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Next by Date: Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety Headlines From Google (19 articles) Date: March 28, 2012 10:00:13 AM EDT Author: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" |
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, March 26, 2012 9:00:01 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 (11 articles)
SOME HAZMAT SPILLS NOT REPORTED IN BUTLER COUNTY
Tags: us_OH, transportation, follow-up, response
COMMUNICATING HAZARDS
Tags: other, discovery, environmental
KDVR.COM IS THE WEBSITE FOR KDVR TELEVISION, FOX 31 NEWS IN DENVER, COLORADO
Tags: us_CO, transportation, release, response, ammonium_nitrate
THESE BUSINESSES ARE CLEANING UP
Tags: us_IN, public, follow-up, environmental, illegal, meth_lab
EXPLOSION AT CERAMICS BUSINESS LEAVES MAN IN CRITICAL CONDITION
Tags: us_CA, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
FIREFIGHTERS TACKLE EXPLOSION AT A DRUGS FACTORY IN EDINBURGH
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, explosion, response, pharmaceutical
NEW EMPHASIS ON LAB SAFETY FOLLOWING EXPLOSIONS AT UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, follow-up, response
PINE RIVER TIMES NEWS PAPER
Tags: us_CO, education, release, response, mercury
UPPER SADDLE RIVER BOROUGH HALL EVACUATED
Tags: us_NJ, public, discovery, response, pesticides
CHEMICAL SPILL POST OFFICE: CHEMICAL SPILL AT POST OFFICE WAS CLEANING FLUID, FIREFIGHTERS SAY
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, cleaners
7 INJURED IN EXPLOSION, FIRE ON KOREAN TANKER
Tags: India, transportation, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
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SOME HAZMAT SPILLS NOT REPORTED IN BUTLER COUNTY
http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/middletown-news/some-hazmat-spills-not-reported-in-butler-county-1349871.html
Tags: us_OH, transportation, follow-up, response
Numerous vehicles carrying poisonous or even potentially deadly chemicals travel through Butler County daily, but not every accident involving these hazardous materials is reported to the Emergency Management Agency, county and state officials say.
A study of procedures at county and state agencies shows that there is not always a uniform way of reporting accidents involving hazardous material. Some don't get reported at all.
A tally of hazardous material responses by the Butler County EMA totaled 15 in 2011. However, the number of actual hazardous materials incidents likely more than doubles that number, at about 36, said Jeff Galloway, the executive director of the agency.
"We need to come up with a better reporting system," he said. "This report has 15 calls, but there were a lot more than that."
That's because fire departments will sometimes respond to smaller incidents that don't warrant a response from the county hazmat team, Galloway said, adding, "There is no clear set database that enters all the calls."
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COMMUNICATING HAZARDS
http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i13/Communicating-Hazards.html
Tags: other, discovery, environmental
New warning labels and standardized descriptions of chemicals' hazards are coming to U.S. labs, factory floors, and other workplaces. Through a regulation released last week, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration is bringing U.S. requirements for communicating chemical safety information to workers in line with an international system.
Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis says OSHA's revised hazard communication standard "will improve the quality, consistency, and clarity of hazard information that workers receive, making it safer for workers to do their jobs and easier for employers to stay competitive in the global marketplace." She adds, "Exposure to hazardous chemicals is one of the most serious dangers facing American workers today."
The agency's move will require chemical makers and importers to use warning symbols that were developed through the United Nations. Called pictograms, the symbols are designed to communicate chemical hazard information to workers regardless of whether they can read or the language they use.
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KDVR.COM IS THE WEBSITE FOR KDVR TELEVISION, FOX 31 NEWS IN DENVER, COLORADO
http://kdvr.com/2012/03/23/crash-hazmat-spill-closes-u-s-285-in-mountains/
Tags: us_CO, transportation, release, response, ammonium_nitrate
PARK COUNTY, Colo. Ñ U.S. 285 was closed about 10 miles south of Fairplay in Park County Friday night because a truck's trailer crashed and then spilled its load.
A 2002 Dodge pickup truck was heading north on Hwy. 285 shortly before 6 p.m. when the trailer detached and overturned, according to Colorado State Patrol spokesman Sgt. Mike Baker.
The trailer spilled about 10,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate. The substance is often used in fertilizer and it can act as an irritant if inhaled.The spill has not endangered any water supplies and it has not required any evacuations.
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THESE BUSINESSES ARE CLEANING UP
http://www.indystar.com/article/20120325/BUSINESS/203250339/These-businesses-cleaning-up
Tags: us_IN, public, follow-up, environmental, illegal, meth_lab
Inside a Crawfordsville rental property, the tenants liked to cook.
But what they were cooking got them busted last month, Indiana State Police say. In the kitchen, police found everything it took to make meth.
At the Days Inn in Anderson last week came a fiery explosion. Police say the same thing was cooking. But this time, it burst into flames.
Methamphetamine labs are more than just dangerous and illegal. They leave a mess -- an environmental hazard that, according to state law, must be cleaned up.
And it takes a special process, certification and inspectors who scour the property in full-gear Hazmat suits and respirators to do the dirty work.
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EXPLOSION AT CERAMICS BUSINESS LEAVES MAN IN CRITICAL CONDITION
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/03/explosion-at-ceramics-business-leaves-man-in-critical-condition.html
Tags: us_CA, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
An industrial explosion at a ceramics supply business left one man in critical condition Saturday, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman said.
