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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, January 20, 2012 7:13:35 AM
A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
Connecting Chemistry and Safety at http://www.dchas.org
All article summaries and tags are archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas
Table of Contents (25 articles)
TANKER TRUCK LEAKS 'HAZARDOUS' MILK
Tags: us_IN, transportation, release, environmental, milk
HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO CHESAPEAKE COLLEGE FOR REPORTED CHLORINE LEAK
Tags: us_MD, education, release, response, pool_chemicals
THEY ASK THE COMMUNITY TO REPORT CHEMICAL SPILLS -THE LAREDO SUN -LOCAL NEWS
Tags: us_TX, transportation, follow-up, environmental, waste
COCOA MAN'S CHEMISTRY EXPERIMENT PROMPTS CYANIDE SCARE
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, cyanide
MACK TRUCKS FIRE SENDS SEVEN WORKERS TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_PA, industrial, fire, injury, paints
60-GALLON CHEMICAL SPILL TRIGGERS HAZ-MAT RESPONSE AT SOLUTIA PLANT IN INDIAN ORCHARD
Tags: us_MA, industrial, release, response, flammables
GROSVENOR CHEMICAL FIRE INQUIRY OVER BUT CONCERNS REMAIN
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, follow-up, response, unknown_chemical
REPORTED CHEMICAL EXPOSURE SHUTS DOWN ESCAMBIA RIVER BRIDGE
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
CHEMISTRY EXPERIMENT ERROR GASES DOZENS
Tags: Germany, laboratory, release, injury, arsine
TWO DIE IN DURBAN FACTORY BLAST
Tags: South_Africa, industrial, explosion, death, various_chemicals
BLAST BURNS GREEN RIVER MAN
Tags: us_WY, industrial, explosion, injury, methanol
NO WORD ON CAUSE OF CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_NY, public, release, response, chlorine
CEDAR RAPIDS WATER PLANT CHLORINE LEAK REPAIRED
Tags: us_IA, industrial, release, response, chlorine
PDEA, PNP OFFER TIPS ON HOW TO SPOT A SHABU LAB
Tags: Philippines, public, follow-up, response, illegal, meth_lab
REPORT: GLASS EMBEDDED IN STUDENT'S CHEST, ABDOMEN IN UF LAB EXPLOSION ON JAN. 11.
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, follow-up, injury, sodium_azide
GRAD STUDENT INVOLVED IN CHEMICAL EXPLOSION IN STABLE CONDITION
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, follow-up, injury, sodium_azide
HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO SHIPYARD BUILDING
Tags: us_ME, industrial, release, response, petroleum
AMAZON FULFILLMENT CENTER IN PHOENIX EVACUATED
Tags: us_AZ, transportation, release, response, ammonia
HAZMAT TEAM DISPATCHED TO CLAREMONT RD. IN RIDGEWOOD
Tags: us_NJ, transportation, release, environmental, unknown_chemical
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA HAS RE-OPENED THE FLOOR OF SISLER HALL WHERE A CHEMICAL EXPLOSION INJURED A GRADUATE STUDENT
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, follow-up, injury, sodium_azide
AIR TANK EXPLOSION INJURIES THREE
Tags: us_TX, industrial, explosion, injury, other_chemical
UF TO REVIEW CHEMISTRY LABORATORY SAFETY POLICIES
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, follow-up, injury, sodium_azide
CHEMICAL LEAKING AT CARTERET FUEL REFINERY
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, release, environmental, other_chemical
BLAZE GUTS CHEMICAL FACTORY, ONE DEAD
Tags: India, industrial, fire, death, unknown_chemical
CHEMICAL ACCIDENT INJURES 39 PEOPLE IN GERMANY
Tags: Germany, industrial, release, injury, chlorine
---------------------------------------------
TANKER TRUCK LEAKS 'HAZARDOUS' MILK
http://www.kpcnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25148:Lactose-intolerant-lakes?&catid=51:latest&Itemid=79
Tags: us_IN, transportation, release, environmental, milk
ALBION Ñ The Kendallville Fire Department HAZMAT team took action Wednesday to keep fish in Skinner Lake from dying over spilled milk. An overturned dairy truck prompted the call Wednesday, along with the fact that the Indiana Department of Environmental Management classifies large volumes of milk as a hazardous material, explained Noble County Sheriff's Department chief deputy Chad Willett. Stephen Trahin, 65, of Fort Wayne had just pulled the tanker truck out of Gorsuch...
