel tank.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO BROOKLINE ANIMAL HOSPITAL
Tags: us_MA, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
BROOKLINE, Mass. - An animal hospital in Brookline was evacuated for hours Thursday after a dozen workers suddenly felt very sick.
Deputy Chief Keith Flaherty said the twelve workers were checked out by paramedics and no one needed to go to the hospital.
The state hazmat team was called in to test for a potential gas leak or spilled chemicals. Flaherty says they didn‰??t find anything out of the ordinary.
"They came and did a thorough evaluation and found very low levels of some acceptable substances which would normally be found in a hospital," he said.
The HazMat team and fire department never figured out what it was.
The all-clear was given around 2 p.m. and everyone at the animal hospital was able to go back to work.
---------------------------------------------
TAIWAN PROPOSES LAW FOR PERMANENT CHEMICAL SAFETY BUREAU
Tags: Taiwan, industrial, discovery, environmental, foods
Taiwan is moving ahead with plans to set up a Toxic Substances and Chemicals Bureau to improve chemical safety ‰?? particularly in relation to food safety.
Last month the country's EPA issued a set of temporary regulations and a budget to establish the bureau by the end of the year.
Now the Executive Yuan has approved a draft law for a permanent bureau of the EPA. The proposal will be submitted to the Legislative Yuan, the island republic's parliament, for review.
Premier Lin Chuan stated 3 November that the top priority for the planned bureau will be to intensify "point of origin" controls over chemicals imported into or manufactured in Taiwan, with the aim of improving food safety.
He said that after a proposed Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources and Environment (MENR) is formed, central government functions related to chemical substance management and environmental pollution regulation will be incorporated into the new bureau.
EPA Minister Lee Ying-yuan said establishing the new organisation could not wait until the MENR's long-delayed formation due the need to rebuild the country's reputation for food safety.
Mr Lee said a series of food safety scandals involving plasticisers, industrial chemicals such as milk-laced melamine, and, most recently, magnesium carbonate laced pepper had inflicted considerable harm on Taiwan consumers and Taiwan's global reputation as a producer of quality food products.
---------------------------------------------
TSCA AMENDMENTS PROMISE NEW CHEMICAL REGULATION IN 2017
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
On June 22, President Obama signed the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, which fundamentally changes certain å-aspects of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), a statute that gives the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) broad authority to impose restrictions on the manufacture, processing, use, distribution, use or disposal of any chemical substance currently or proposed to be placed in commerce. These changes, which are designed to promote the more frequent, timely and systematic review and regulation of new and existing chemical substances, have the potential to result in a number of new regulatory requirements for a wide range of industries.
---------------------------------------------
DEA SEIZES CHEMICAL STASH IN DRUG RAID AT NORTH JERSEY HOME, FEDS SAY
Tags: us_NJ, public, discovery, response, explosives, clandestine, lab
TOTOWA ‰?? Drug Enforcement Agency agents raided a home on Hudson Avenue Wednesday afternoon where they found large quantities of chemicals used to make drugs, officials said.
Federal agents from the DEA's Newark office executed a search warrant at the Hudson Avenue house as part of an ongoing narcotics investigation, Timothy P. McMahon, a spokesman for the agency, said.
Agents who entered the home found large quantities of chemicals and a pill packer, McMahon said.
State police and chemists from the DEA's New York Office arrived at the scene, where they determined the chemicals were used to produce synthetic drugs such as opioids and methamphetamine.
No actual drugs were recovered at the scene, McMahon said.
Agents also discovered chemicals that could be used to make explosives, McMahon said. Firefighters were called to the scene as a precaution.
---------------------------------------------
JOHNSON & JOHNSON PRINCIPLES FOR SAFE USE OF CHEMICALS IN PRODUCTS
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental, toxics
Many questions are being raised today about chemical safety and Johnson & Johnson recognizes the growing demand for products made from safer chemicals.
In the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, safety is our legacy and we have given it a lot of careful thought. We understand the world community not only has an interest in, but a right to know why we use certain chemicals in our products. Our customers want and deserve products that have low to no toxicity and which degrade into innocuous substances in the environment.
We adhere to a set of guiding principles that minimizes the use of chemicals of high concern(1) and ensures safe use of chemicals in the formulation and manufacturing processes of our products. These principles guide all phases of our product development and they are supported by a continuous improvement product stewardship strategy. At Johnson & Johnson, product stewardship means recognizing and addressing the potential environmental and social impacts of our products throughout their life cycles, from design and development to the selection of the materials from which our products are made and the transportation of those materials, through production and packaging, and product use and disposal. To do this, we have designed and implemented tools for our businesses to assess products, processes, and packaging for environmental impacts, and set goals to drive enhanced performance.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL FIRM FINED å£3M FOR TOXIC VAPOUR CLOUD THAT KILLED WORKER
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, death, titanium_tetrachloride
A global chemical company has been fined for poor operational practices that killed one of its employees and seriously hurt another when they were overcome by a toxic vapour cloud.
Cristal Pigment UK Ltd was sentenced at Hull Crown Court on 8 November for two incidents that occurred within less than two years at Europe‰??s largest titanium dioxide plant at Stallingborough in north-east Lincolnshire.
The company, which was formerly known as Millennium Inorganic Chemicals, is part of the Cristal Group, a leading international producer of titanium chemicals. Titanium dioxide is widely used as a cheap white pigment but the European Chemicals Agency recently consulted on plans to declare it a respiratory carcinogen.
