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Previous by Date: Subject: [DCHAS-L] National Meeting Presentations and other news Date: Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 12:27:24 PM Author: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG> |
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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, April 26, 2017 at 7:36:09 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 (15 articles)
10 TREATED AT SCENE OF SAINT-BRUNO-DE-MONTARVILLE AMMONIA LEAK
Tags: Canada, industrial, release, response, ammonia
FATHER FILES MULTIMILLION DOLLAR SUIT, SON KILLED AT PCA PLANT EXPLOSION
Tags: us_LA, industrial, follow-up, death
NEW YORK INTRODUCES HOUSEHOLD CHEMICAL DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, environmental, pce, solvent
TWO HURT IN CHEMICAL LEAK ON NU CAMPUS
Tags: us_IL, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical
UCONN FIRE DEPARTMENT RESPONDS TO CONCURRENT CALLS TUESDAY ‰?? THE DAILY CAMPUS
Tags: us_CT, laboratory, release, injury, unknown_chemical
QUESTIONS REMAIN AFTER LEAK TRIGGERS CHEMICAL CLOUD, EVACUATIONS AT PIER 38
Tags: us_HI, industrial, release, injury, ammonia
MFD BATTLES ALUMINUM DUST FIRE
Tags: us_TN, industrial, fire, response, aluminum_dust
NEW, MORE COMFORTABLE HAZMAT PPE COMING
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
MORENO VALLEY: THREE FIREFIGHTERS HOSPITALIZED AFTER INVESTIGATING CARBON MONOXIDE LEAK
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, carbon_monoxide
CHEMICAL & ENGINEERING NEWS
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental
OSCE TO COORDINATE FOUR PROJECTS ON CHEMICAL SAFETY IN UKRAINE
Tags: Ukraine, public, discovery, environmental
LEAKED FERTILIZER DYE TURNS MELBOURNE ROAD BLUE
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, ag_chems, dye
LANL EXTINGUISHES FIRE AT PLUTONIUM FACILITY
Tags: us_NM, laboratory, follow-up, injury, other_chemical
2 WORKERS INJURED IN HOME EXPLOSION NEAR CYPRESS
Tags: us_TX, public, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
TRAIN EXPLOSION LEADS TO CHEMICAL RELEASE IN DOWNTOWN HOUSTON
Tags: us_TX, transportation, explosion, response, batteries
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10 TREATED AT SCENE OF SAINT-BRUNO-DE-MONTARVILLE AMMONIA LEAK
Tags: Canada, industrial, release, response, ammonia
Ten people were treated at the scene of an ammonia leak in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville early this morning.
The alarm inside Exceldor, a cooperative specializing in poultry, went off around 3:30 a.m. About an hour later, the Montreal fire department's hazmat team was called in to help, according to operations chief John Primiani.
About 100 people who were inside doing maintenance were forced to leave the building.
---------------------------------------------
FATHER FILES MULTIMILLION DOLLAR SUIT, SON KILLED AT PCA PLANT EXPLOSION
Tags: us_LA, industrial, follow-up, death
HOUSTON - The father of one of the three workers killed two months ago in the Packaging facility explosion at the Corporation of America plant in DeRidder Louisiana has now filed suit in Houston.
A multi-million dollar lawsuit was filed in the State District Courts of Harris County by Joe Gooch, who lost his son Jody Gooch in the tragic explosion that happened in February.
Gooch‰??s attorney, Brett Coon of Houston elaborates on the incident and expresses concern for the possible closing of the Chemical Safety Board (CSB), which is charged with investigating fatal chemical explosions across America, that could significantly charge industrial facility operations and increase safety and health risk factors.
---------------------------------------------
NEW YORK INTRODUCES HOUSEHOLD CHEMICAL DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, environmental, pce, solvent
ALBANY - New York plans to require manufacturers of home cleaning products to make a complete detailing of their ingredients to consumers through the companies' websites, the state said Tuesday.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the "Household Cleaning Product Information Disclosure Program" is a health initiative he first promised in his 2017 State of the State message earlier this year. The state-mandated disclosure would be the first imposed such program in the country, he said.