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HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO CHESAPEAKE COLLEGE FOR REPORTED CHLORINE LEAK
http://www.stardem.com/news/local_news/article_98da2fa2-42c7-11e1-ae5a-0019bb2963f4.html
Tags: us_MD, education, release, response, pool_chemicals
WYE MILLS - Emergency crews, including a hazardous materials team from the Anne Arundel County Fire Company, are working to clean up a liquid chlorine leak at Chesapeake College
Queen Anne's County Department of Emergency Services reports no injuries were caused by the leak, which left the pool's building closed. DES officials said only the one building was evacuated.
DES officials said the entire campus was not cleared because the liquid chlorine was no ventilated out of the one building. Police though did have the entrances to the college blocked off while emergency crews were handling the scene.
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THEY ASK THE COMMUNITY TO REPORT CHEMICAL SPILLS -THE LAREDO SUN -LOCAL NEWS
http://www.laredosun.us/notas.asp?id=19813
Tags: us_TX, transportation, follow-up, environmental, waste
LAREDO, TX. -Steve Landin, fire chief , said it is troubling to have at least one hazardous chemical spill in a week, accidents involving trucks that bring waste from the oil and gas reservoir Eagle Ford Shale.
He said companies that transport the waste violate a Texas law by carrying these substances uncovered and carelessly, causing spills on the streets and roads.
One of the most common places where these incidents are recorded are at the end of Highway 35 , arriving at about the Juarez- Lincoln Bridge , where firefighters continue to come and clean up.
Most troubling , he said, is that you do not know the type of waste that these trucks carry and in many cases not even the drivers know. "We are asking people when they see a spill of this type to call the police immediately to the number 795-2800 , for officers to give out violations to the driver and to clean up," he said.
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COCOA MAN'S CHEMISTRY EXPERIMENT PROMPTS CYANIDE SCARE
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20120119/NEWS01/120119013/Cocoa-man-s-chemistry-experiment-prompts-cyanide-scare?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CLocal%20News
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, cyanide
A Brevard County hazardous materials team and firefighters were alerted about 10 a.m. today after a 22-year-old man using a chemical set called to report concern about a possible hydrogen cyanide leak at a home on the 3700 block of Erie Street in Cocoa.
Ò(The man called) dispatchers saying that he was trying to extract chlorophyll from spinach and was concerned because he had read that it could turn into cyanide. He had read somewhere that spinach contained cyanide,Ó said Lt. Jeff Taylor, spokesman for Brevard County Fire-Rescue.
The man was apparently using a chemical set to carry out an unidentified experiment, officials reported.
Cyanide, often described as having a bitter-almond smell, is a lethal, fast-acting poison that can be found in a number of products, from food to plant like spinach.
ÒWe did send a truck out but it turned out to be nothing. There was no leak,Ó Taylor said.
---------------------------------------------
MACK TRUCKS FIRE SENDS SEVEN WORKERS TO HOSPITAL
http://lowermacungie.patch.com/articles/mack-trucks-fire-sends-seven-workers-to-hospital
Tags: us_PA, industrial, fire, injury, paints
A fire in a spray paint booth at Mack Trucks Inc. sent seven workers to area hospitals about 1 p.m. today.
The fire spread from the paint booth into nearby ground-level ductwork, said Lower Macungie Fire Department Chief David, and it was confined to the area by workers using dry chemical fire extinguishers.
While a second alarm was called, it was cancelled and recalled before the trucks left their respective stations, Nosal said.
Firefighters worked mostly on the ductwork, he said.
The fire took 30 minutes for firefighters to bring under control, according to a report on wfmz.com.
Six of the workers were hospitalized for smoke inhalation, Nosal said, and the seventh for chest pain.
---------------------------------------------
60-GALLON CHEMICAL SPILL TRIGGERS HAZ-MAT RESPONSE AT SOLUTIA PLANT IN INDIAN ORCHARD
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/01/60-gallon_chemical_spill_trigg.html
Tags: us_MA, industrial, release, response, flammables
SPRINGFIELD - A spill involving 60 gallons of flammable chemicals at the Solutia compound in Indian Orchard triggered a hazardous materials response from the Springfield Fire Department, officials said.
