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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 (17 articles)
Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2017 06:31:33 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: DB6763EF-5A6C-465E-98EC-47B1EC478937**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, December 8, 2017 at 6:31:08 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 (17 articles)
UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG BUILDING EVACUATED AFTER FIRE
Tags: Australia, laboratory, fire, response, batteries
4 INJURED AFTER ‰??ROACH BOMB‰?? SPARKS BLAST AT BROOKLYN HIGH-RISE: FDNY
Tags: us_NY, public, explosion, injury, bomb
FRENCH LICK MAN DIES FROM INJURIES IN HUNTINGBURG EXPLOSION
Tags: us_IN, industrial, explosion, death, cleaners, solvent
AUTHORITIES INVESTIGATING CHEMICAL EXPLOSION THAT SENT 'LARGE FIREBALL' IN TO THE AIR
Tags: us_ND, industrial, explosion, response, unknown_chemical
EPA WANTS TO BETTER COORDINATE CLEANUP OF CHEMICALS LIKE PFOA
Tags: us_VT, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
WORLD‰??S ENVIRONMENT OFFICIALS SET GOAL FOR CONTAMINATION-FREE PLANET
Tags: Kenya, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
SPILL IN CHEMICAL COMPANY RETENTION POND CLEANED UP
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
3 HURT IN CHEMICAL EXPLOSION AT SOUTHEASTERN ARKANSAS PLANT
Tags: us_AR, industrial, explosion, injury, peroxide
SAFETY FIRST!
Tags: us_WI, public, discovery, environmental
PUBLIC METALLIC MERCURY RELEASES REVIEWED
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, mercury
COAL TAR ‰??VAPOUR‰?? LEAK CREATES PLUME IN EAST END
Tags: Canada, industrial, release, injury, irritant
TRENTON DRINKING WATER TURNED PURPLE BY CHEMICAL THAT CAN CAUSE PERSON TO COLLAPSE
Tags: us_NJ, public, release, response, potassium_permanganate, water_treatment
100 YEARS AFTER HALIFAX: ARE WE SAFER FROM CHEMICAL EXPLOSIONS?
Tags: Canada, public, follow-up, environmental, explosives
CORONER CALLED TO SCENE OF PIPELINE EXPLOSION
Tags: us_IL, industrial, explosion, injury, natural_gas
IMPACT OF EU NANO OBSERVATORY ‰??LIMITED‰??, RIVM SAYS
Tags: Netherlands, public, discovery, environmental
LA INVESTIGATING CHEMICAL SPILL THAT SMELLED LIKE GAS
Tags: us_CA, public, follow-up, environmental, natural_gas
STUDENTS PROTEST AT ROCHESTER PREP OVER CHEMICAL CONCERNS
Tags: us_NY, education, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
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UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG BUILDING EVACUATED AFTER FIRE
Tags: Australia, laboratory, fire, response, batteries
2.30pm: A lithium battery being used by students for an experiment is believed to have sparked a fire inside a laboratory at the University of Wollongong on Friday.
Fire crews were alerted the fire, within a second-floor lab inside building 15, just before 1.10pm.
A Fire and Rescue NSW spokesman said the first crew was on the scene within a few minutes and reported a ‰??working fire‰??.
An escalated (second alarm) response followed, with a total of nine crews dispatched to the scene.
The fire was contained by about 1.30pm.
Six fire crews remained on the scene at 2.15pm, ventilating the building.
The fire service‰??s hazardous materials unit also responded to the incident, along with a number of police officers and paramedics.
---------------------------------------------
4 INJURED AFTER ‰??ROACH BOMB‰?? SPARKS BLAST AT BROOKLYN HIGH-RISE: FDNY
Tags: us_NY, public, explosion, injury, bomb
Four people were injured and a cat was killed after a ‰??roach bomb‰?? led to an explosion at a high-rise apartment building in Brooklyn Thursday afternoon, fire officials say.
The blast blew out four large windows of a second-floor, corner apartment at the building in Brownsville. Firefighters rushed to the scene on Hegeman Avenue shortly after 1 p.m.