Also Tuesday, Cuomo said the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) plans to impose stricter limits on the permissible release into the atmosphere of perchloroethylene and other dry-cleaning solvents, which would bring the discharges into line with current federal requirements. According to the DEC, perchloroethylene is a suspected human carcinogen.
The state standards went into effect in 1997, and officials said the standards have not kept pace with improvements in dry-cleaning technology and in the introduction of effective, less-powerful solvents.
Cuomo said in a statement that the combination of household cleaning supply disclosure and lessened discharges of solvents from professional dry-cleaning establishments will "help protect New Yorkers and give them the peace of mind of knowing what's in their homes and in their communities."
---------------------------------------------
TWO HURT IN CHEMICAL LEAK ON NU CAMPUS
Tags: us_IL, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical
At least two people suffered breathing difficulties late this afternoon after a reported chemical spill at a building on the Northwestern University campus in Evanston.
Evanston Fire units responded to the scene at the loading dock of a building 2220 Campus Drive where the spill was reported.
The two people were treated by paramedics but didn't have to be hospitalized.
Fire officials say the chemical leak was halted and the scene has been turned over to school research safety officials and campus police.
---------------------------------------------
UCONN FIRE DEPARTMENT RESPONDS TO CONCURRENT CALLS TUESDAY ‰?? THE DAILY CAMPUS
Tags: us_CT, laboratory, release, injury, unknown_chemical
While the incident at Crandall was active, UConn Public Safety Communications Center- already handling increased activity- received a separate call around 12:30 Tuesday afternoon that a person in a Chemistry Building lab had splashed a small amount of a chemical into his or her eye. This required dispatching more UConn Fire Department personnel and sending a fire truck and ambulance to the Chemistry Building.
Willimantic Fire Department‰??s truck and Willington‰??s ambulance were re-directed there to assist the student in the lab, while the Coventry Fire Department covered the fire station and other UConn crews remained at the evacuated dorm, Reitz said.
‰??The person at the chemistry lab was taken to Windham Hospital as a precaution, but is expected to be fine. No chemicals were spilled and that building wasn‰??t evacuated, and the scene was cleared around 1:00 p.m on Tuesday,‰?? she said.
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QUESTIONS REMAIN AFTER LEAK TRIGGERS CHEMICAL CLOUD, EVACUATIONS AT PIER 38
Tags: us_HI, industrial, release, injury, ammonia
Questions linger as to how a major ammonia leak happened at Pier 38 forcing the evacuation of more than a hundred people.
The leak occurred Monday afternoon at Hawaiian Ice Company, which uses ammonia as a refrigerant.
Nine people were treated at the scene and one man was sent to the hospital in serious condition.
So what went wrong, and could it have been prevented?
The Honolulu Fire Department determined that the leak came from the piping that was coming out of the ammonia tank, but it‰??s still not clear what caused it to malfunction.
‰??We isolated the section of the pipe that was leaking,‰?? said HFD Battalion Chief John Bowers. ‰??There was some equipment within the piping that caused the leak that failed.‰??
Hawaiian Ice Company owner Jim Cook tells us he‰??s been using the technology for 30 years and never had any problems before.
---------------------------------------------
MFD BATTLES ALUMINUM DUST FIRE
Tags: us_TN, industrial, fire, response, aluminum_dust
Morristown firefighters used a dry chemical to extinguish a ferocious, white-hot fire that was fueled by a large quantity of aluminum dust outside the Kawasaki Tennessee plant Monday afternoon, a firefighter said this morning.
The fire, which burned with the intensity of a sparkler, temporarily halted production at the automotive supplier in the Morristown Airport Industrial District, but work resumed this morning, according to Deputy Chief Clark Taylor.
No firefighter was injured battling the potentially dangerous blaze.
The fire started at a large clogged funnel outside the plant that‰??s an end point of the ventilation and filtration system. Firefighters used a pike to loosen the super-heated metal dust, which ignited as soon as it was exposed to oxygen, according to Taylor.
‰??We had to dig (the aluminum dust) out of the bottom,‰?? the deputy fire chief said. ‰??Our crew did a really good job. The (dust) would fall out in globs. They had to poke it and run.‰??