Springfield Fire Department spokesman Dennis Leger said the spill, reported at 2:44 p.m., was contained inside a concrete holding basin and there was little danger to the public. Workers at the plant at 730 Worcester St. were not evacuated.
There were no injuries.
The spill involved a mixture of the chemicals ethanol, butanol and formaldehyde that Leger said was considered a flammable hazard.
The mixture was diluted with water until it was no longer flammable and then pumped into another tank, he said. The spill was at the Solutia property but did not involve Solutia employees, said company spokesman Erin Shetler. It involved employees with Ineos Melamines, a separate company that occupies space at the Solutia compound.
---------------------------------------------
GROSVENOR CHEMICAL FIRE INQUIRY OVER BUT CONCERNS REMAIN
http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/local-west-yorkshire-news/2012/01/20/grosvenor-chemical-fire-inquiry-over-but-concerns-remain-86081-30161090/
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, follow-up, response, unknown_chemical
CONCERNS remain following the end of the investigation into the May 2010 fire at Grosvenor Chemicals in Linthwaite.
Safety watchdogs have admitted their views on the catastrophic fire were restricted because of legal issues.
But Colne Valley councillors have said there are still worries about the firm and over a steep access road used by all vehicles to and from the site.
They spoke out following a meeting of Kirklees Council when a report on the aftermath of the blaze was presented.
Health and Safety Executive inspector Rom Naplocha said that the inquiry was over, but there would be no final report.
Inspectors were limited in what they were able to divulge, due to the possibility of legal proceedings and because of commercial confidentiality.
---------------------------------------------
REPORTED CHEMICAL EXPOSURE SHUTS DOWN ESCAMBIA RIVER BRIDGE
http://www.northescambia.com/?p=81336
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
Concerns over a possible chemical exposure shut down the Escambia River Bridge on Highway 4 between Century and Jay Thursday morning.
A female reported about11:30 a.m. that she was overcome by some sort of chemical smell in her vehicle which prompted her to stop at the Santa Rosa County end of the bridge. The Jay Fire Department, Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office, Escambia County EMS and the Escambia County Sheriff's Office responded.
The woman was transported by private vehicle to Jay Hospital in good condition.
Authorities were not able to pinpoint the alleged smell and quickly determined that there was no danger to the public before reÐ opening the bridge to traffic.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMISTRY EXPERIMENT ERROR GASES DOZENS
http://www.thelocal.de/sci-tech/20120120-40225.html
Tags: Germany, laboratory, release, injury, arsine
Dozens of students and professors were taken to hospital after a chemistry experiment went wrong, filling sections of Dresden's University of Technology with chemicals used to make World War I poison gas.
First-year chemistry students were carrying out experiments when a garlic smell started spreading from the laboratory.
Dozens of other students then started complaining of nausea, headaches and some started vomiting.
The entire building was evacuated and around 100 people taken to hospital for treatment, although a university spokeswoman said it was not expected that any of them were seriously affected.
A fire department spokesman said the leak involved a variation of the poison arsenic, which can cause lung and kidney failure.
The university spokeswoman said students had been doing basic chemical experiments at the time of the incident although no one had yet pinpointed what had caused the leak. Officials said they had launched a full investigation.
---------------------------------------------
TWO DIE IN DURBAN FACTORY BLAST
http://www.ecr.co.za/kagiso/content/en/east-coast-radio/east-coast-radio-news?oid=1516562&sn=Detail&pid=490476&Two-die-in-Durban-factory-explosion
Tags: South_Africa, industrial, explosion, death, various_chemicals
Two people have died after an explosion and fire at a factory in Jacobs. Firefighters were called to the company, Chemical Technologies, on Brooklyn Road just after midnight.
They have told Newswatch that when they arrived on scene the building was engulfed in flames and the fire had already spread to the top of the factory.
Fire officials spent about three hours trying to put out the blaze using foam. This is a safer method due to the various chemicals in the building.
---------------------------------------------
BLAST BURNS GREEN RIVER MAN
http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/blast-burns-green-river-man/article_607f26fc-6c3a-5fc7-83ca-7d4b76f72133.html
Tags: us_WY, industrial, explosion, injury, methanol
CASPER, Wyo. Ñ A Green River man was badly burned during an on-the-job explosion in Jamestown on Wednesday morning.
In a media release, Sweetwater County Sheriff Rich Haskell said witnesses at the oil field company shop in Jamestown where the mishap occurred told deputies that Larry Bingham, 48, was apparently using a cutting torch in proximity to a barrel marked ÒMethanolÓ when the explosion occurred.