Tyrone McClean said he felt the building shake and heard a loud bang. Some residents said they felt a rumbled from more than a dozen stories above the blast.
Andre Chandler said he noticed a "subtle shake" for about 10 seconds. "And I'm on the 16th floor and on the opposite side (of the building)," he said.
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FRENCH LICK MAN DIES FROM INJURIES IN HUNTINGBURG EXPLOSION
Tags: us_IN, industrial, explosion, death, cleaners, solvent
(IUNDATED) - A French Lick man burned during a chemical explosion at a Huntingburg business has died.
54-year-old John Deel of French Lick passed away at an Indianapolis hospital on Tuesday.
The explosion happened November 27th at Styline Services Center on West 6th Street.
Huntingburg Fire Department spokesperson John Smith says Deel was cleaning in a service pit when fumes from a solvent-based cleaner he was using ignited fumes that had built up.
He said after the explosion occurred Deel exited the service pit with his clothes a blaze and a fellow employee used an extinguisher to put out the flash fire out before others offered first aid.
He was taken by ambulance from the scene to Memorial Hospital in Jasper and was eventually transferred to an Indianapolis medical facility for further treatment.
No other injuries were reported in the accident and no apparent damage was sustained to the Styline facility.
---------------------------------------------
AUTHORITIES INVESTIGATING CHEMICAL EXPLOSION THAT SENT 'LARGE FIREBALL' IN TO THE AIR
Tags: us_ND, industrial, explosion, response, unknown_chemical
DWIGHT, N.D. (Valley News Live) Authorities in Richland County are investigating after a chemical explosion sent a 'large fireball' into the air Thursday morning.
The Richland County Sheriff's Office said they were called out just before 8:30 a.m. for a fire at a small storage shed at ABU Trailers.
Deputies say there was a trailer with chemicals stored in 55 gallon containers, and the fire caused the containers to explode, sending a large fireball into the air.
A release from the Sheriff's Office say the chemicals that exploded are no risk to the public, but they say they are not sure exactly which chemicals were involved.
The cause of the fire is under investigation
---------------------------------------------
EPA WANTS TO BETTER COORDINATE CLEANUP OF CHEMICALS LIKE PFOA
Tags: us_VT, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
The Environmental Protection Agency says it wants to better coordinate the nationwide response to soil and water contaminated with chemicals like PFOA.
PFOA is an industrial chemical that has contaminated about 270 private wells in Bennington.
It is just one of the perfluorinated compounds that has been found in water and soil across the country.
Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation waste management director Chuck Schwer says the move by EPA could signal a shift in how the federal government is responding to the growing crisis.
"We have learned that this is a very pervasive problem, and it's in a lot of different locations," Schwer says. "I think this is what's really prompted EPA taking a more active role. They recognize just how serious a problem this is, not just in Vermont but around the country."
The EPA has phased out the use of perfluorinated compounds but it was used for decades in firefighter foam and to make Teflon and water-proof fabrics.
---------------------------------------------
WORLD‰??S ENVIRONMENT OFFICIALS SET GOAL FOR CONTAMINATION-FREE PLANET
Tags: Kenya, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
Top environmental officials from around the globe pledged on Dec. 6 to improve people‰??s lives by cutting contamination of land, air, fresh water, and oceans.
Meeting as the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi, the officials set an international goal of a pollution-free planet. They did not establish a time frame for reaching this lofty objective, calling it ‰??a long-term endeavor.‰??
‰??We have put the fight against pollution high on the global political agenda,‰?? says Erik Solheim, head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
One activity that must be improved to eliminate pollution is use of commercial chemicals, the assembly determined.
‰??We believe that it is both inexcusable and preventable that tens of thousands of chemicals are used in everyday objects and applied in the field without proper testing, labelling or tracking,‰?? the environment ministers say in a declaration. ‰??Far too many communities‰?? lack information about hazardous substances they use or are exposed to, or they lack the capacity to manage those hazards safely, the declaration says.