The blast occurred shortly after 1 p.m. at Laguna Clay, located at 14400 Lomitas Ave. in the City of Industry, where a worker had been handling an unknown, non-hazardous chemical, said Lt. Kimberly Unland.
That chemical ignited another material that the employee was working with, she said.
The fire was extinguished immediately and the injured worker was transported to a nearby hospital, she said. The sheriff's Arson/Explosives Detail was sent to the scene.
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FIREFIGHTERS TACKLE EXPLOSION AT A DRUGS FACTORY IN EDINBURGH
http://local.stv.tv/edinburgh/news/301562-firefighters-tackle-explosion-at-a-drugs-factory-in-edinburgh/
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, explosion, response, pharmaceutical
Firefighters have tackled a blaze caused by an explosion at a pharmaceutical company in Edinburgh.
Crews were sent to MacFarlan Smith on Wheatfield Road in the west of the city at 12.14am on Sunday.
A small explosion started the fire on the second floor of the detached Blandfield Works building and firefighters were required to wear chemical protective suits while extinguishing the flames.
A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service said: "The fire service was called to the scene where there had been a small explosion on the second floor in the process room.
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NEW EMPHASIS ON LAB SAFETY FOLLOWING EXPLOSIONS AT UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
http://blogs.sciencemag.org/sciencecareers/2012/03/following-three.html
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, follow-up, response
Following three safety incidents -- including explosions in October 2011 and January 2012 that occurred in the same laboratory -- the chemistry department at the University of Florida is placing new emphasis on safety, reports the Alligator, an independent, student-run newspaper affiliated with the university.
"We're trying to change the culture so people will take safety as seriously here as they do in an industrial lab. Where we've fallen down is really stressing the importance that safety is everybody's responsibility, all day, every day," says department chair Daniel Talham, quoted in the article.
Among the steps taken is organizing a committee including people representing the departments of chemistry and chemical engineering and the office of environmental health and safety to review potentially hazardous experiments.
---------------------------------------------
PINE RIVER TIMES NEWS PAPER
http://www.pinerivertimes.com/news.asp-artid=990
Tags: us_CO, education, release, response, mercury
Spring break started a day early Friday for Bayfield Middle School students.
A student at Bayfield Middle School dropped a small vial of mercury at school on Thursday, releasing the substance. He had broken into an old thermostat switch in a middle school locker room and removed the mercury vial, according to Troy Zabel, superintendent of Bayfield schools.
On Friday afternoon, the Environmental Protection Agency site coordinator, Durango Hazmat, and Upper Pine River Fire Protection Agency personnel said EPA air quality tests show readings well within the protective health levels throughout the Bayfield Middle School building with the exception of Room #111, where the spill occurred, according to a press release from the school.
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UPPER SADDLE RIVER BOROUGH HALL EVACUATED
http://www.northjersey.com/uppersaddleriver/Upper_Saddle_River_borough_hall_evacuated.html-scpromo=1
Tags: us_NJ, public, discovery, response, pesticides
UPPER SADDLE RIVER - Borough Hall was evacuated early Friday afternoon following the mistaken application of a termite control chemical by a pest company worker in an area of the building that was not scheduled to be treated.
There were no injuries and no one was overcome by the use of the chemical. About 15 to 20 borough employees were asked to leave the building at about 12:30 p.m. after the pest control worker accidentally released about five to seven gallons of the chemical into what police describe as a storage closet that contained computer equipment.
"The worker pumped the chemicals into the wrong building - the DPW area - rather than the area of the building that was designated to be treated," said Upper Saddle River Police Chief Pat Rotella. "The entire Borough Hall was evacuated, including the finance office, the planning-zoning office, the assessor office, the building department, the borough clerk and borough administrator's office."
The borough was notified by the pest control company that they had made an error by drilling then pumping the chemical - known as Termidor - into the wrong area of the building, Rotella said.
The Upper Saddle River Fire Department and the county HAZMAT unit were dispatched to the scene. Also on scene were the Mahwah Fire Department HAZMAT unit, the Ramsey Fire Department and the Ramsey Rescue Squad Decontamination unit.
"It's going to be an extended clean up," he said. "Everything should be back to normal by Monday."
Email: coutros@northjersey.com
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CHEMICAL SPILL POST OFFICE: CHEMICAL SPILL AT POST OFFICE WAS CLEANING FLUID, FIREFIGHTERS SAY
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-03-24/news/os-chemical-spill-post-office-20120324_1_chemical-spill-hazardous-materials-team-cleaning-fluid
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, cleaners
A small chemical spill at the Aloma Post Office likely was cleaning fluid, Orange County Fire Rescue said this afternoon.
The post office was evacuated about 9:40 a.m. when some of the 21 employees at work started coughing and said they felt burning in their throats, authorities said.
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7 INJURED IN EXPLOSION, FIRE ON KOREAN TANKER
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/7-injured-in-explosion-fire-on-Korean-tanker/articleshow/12393523.cms
Tags: India, transportation, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
MUMBAI: Seven persons including three foreign crew were injured when a fire broke out following an explosion on board a Korean chemical freighter at Mumbai harbour today.
Two of the injured are reported to be serious, Mumbai Port Trust officials said.
"At 11.25 am, the Korean owned 9500 DWT chemical tanker Royal Diamond 7 reported to the Mumbai port's vessel traffic system/control station that an explosion had occurred and three crew members have been injured," an MPT press statement said.
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