Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2010 06:11:03 -0400
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From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety"

Subject: Chemical Safety headlines from Google

Links to details available at 
http://tinyurl.com/chasnews


us_ok: Fatal oil site explosion sparked by cigarette

Oklahoma - WELEETKA, Okla. (AP) - Okfuskee County authorities say an April 14 oil tank explosion that killed a Weleetka man was sparked by a lit cigarette. Twenty-one-year-old Zachary Pangle died Friday at a Tulsa hospital from what the state medical examiner described as "thermal injuries. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is investigating the blast and will hold a news conference on Friday. Undersheriff Darrell Summers says investigators determined about a half-dozen people had gathered for a pasture party on private property. Pangle and 25-year-old Jonathan Pruitt ventured over to the nearby oil tank battery and climbed on a walkway. Summers says Pangle was smoking and opened a hatch on one of the tanks. Pruitt suffered burns on his arms. Summers says the area was marked clearly with warning signs and that partygoers were trespassing. --- Information from: The Oklahoman, http://www.newsok.com

us_ny: Chemical leaks at Eastman Business Park - RocNow.com

Workers were offloading a delivery of ammonium hydroxide to Champion Photochemistry when the driver noticed that a small amount of the product was leaking from a valve into a catch basin, according to a news release from the Rochester Fire Department.

The Kodak Park Fire Department investigated and requested a hazardous materials response from the Rochester department.

Ammonium hydroxide is a corrosive material and is considered a health hazard. Because the total amount of chemical in the tanks was 5,700 gallons, the event was upgraded to a Level 1 incident, according to the release.

The Champion Photochemistry building was evacuated, and crews were able to successfully disconnect the hoses without any further spill, according to the release.

The total amount of product released was approximately one quart, which the Kodak Park department successfully cleaned up, according to the release.

us_wa: UW chemistry building evacuated, Haz-Mat team called

The University of Washington chemistry building was evacuated early Thursday afternoon after students felt ill from vapors.
The Seattle Fire Department haz-mat crew was called about 1 p.m. to the 3700 block of Okanogan Lane Northeast.

"There was no spill or leak, but there were three people exposed," department spokesman Helen Fitzpatrick said.

No students were being taken to hospitals, according to fire officials.

Fitzpatrick said the three students were alert shortly after the incident.

The incident sent dozens of students wearing white lab coats into the street.

Fire crews at the scene said the incident involved bromine, a liquid that can be volatile at room temperature. Bromine vapors are toxic.

Canada: Chemical Safety: Trimethylsilylacetylene Explosion

We would like to report an explosion that occurred in our laboratory last year while performing an oxidative coupling of trimethylsilylacetylene (TMSA) in a Glaser-Hay reaction. The explosion ruptured the 2-L reaction flask and seriously injured a researcher.

This reaction has been routinely used in our and many other laboratories to prepare 1,4-bis(trimethylsilyl)butadiyne-1,3 on a large scale (>100 g), and no dangerous or unusual behavior was previously noted.

The procedure involves purging oxygen through a solution of TMSA in acetone in the presence of a copper(I) chloride:tetramethylethylenediamine complex catalyst at room temperature as described by Andrew B. Holmes et al. (Org. Syntheses 1993, Coll. Vol. 8, 63).

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