Taylor says the metal would have easily burned through firefighters‰?? turnout gear.
---------------------------------------------
NEW, MORE COMFORTABLE HAZMAT PPE COMING
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
Personal protective equipment for hazardous materials response may seem like one of those areas where the technology has evolved to maturity. After all, over the past three decades we have seen a transformation of rubber-based hand-me-down suits from the military to a new wide range of lightweight plastic-based products and other innovations that seemingly make protection during chemical incidents easier and safer.
Yet, there are significant challenges arising for the hazmat PPE world. What has been conventionally divided between Level A total-encapsulating suits and Level B splash-protective clothing as defined by the EPA and OSHA is no longer deemed the right hierarchy of performance.
Moreover, with improvements in how firefighters engage in hazardous materials responses along with new tools, the demands for traditional PPE are changing. So are the standards that regulate hazmat PPE.
In the past, first responders often had to assume worst-case conditions because of the unknown circumstances for the release of various chemicals unless the incident involved obvious telltale clues. Certainly, hazmat response has been predicated on a careful upfront assessment for individuals are put into potentially hazardous environments.
---------------------------------------------
MORENO VALLEY: THREE FIREFIGHTERS HOSPITALIZED AFTER INVESTIGATING CARBON MONOXIDE LEAK
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, carbon_monoxide
MORENO VALLEY ‰?? Three firefighters were hospitalized with carbon monoxide exposure after investigating reports of a carbon monoxide leak during an early-morning emergency Sunday, April 23. The incident happened at an apartment in the Tuscany Hills Apartments, on the 21000 block of Box Springs Road in Moreno Valley.
Ten firefighters from two engine companies responded to the apartments about 12:42 a.m., after Riverside County emergency dispatchers were notified regarding a carbon monoxide alarm going off inside the apartment, according to Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Public Information Officer April Newman. They were later assisted by a hazardous materials team.
When the first arriving engine company made entry into the apartment, they ‰??noticed a slight odor of gas within the apartment,‰?? Newman explained in an incident report.
Officials at the scene immediately requested Southern California Gas Company personnel, one ambulance for the occupant from the apartment and a hazardous materials team to respond to the location.
‰??The hazard was mitigated within two hours of firefighters arriving on scene,‰?? said Newman. ‰??All three firefighters from the first arriving engine went to the hospital due to carbon monoxide exposure.‰??
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL & ENGINEERING NEWS
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental
Chemists, chemistry students, and fans of chemistry took to the streets on April 22 along with hundreds of thousands of others in support of science across the U.S. and the world. Billed as a nonpartisan event, the March for Science drew demonstrators who touted their love for science. More than 500 marches took place around the globe.
Many marchers in the U.S. called for the government to continue funding research in the face of calls by many in Congress to cut nondefense spending and proposals by President Donald J. Trump to slash federal support for many areas of science. Some criticized Trump‰??s climate change policies, including his plan to eliminate all of the Environmental Protection Agency‰??s climate programs.
The march in Washington, D.C., attracted participants from all over the country. One was Monica Ohnsorg, a chemistry graduate student at the University of Minnesota, who pulled an all-nighter to finish a homework set before catching a 6 AM flight to the nation‰??s capital.
---------------------------------------------
OSCE TO COORDINATE FOUR PROJECTS ON CHEMICAL SAFETY IN UKRAINE
Tags: Ukraine, public, discovery, environmental
The OSCE in cooperation with the international partners will coordinate four projects on chemical safety in Ukraine worth more than EUR 2 million.
OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine Vaidotas Verba said this in a commentary to an Ukrinform correspondent on the sidelines of the Warsaw-Kyiv International Forum: Developing cooperation in reducing chemical threats and enhancing chemical safety and security and voluntary fire service.
"We have four projects on paper. The first one relates to improvement of Ukrainian legislation in this field. The second project is connected with strengthening of the resource base for the identification of chemicals," Verba said.