Separately, the assembly called for action to curb the amount of plastic in the world‰??s oceans as global plastic production and use continues to increase. The assembly called for UNEP to create a global experts group to study options for reducing marine plastic litter, including microplastics. To this end, the assembly encouraged countries to establish policies that extend producers‰?? responsibility for the fate of their products.
---------------------------------------------
SPILL IN CHEMICAL COMPANY RETENTION POND CLEANED UP
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
Ace Completions, an Odessa-based chemical company, had issues in November regarding odor complaints from neighbors about a retention pond on their lot at 325 Pronto Ave., and they hit another snag recently after 75 gallons of a surfactant chemical spilled into the pond as well.
Brian McGovern, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality media relations specialist, said the spill was reported Nov. 21, and is currently being investigated by TCEQ.
This comes after Ace Completions had received several complaints of a noxious odor emanating from their Pronto location, which TCEQ investigated and gave the company of a notice of violation for failing to prevent the release of odors.
An independent lab report from Xenco Laboratories shows soil and water samples taken from the retention pond did not show harmful chemicals in either of the samples, and Ace Completions Founder and CEO Jody Ehler said the cause of the odor came from the heavy rains in Odessa last August and September.
---------------------------------------------
3 HURT IN CHEMICAL EXPLOSION AT SOUTHEASTERN ARKANSAS PLANT
Tags: us_AR, industrial, explosion, injury, peroxide
HELENA-WEST HELENA ‰?? Three workers performing maintenance duties at a chemical plant in southeastern Arkansas were injured when a decomposing product exploded.
The Helena Daily World reported the explosion occurred Wednesday morning at United Initiators, which makes peroxide. The plant is located in an industrial park in Helena-West Helena, 3 miles from the Mississippi River.
Jon Cummins, the plant's vice president of manufacturing, said the chemical involved was benzoyl peroxide. Cummins said there were no chemical releases caused by the explosion. It wasn't immediately clear how serious the workers' injuries were.
WREG-TV of Memphis reported that no fire occurred.
The company stopped production to begin an investigation.
Germany-based United Initiators acquired its Helena-West Helena plant in 2012, according to the company's website.
---------------------------------------------
SAFETY FIRST!
Tags: us_WI, public, discovery, environmental
One technique that I discovered, however, made any discussion about safety come alive. We would go around the class and every student would relate some incident that they had experienced where they had gotten hurt or injured. Everyone had a story, usually multiple stories. It got to be almost a competition. Virtually every student could tell of a personal accident, pratfall, near miss, embarrassing mishap, or catastrophe that had happened to them. Not all of the students lived on farms, but that didn‰??t matter-they all had stories to tell. The students were riveted by their classmates‰?? experiences, and so was I. We were all survivors of some kind of accident.
With the storytelling session as an introduction, we then talked about why the students‰?? accidents had happened. Sometimes things just happened, so-called freak accidents, but usually there were underlying factors that we could identify. Maybe the lighting was poor and a trip or a barked shin was the result. Often hurrying was the culprit. Taking shortcuts, trying to multitask, being mentally distracted can all lead to problems. By deconstructing their past accidents, hopefully the students became more aware of everyday hazards and they became safer.
---------------------------------------------
PUBLIC METALLIC MERCURY RELEASES REVIEWED
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, mercury
A person walks into a bar carrying a jar filled with more than 5 kg of mercury.
Although we wish we could follow that sentence with a punch line, this actually happened in Armstrong, Iowa, in 2012. And it gets worse. The jar spilled.
Thankfully, nobody was hurt, but it took Environmental Protection Agency contractors a week to fully clean the spill. Among the remediation highlights, workers had to remove the bar‰??s flooring and treat several appliances in one of the patron‰??s houses as hazardous waste, including the washer, dryer, and vacuum cleaner.