The court heard that, in the early hours of 5 March 2010, there was a build-up of titanium tetrachloride ‰?? an intermediate in the process to produce titanium oxide - within a vessel. The chemical came into contact with water creating a violent reaction, which ruptured the vessel. The liquid came into contact with the air creating a large toxic vapour cloud.
One worker was showered with the corrosive liquid and died several days later. His colleague was covered by the vapour cloud, surviving his injuries but with irreversible lung damage.
---------------------------------------------
EMERGENCY SERVICES TACKLE POSSIBLE CHEMICAL LEAK AT CARLSBERG BREWERY
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, release, death, unknown_chemical
A man in his 40s has died and another is in a serious condition after a gas leak at a Carlsberg factory.
Twenty two people - including 11 staff, two police officers and nine firefighters were taken to hospital following the industrial accident at the factory in Northampton at 12.30pm.
A 51-year-old man working on the site remains in a serious but stable condition, Carlsberg confirmed.
---------------------------------------------
BOMB SQUAD DEAL WITH POTENTIALLY ‰??EXPLOSIVE‰?? CHEMICAL AT LURGAN SCHOOL
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, discovery, response, other_chemical
controlled explosion was carried out after a Lurgan school called in the PSNI to deal with a dangerous chemical.
The bomb squad arrived at St Ronan‰??s College yesterday afternoon to deal with a potentially explosive chemical.
It follows a number of explosions at schools in England recently where the substance had been stored in chemistry Labs.
The PSNI said the police were called by the school on Monday and arrangements were made to deal with the substance on Tuesday afternoon.
A PSNI spokesperson said a controlled explosion was carried out to safely dispose of the chemical.
Chief Inspector Natalie Wilson said: ‰??In October 2016, educational establishments throughout the UK were advised by the Consortium of Local Education Authorities providing Science Services (CLEAPSS), that a powdered substance, 2,4 DNP (Dinitrophenyl hydrazine), which is occasionally used by students in chemical experiments may present a risk if stored incorrectly.
---------------------------------------------
TIANJIN CHEMICAL BLAST: CHINA JAILS 49 FOR DISASTER
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, death, illegal, sodium_cyanide
A Chinese court has handed a suspended death sentence to the head of a chemical factory for his role in blasts that killed 173 people last year.
Ruihai Logistics chairman Yu Xuewei was also fined more than 700,000 yuan (about $100,000) over the disaster in the eastern port city of Tianjin.
He is among 49 staff and government officials jailed for their role in the firm's illegal operations.
Most of the dead were firefighters and police. Eight bodies were never found.
The explosion was one of the deadliest industrial accidents in Chinese history and caused more than $1bn in estimated economic losses.
The Ruihai Logistics chairman was found guilty of paying bribes allowing his company to sidestep safety regulations when storing sodium cyanide and other dangerous chemicals.
---------------------------------------------
PEOPLE IN HAZMAT SUITS ARRESTED IN SUSPECTED GWINNETT DRUG LAB
Tags: us_GA, public, discovery, environmental, unknown_chemical
Red warning signs warned passers-by to stay away from a Gwinnett County property, where chemicals could still be lingering after a drug raid.
Six people wearing hazmat gear were arrested Tuesday afternoon inside a rented house on Harbins Road, officials said.
Neighbor Simone Jarvis told Channel 2 Action News she saw the suspects being handcuffed and loaded into police vans shortly after noon.
Drugs and other hazardous materials were found in the house, which is across the street from a day care center, Channel 2 reported.
‰??That can blow up a large community; it can hurt a lot of people,‰?? Jarvis said. ‰??It‰??s a real dangerous thing.‰??
The homeowner said he only rented the house out a week ago.
The Gwinnett County Sheriff‰??s Office said details will be limited while the investigation is ongoing.
---------------------------------------------
SEVEN SUBSTANCES ADDED TO 14TH REPORT ON CARCINOGENS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
Seven Substances Added to 14th Report on Carcinogens
Five viruses, a chemical, and a metallic element listed in new HHS report
Today's release of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 14th Report on Carcinogens includes seven newly reviewed substances, bringing the cumulative total to 248 listings.
The chemical trichloroethylene (TCE), and the metallic element cobalt and cobalt compounds that release cobalt ions in vivo, are being added to the list, as well as five viruses that have been linked to cancer in humans. The five viruses include human immunodeficiency virus type 1, human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1, Epstein-Barr virus, Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, and Merkel cell polyomavirus.
---------------------------------------------
INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY INTO CAUSE OF FATAL BASF EXPLOSION
Tags: Germany, industrial, follow-up, death, unknown_chemical
London ‰?? Kurt Bock, CEO of German chemical giant BASF SE, said during a London press event Nov. 7 that an investigation is underway about the cause of the Oct. 17 fire and explosion at its Ludwigshafen, Germany plant which resulted in the death of four people.
The explosion followed a fire which began on a pipeline at the group‰??s North Harbor facility last month. Three fire fighters who were tackling the initial blaze were killed in the subsequent explosion, along with a sailor who was working by the river.
Bock said an independent investigation into the incident was underway, but it appeared that contractors had been working on the wrong pipeline when the incident happened.
‰??This has been an emotionally tough and traumatic experience for everyone, both in Ludwigshafen and for BASF colleagues globally."
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