Bingham ran from the shop, then drove himself to his residence in Green River, where deputies and emergency medical technicians found him.
He was taken to Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County in Rock Springs by ambulance, then flown to the Western States Burn Center in Greeley, Colo., with second-degree burns to both legs and a possible broken arm.
---------------------------------------------
NO WORD ON CAUSE OF CHEMICAL LEAK
http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/local/no-word-on-cause-of-chemical-leak
Tags: us_NY, public, release, response, chlorine
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Investigators are still trying to figure out what caused a chemical leak that sent Hazmat crews rushing to a milling plant in Buffalo.
Everyone made it out of the building safely, the weather blew any other potential dangers away. Wednesday morning, people were seen inside the building at work.
When chlorine began leaking inside ADM Milling, near General Mills, the Buffalo Fire Hazmat team rushed to the scene on Ganson Street.
Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield said, ÒVery strenuous, very difficult work, under difficult circumstances. It's very cold out tonight, but all parties chipped in, did a marvelous job.Ó
---------------------------------------------
CEDAR RAPIDS WATER PLANT CHLORINE LEAK REPAIRED
http://www.kimt.com/news/state/story/Cedar-Rapids-water-plant-chlorine-leak-repaired/ElD3ZhGQ_UyM0vkFLx2srw.cspx
Tags: us_IA, industrial, release, response, chlorine
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Ñ Firefighters have stopped a chlorine leak that set off an alarm at the Cedar Rapids northwest water treatment plant.
A news release from the city says an alarm tripped around 7:40 p.m. Tuesday in the chlorine cylinder room. No one was in the room.
Firefighters wearing hazardous-materials suits entered the room and found a chlorine leak in a line from a cylinder to a manifold. The leak was stopped around 9:35 p.m.
City officials say the plant resumed operation about 9:55 p.m. and that there was no contamination of public water supplies.
---------------------------------------------
PDEA, PNP OFFER TIPS ON HOW TO SPOT A SHABU LAB
http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php/news/top-stories/22006-pdea-pnp-offer-tips-on-how-to-spot-a-shabu-lab
Tags: Philippines, public, follow-up, response, illegal, meth_lab
AS part of their continuing joint effort to smash secret drug laboratories and storage facilities in Metro Manila and other parts of the country, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force are offering valuable tips on how to spot an illegal drug lab or a home-made laboratory where millions or even billions of pesos worth of amphetamines are being Ôcooked'
PDEA chair Undersecretary Jose S. Gutierrez Jr. said the following tips can be used by the public in identifying secret drug factories where shabu, Ketamine and other dangerous drugs are locally manufactured.
Once a clan lab is spotted, Gutierrez said an individual can join the PDEA ÒOperation: Private EyeÓ which is a reward and incentive scheme designed to encourage private citizens to report to PDEA any suspected illegal drug activities particularly the presence of clan labs and so-called shabu Ôtiyangges' in their community.
---------------------------------------------
REPORT: GLASS EMBEDDED IN STUDENT'S CHEST, ABDOMEN IN UF LAB EXPLOSION ON JAN. 11.
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120118/ARTICLES/120119491
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, follow-up, injury, sodium_azide
A University of Florida laboratory explosion last week caused chemical burns on a graduate student's face and lips, the skin to be torn from his fingertips, and glass to become embedded in his chest and abdomen, according to a police report released Wednesday.
Graduate student Khanh Ha, 27, was conducting research on cyclic peptides in the Sisler Hall laboratory of chemistry professor Alan Katritzky when the Jan. 11 accident happened. Ha told UF police that he was doing an experiment with sodium azide, a shock-sensitive compound, and an acid before the explosion.
He told police that he added water to the experiment just before the explosion, according to the report. Chemistry department chairman Daniel Talham said typically the mixture wouldn't be explosive when the chemicals are handled property, so an investigation into the incident is expected to add information on the cause.
"We don't really know what happened in this case," he said.
Sodium azide is known to be explosive when heated to high temperatures or when it comes in contact with certain metals, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Mixing the compound with strong acids produces hydrazoic acid, which also is explosive.
Sodium azide also was involved in an October explosion in Katritzky's laboratory that injured another graduate student. Following last week's explosion, work in the lab involving chemicals was suspended pending results of an investigation into the incident.