A group of public health officials earlier this year wrote about this and several other mercury spills, cluing the Newscripts gang into just how often people accidentally‰??and avoidably‰??expose themselves to this neurotoxic element (Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 2017, DOI: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6610a3). The authors counted more than 60 nonthermometer mercury spills in five states between 2012 and 2015. Corresponding author Ryan J. Wozniak tells us that he and his colleagues cataloged these cases to raise awareness about the liquid metal.
‰??We find that many people still have old jars of mercury in their garages, basements, and other storage areas,‰?? says Wozniak, a toxicologist at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. That‰??s in addition to other mercurial sources people may have in their houses, including compact fluorescent light bulbs, old boiler heating systems, and grandfather clocks with mercury pendulums.
---------------------------------------------
COAL TAR ‰??VAPOUR‰?? LEAK CREATES PLUME IN EAST END
Tags: Canada, industrial, release, injury, irritant
Six workers reported respiratory problems during Tuesday's release of a yellow-green "plume" at a coal tar recycler in the east end near Pier 24.
The widely-seen plume was the result of coal tar pitch "vapours" released from a processing unit undergoing maintenance at Ruetgers Canada just before 3 p.m., said Gary Wheeler, spokesperson for Ontario's Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.
The industrial processor at 725 Strathearne Ave. N. uses coal tar (a byproduct of steelmaking also known as a toxic ingredient in Randle Reef harbour pollution) as a chemical raw material in manufacturing.
District EMS superintendent Dave Thompson said six employees suffered "respiratory injuries" as a result of exposure to a "rather large plume" of gas that contained an inhalable "irritant."
Thompson said the patients were "decontaminated" before being examined by paramedics, and in some cases transported to local hospitals. He said all of the individuals were considered in stable condition.
---------------------------------------------
TRENTON DRINKING WATER TURNED PURPLE BY CHEMICAL THAT CAN CAUSE PERSON TO COLLAPSE
Tags: us_NJ, public, release, response, potassium_permanganate, water_treatment
More than 24 hours later, the Barney water in the jug turned a yellowish color, Miller said.
Offering an explanation, a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) spokesman said that the city informed the agency that the discolored water was caused by an excess concentration of potassium permanganate, a chemical used in the standard water treatment process.
‰??The cause of the incident is being investigated and focusing on pumping calibrations,‰?? DEP spokesman Larry Hajna said Tuesday. ‰??Potassium permanganate is not considered a health risk.‰??
Despite the DEP press flack‰??s assertion that the public was not in danger, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) paints a different picture of the chemical used to control odor and taste and remove iron, hydrogen sulfide and manganese from drinking water.
Ingestion of potassium permanganate can lead to burning sensation, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting, and even cause shock or collapse, according to information on the CDC website. Long-term exposure to the oxidizing chemical can have effects on the lungs, resulting in bronchitis and pneumonia, the CDC states.
If ingested, a person is advised to drink plenty of water and not induce vomiting, the CDC recommends.
---------------------------------------------
100 YEARS AFTER HALIFAX: ARE WE SAFER FROM CHEMICAL EXPLOSIONS?
Tags: Canada, public, follow-up, environmental, explosives
On Dec. 6, 1917, poor storage and unsafe transportation of picric acid and TNT led to the largest explosion the world had seen prior to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Halifax explosion killed nearly 2,000, injured more than 9,000 and left 25,000 without adequate shelter. Despite the devastation, no one was ever successfully prosecuted for failures leading to the explosion. One hundred years later we might ask, are we safer today from an accidental explosion of dangerous chemicals? The answer is yes, but important weaknesses remain.
Our attention typically focuses on the transportation of dangerous chemicals, but the storage of dangerous chemicals often flies below the radar. Chemicals are pervasive. The Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) registry lists 4,720 facilities in Canada that use or store above-threshold quantities of hazardous chemicals. Many of these exist in urban or suburban areas. There is also increased urbanization. At the beginning of the 20th century, 45 per cent of Canadians lived in urban centres. Today, more than 83 per cent do.