According to him, the third project will be implemented jointly with the Ukrainian border guards. It will relate to prevention of chemicals transportation across the border and interaction between different services in this context. The fourth project will be connected with the organization of the training sessions on chemical safety and improvement of the resource base for their conduct.
According to the OSCE representative, it is also planned to implement the fifth project, specifically on eastern Ukraine ‰?? countering chemical threats in the area of ‰??‰??the contact line.
---------------------------------------------
LEAKED FERTILIZER DYE TURNS MELBOURNE ROAD BLUE
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, ag_chems, dye
MELBOURNE, Fla. - Brevard County Fire Rescue officials said they found the cause of a spill that turned a Melbourne road blue.
Melbourne police on Monday tweeted an image of blue lanes on West Eau Gallie Boulevard and Holland Street.
Officials said said fertilizer dye spilled in the road. Fire rescue crews were called to the scene to help clean it up.
The blue-streaked highway could be seen from Skywitness 9.
---------------------------------------------
LANL EXTINGUISHES FIRE AT PLUTONIUM FACILITY
Tags: us_NM, laboratory, follow-up, injury, other_chemical
A small fire at Los Alamos National Laboratory occurred at a plutonium-processing facility that federal inspectors recently flagged for safety concerns in a letter to U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry.
The fire Wednesday at the plutonium facility, known as PF-4, did not involve radioactive material, lab spokesman Kevin Roark said. An employee suffered burns on several fingers and was treated at Los Alamos Medical Center, he said.
The fire, he said, was likely caused by ‰??pyrophoric materials and compounds [that] can spontaneously overheat in the presence of oxygen.‰?? It occurred during cleanup activities and was put out using a fire extinguisher.
Technical Area 55, which includes PF-4, is one of the lab‰??s most sensitive sites and is where the main processing of radioactive plutonium occurs, including the construction of plutonium pits ‰?? small cores used to trigger nuclear bomb explosions.
In the last year, issues raised at the plutonium facility range from shortcomings in fire protection and seismic stability, to failures in its nuclear criticality safety program, according to reports published by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, which reports to the president and advises the Department of Energy, the lab owner, on public health and safety at its facilities.
The fire caused the shutdown of PF-4 for a day and led the New Mexico Environment Department to issue emergency authorization for the lab to destroy unstable hazardous waste.
---------------------------------------------
2 WORKERS INJURED IN HOME EXPLOSION NEAR CYPRESS
Tags: us_TX, public, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
Two painters were injured in a home explosion in the Cypress area on Thursday afternoon.
Rosehill Fire Department Assistant Chief Lee Sulecki said the call came in for a burn victim at about 1:30 p.m. on Thursday April 20, in the 19500 block of Stone Lake.
An explosion had blown out the front windows and part of a wall and damaged the upstairs of the home, Sulecki said.
Assistant Chief Lee Sulecki said the call came in for a burn victim at about 1:30 p.m. on April 20, in the 19500 block of Stone
The family was not home at the time of the incident, but both painters working inside were injured. Sulecki said he believes the explosion could have been caused by paint fumes that can be ignited from a lack of ventilation.
One worker was transported by Life Flight to Memorial Hermann Hospital with serious injuries. The other worker, who was hit by flying debris, was taken by ambulance to Memorial Hermann Cypress Hospital.
---------------------------------------------
TRAIN EXPLOSION LEADS TO CHEMICAL RELEASE IN DOWNTOWN HOUSTON
Tags: us_TX, transportation, explosion, response, batteries
A train explosion on Sunday evening blew out windows and sent a chemical stench across downtown Houston.
The shock from the blast could be felt as far as a mile and a half away.
....
When Houston firefighters arrived at the scene, the Union Pacific conductor told them the materials on the car were "nothing hazardous," according to Capt. Ruy Lozano.
Thirty minutes later, Union Pacific explained that the car held lithium ion batteries on the way to San Antonio for recycling. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation.
Union Pacific spokesman Jeff DeGraff said the batteries are not hazardous, and air monitoring after the incident found nothing toxic. But safety data says lithium fumes are irritants to lungs, eyes and throats.
No shelter in place was issued to nearby residents, and no notifications were sent to the public about what happened.
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