---------------------------------------------
GRAD STUDENT INVOLVED IN CHEMICAL EXPLOSION IN STABLE CONDITION
http://www.alligator.org/news/campus/article_fab15d92-4261-11e1-861a-001871e3ce6c.html
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, follow-up, injury, sodium_azide
An experiment gone wrong last week left a student with chemical burns to his face and lip, glass embedded in his chest and abdomen, deep cuts to his right hand, two fingers tinted blue and a couple fingertips hanging by the skin.
Khanh Ha told University Police Department detective Hank Middleton he was conducting an experiment in Room 213 of Sisler Hall on Jan. 11 when an explosion occurred after he added water to compounds he was handling, according to a police report released Wednesday.
Ha, a 27-year-old chemistry graduate student, was working with two compounds: sodium azide and chlorine glycine GABA acid, according to police. Ha said he had experimented with both before. But when he added water, the compounds exploded.
Ha, who was working inside a protective enclosure called a fume hood, was taken across the hall by two other people in the lab, according to police. When officer Henri Belleville arrived, Ha was washing his hands.
As Belleville approached, he noticed Ha's lab coat had small holes burned in it. The coat was stained with blood, and there was a puddle of it pooling at Ha's feet, according to police.
Ha was wearing safety goggles, but Belleville said he wouldn't open his eyes. He wouldn't talk either. To answer questions, he only nodded or shook his head.
Ha is in stable condition.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO SHIPYARD BUILDING
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120118/NEWS/201180364/-1/NEWSMAP
Tags: us_ME, industrial, release, response, petroleum
KITTERY, Maine Ñ A chemical reaction at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard brought its hazardous response team to Building 357 on Tuesday morning.
According to shipyard public affairs officer Dana Eddy, the team responded at about 9:30 a.m. About one pound of calcium hypochlorite had been placed in a hopper that had previously contained oily rags, she said.
This caused a chemical reaction within the hopper, which was immediately removed from the building. Eddy said the reaction subsequently ended, and there were no personal injuries.
Calcium hypochlorite is used to disinfect drinking water systems and is closely related to household bleach or pool chemicals, she said.
---------------------------------------------
AMAZON FULFILLMENT CENTER IN PHOENIX EVACUATED
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/business/amazon-fulfillment-center-in-phoenix-evacuated-1-17-2012
Tags: us_AZ, transportation, release, response, ammonia
PHOENIX - Workers at the Amazon warehouse in southwest Phoenix were evacuated Tuesday after a hazmat scare.
According to the Phoenix Fire Department, three workers became lighthanded while unloading a 53-foot trailer.
Hazmat crews were dispatched to the scene and measured high ammonia readings inside the trailer. The building was evacuated as a precaution
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT TEAM DISPATCHED TO CLAREMONT RD. IN RIDGEWOOD
http://ridgewood.patch.com/articles/hazmat-team-dispatched-to-claremont-rd-in-ridgewood#photo-8915891
Tags: us_NJ, transportation, release, environmental, unknown_chemical
A "non-toxic" leak from a truck spraying foam insulation into a home on Claremont Road prompted response from the county HAZMAT team Tuesday afternoon.
According to Ridgewood Fire Department Captain Paul Monton, run off from the leak spilled into two separate storm drains.
"They have two parts that they mix together in the back of a box truck," Monton explained. "One of the hoses leaked from one of the barrels of the chemicals, spilled into the truck and there was a stream of the product coming out onto the roadway and into the storm drains."
The chemicals were a "non-toxic" product but the contractor was still required to have the county HAZMAT response team clean the estimated 10-gallon spill because there exists potential for environmental harm, Monton said. The foam was found as far as Glen Rock, he added.
---------------------------------------------
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA HAS RE-OPENED THE FLOOR OF SISLER HALL WHERE A CHEMICAL EXPLOSION INJURED A GRADUATE STUDENT
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120117/ARTICLES/120119594
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, follow-up, injury, sodium_azide
The University of Florida has re-opened the floor of Sisler Hall where a chemical explosion injured a graduate student last week.
A contractor on Monday removed the remnants of the chemical involved in the explosion, sodium azide, said UF Environmental Health and Safety Director William Properzio. An extensive decontamination and cleaning lasting most of the day also were done, he said.