The increased presence of dangerous chemicals and urbanization are a toxic mix, because accidents happen. In 2008, there was a series of explosions at the Sunrise Propane facility in Toronto; it contributed to the deaths of two people and forced thousands to evacuate. In 2012, the Neptune Technologies and Bioressources plant near Sherbrooke exploded, burning 15,000 litres of acetone, killing three workers and injuring 18 others. Though rare, disasters continue to occur.
---------------------------------------------
CORONER CALLED TO SCENE OF PIPELINE EXPLOSION
Tags: us_IL, industrial, explosion, injury, natural_gas
The conditions of both people injured in the explosion had stabilized. A second tractor attempted to free the first but lost traction when the explosion happened. The Lee County Sheriff's Department said the blast sent flames and dark smoke into the air around 9 a.m.
U.S. Route 38 between Nachusa and Robbins roads is closed, and police and fire crews from multiple agencies also are on scene.
According to Lee County Sheriff's Department officials, an explosion and fire occurred in a field near Nachusa when a natural gas line was struck by a tractor at approximately 9 a.m. on December 5. The gas company is now on scene to make sure the pipeline is secured.
A large fire, possibly caused by a pipeline explosion, has emergency personnel responding to a scene near Dixon.
---------------------------------------------
IMPACT OF EU NANO OBSERVATORY ‰??LIMITED‰??, RIVM SAYS
Tags: Netherlands, public, discovery, environmental
The impact of Echa‰??s nano observatory on the safety and transparency of nanomaterials on the EU market will be minimal, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) has said.
Launched in June, the observatory ‰?? or the EUON ‰?? is a public website aimed at increasing transparency of information on nanomaterials on the single market. This came after the European Commission opted not to create an EU nano register, given delays in the introduction of new REACH information requirements on the substances.
The Netherlands and some other member states asked for a mandatory European registration system and because this is not the case, the EUON is "limited in detailed information", RIVM says in its analysis The European Union Observatory for Nanomaterials ‰?? a step forward?
"Consequently, RIVM expects the EUON's contribution to reducing the uncertainty regarding the safety of nanomaterials to be limited."
According to Echa, it offers "factual and neutral content", and is targeted at a wide audience including consumers, workers, regulators and scientists. Visitors can read about where they are used and obtain information on health and safety issues, research, regulatory and international activities.
---------------------------------------------
LA INVESTIGATING CHEMICAL SPILL THAT SMELLED LIKE GAS
Tags: us_CA, public, follow-up, environmental, natural_gas
The Los Angeles City Council directed various agencies Tuesday to investigate a chemical spill in the Rancho Park area that caused a strong gas-like odor to blanket a large swath of the Westside last week, with two councilmen voicing heavy criticism of Southern California Gas Co.'s handling of post-spill communications.
According to the utility, the odor that began permeating the area around 9:10 p.m. last Wednesday was not caused by a gas leak, but by a spill of a nontoxic odorant that is added to natural gas as a safety precaution. The spill was cleaned up, and SoCalGas said last Thursday that the odor was expected to dissipate gradually during the day.
But City Councilman Paul Koretz said some residents were still complaining about the smell and may be suffering health problems related to it.
"Even now, nearly a week later, I am still getting emails from folks saying the smell is still in their car or their homes, and worse yet people are still coughing things up," Koretz said.
---------------------------------------------
STUDENTS PROTEST AT ROCHESTER PREP OVER CHEMICAL CONCERNS
Tags: us_NY, education, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
Students at Rochester Prep didn't attend classes on Tuesday, but instead joined classmates and their parents to protest after chemical contamination has been found at their school.
The NYS DEC has told Monroe County that ground contamination near the school building, a former Bausch and Lomb facility, may have migrated across the street to a county leased building on St. Paul Street.
Karla Leng is a junior at Rochester Prep. She says they were protesting because the air at the school has high levels of Trichloroethylene (TCE) and the water is dirty.
"I love my school, but I'm just hoping that we get transferred to another building. I don't want anything to happen with our school. The school is a great school but the building is the main problem."
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren says the school district, City Hall, and administrators from Rochester Prep are all working on options for the students.
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