Sisler Hall was closed following the explosion but three of the hall's floors re-opened Friday. The second floor of the hall and UF chemistry professor Alan Katritzky's laboratory, where the explosion took place, were opened Tuesday as classes resumed following the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
---------------------------------------------
AIR TANK EXPLOSION INJURIES THREE
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2012/jan/17/no-headline---explosion2/
Tags: us_TX, industrial, explosion, injury, other_chemical
SAN ANGELO, Texas Ñ Three people were sent to Shannon Medical Center after a pressurized-air tank explosion in the 3800 block of Christoval Road.
San Angelo firefighters and EMS were notified about 8:25 a.m. Monday to a industrial accident, Captain Fred Barnett said Tuesday morning.
"They were pressure testing a tank that had been built and it broke loose and exploded," Barnett said. "Three people were injured and transported to the hospital."
Barnett described the tank as being six feet in diameter and about 20 feet tall.
It was unclear how close the three were to the tank. A firetruck responded, which is standard with a call about serious injuries, but there was no gasoline or chemical explosion.
---------------------------------------------
UF TO REVIEW CHEMISTRY LABORATORY SAFETY POLICIES
http://www.alligator.org/news/campus/article_dface386-4199-11e1-b109-001871e3ce6c.html
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, follow-up, injury, sodium_azide
Several UF departments are reviewing lab safety policies after two students were injured in separate incidents in the last three months. The second put a graduate student in the hospital.
UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes said hazardous materials teams responded to six incidents Ñ three explosions, two spills and one reported odor Ñ on campus in the last year.
The chemical explosion on Wednesday in Sisler Hall that injured graduate student Khanh Ha, 27, and Gainesville Fire Rescue firefighter Andrew Marsh, 25, is still under investigation, she said.
The chemistry department and UF's Environmental Health and Safety division are working diligently to ensure students' safety in labs and to minimize the risk of accidents, Sikes said.
In October, an explosion caused by a set of chemical reactions surprised the department, said Daniel Talham, chair of the chemistry department.
Last week's explosion, which Talham said was caused by similar reactions, surprised the University Police Department.
"For our agency to respond to two similar incidents involving the same chemical in the same building in three months is fortunately not something that we routinely see," said UPD spokesman Maj. Brad Barber.
In both cases, the reactions involved sodium azide, but Talham said that particular chemical was not necessarily the culprit.
The director of Environmental Health and Safety, William Properzio, said sodium azide is routinely used in labs. He said UF has about 3,000 labs on campus.
Since the October explosion, EHS has worked with the chemistry department to ensure researchers follow safety procedures, he said.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL LEAKING AT CARTERET FUEL REFINERY
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/01/carteret_chemical_leak_at_refi.html
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, release, environmental, other_chemical
CARTERET Ñ Emergency workers are still trying to stop a leak today at a Carteret fuel refinery that has released 3,000 gallons of combustible liquid, authorities said.
All of the liquid spilling from a tank at the BP Products refinery, 76 Roosevelt Ave., was contained in a dyked area, Carteret Fire Chief Brian O'Connor said.
O'Brien said the product, reformate, which is used in blending fuel products, was first discovered leaking from a storage tank flange about 8 a.m. today. The tank holds 3 million gallons of the product, the chief said.
He said the liquid was being transferred another tank, and an environmental cleanup company was at the scene to remove the liquid that leaked from the flange.
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BLAZE GUTS CHEMICAL FACTORY, ONE DEAD
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/north/blaze-guts-chemical-factory-one-dead-428
Tags: India, industrial, fire, death, unknown_chemical
One person was killed and six others seriously injured in a fire that broke out at a chemical factory.
Kanpur DIG Rajesh Rai said the fire broke out at six in the morning in Sumit chemical factory in the Panki area.
The fire spread rapidly as many chemical tankers were kept nearby and the situation turned serious trapping the workers one of whom was
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CHEMICAL ACCIDENT INJURES 39 PEOPLE IN GERMANY
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/17/world/europe/germany-chemical-accident/index.html
Tags: Germany, industrial, release, injury, chlorine
Berlin (CNN) -- A chemical accident involving chlorine gas injured nearly 40 people Tuesday at a plant for security technology in Bruhl.
Of the 39 victims, seven were seriously injured, according to Markus Brachschoss, a spokesman for the local fire department. Around 300 people were inside the plant at the time of the accident.
The incident occurred when two chemicals -- sodium hypochlorite and hydrochloric acid -- came into contact, emitting chlorine gas.
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