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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, May 24, 2013 8:06:07 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 (19 articles)
LIST OF COMMON CHEMICALS USED TO MAKE BOMBS RELEASED IN BID TO STEM TERRORISM
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental, bomb
PANIC IN PANKI INDUSTRIAL AREA AS NULLAH OF CHEMICAL WASTE CATCHES FIRE
Tags: India, industrial, fire, response, waste
FROM CRADLE-TO-GRAVE AT THE NANOSCALE: GAPS IN U.S. REGULATORY OVERSIGHT ALONG THE NANOMATERIAL LIFE CYCLE
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, unknown_chemical
CHEMICAL SPILLED IN WEST PENSACOLA WAS CLEANING SOLUTION
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
TOXIC SPILL SHUTS STREET
Tags: Australia, industrial, release, response, pesticides
CHEMICAL FIRE PROMPTS EVACUATIONS IN WILKINSBURG
Tags: us_PA, public, fire, response, pool_chemicals
NANOPARTICLES FALL THROUGH POLICY CRACKS
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental, nanotech
FERTILIZER TRUCK OVERTURNS
Tags: us_NC, transportation, release, response, ammonium_nitrate
SENATORS DAVID VITTER, FRANK LAUTENBERG ANNOUNCE CHEMICAL SAFETY COMPROMISE
Tags: us_LA, industrial, follow-up, environmental
'UPSETS': CHEMICAL RELEASES DISRUPT LIVES BUT RARELY RESULT IN PUNISHMENT
Tags: us_LA, industrial, follow-up, response, toxics
THE ENQUIRER :: TWO MEN IN HOSPITAL AFTER MIXING CHEMICALS IN FLAT
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, injury, cleaners, sulfuric_acid
3 TEENS ARRESTED IN BAKERSFIELD HIGH SCHOOL EXPLOSIONS THAT PUT THE SCHOOL ON LOCK DOWN
Tags: us_CA, education, follow-up, response, unknown_chemical
TENSION IN WEST INVESTIGATION HIGHLIGHTS JURISDICTIONAL BATTLES
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, death, ag_chems, explosives
RICHMOND POSTPONES SUING CHEVRON OVER AUGUST 2012 REFINERY FIRE
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, response
CHEMICAL EXPLOSIONS USED TO CREATE A DUBSTEP SONG [WUB WUB]
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
SPECIAL REPORT: POOR PLANNING LEFT TEXAS FIREFIGHTERS UNPREPARED
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, death, ag_chems
HAZMAT TEAM CLEARS ACCIDENTAL CHEMICAL MIX IN COLUMBIA
Tags: us_MD, public, release, injury, bromine, cleaners
3 HURT IN SECOND FIRE IN A WEEK AT WHEATLAND PLANT
Tags: us_WY, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
CALIF. WINERY FIRE PROMPTS SCHOOL EVACUATION
Tags: us_CA, industrial, fire, response, flammables
---------------------------------------------
LIST OF COMMON CHEMICALS USED TO MAKE BOMBS RELEASED IN BID TO STEM TERRORISM
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-23/govt-releases-list-of-household-chemicals-used-for-terrorism/4708948
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental, bomb
The internet has a new list of readily available chemicals that can be used for terrorism - not in an extremists' instruction manual but rather an Australian Government publication.
Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and the Australian Federal Police today launched the Chemicals of Security Concern campaign.
In a bid to curb terrorism, the campaign lists 96 substances used for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and where they are found.
"If you think that I'm being irresponsible in giving away bomb making instructions to terrorists, I can assure you that unfortunately these instructions are already easily accessible via the internet," Mr Dreyfus said.
He says the greatest terrorism threats are posed by individuals manufacturing IEDs and that no scientific laboratory or training is required.
---------------------------------------------
PANIC IN PANKI INDUSTRIAL AREA AS NULLAH OF CHEMICAL WASTE CATCHES FIRE
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kanpur/Panic-in-Panki-Industrial-area-as-nullah-of-chemical-waste-catches-fire/articleshow/20235307.cms
Tags: India, industrial, fire, response, waste
KANPUR: Chemical affluents released in a nullah in Panki Industrial area caught fire on Thursday. Soon the fire engulfed the entire length and breath of the nullah creating a panic in the industrial area. Fear was palpable as the nullah opened into a larger nullah that too was used to discharge industrial waste. Fire fighters had a tough time dousing the flame. No one was injured in the incident
In fact, a major tragedy was averted by timely action of fire-fighters as many industries were situated on both side of the nullah. Fire-fighters suspected that someone had carelessly thrown a lighted beedi or cigarette in the nullah resulting in the fire.
As soon as the industrial waste caught fire, dense fumes engulfed the area. Workers from nearby industrial areas rushed to the site. Someone among them informed the fire brigade about the incident after which three fire tenders were rushed to the spot. Workers and locals too joined fire-fighters in dousing the flames.
Panic and fear was palpable in the air as fire threatened to engulf industries situated on both sides of the nullah. Workers and owners waited with baited breath till the fire was completely doused. However, none was injured in the accident. The firemen prevented the flames from spreading as the industrial waste further emptied into a bigger nullah. The factory workers said that the chemical waste that was released in the nullah was quite common. They said that the practice of discharging waste into nullah had been going on for past several years but it was the first such accident.
---------------------------------------------
FROM CRADLE-TO-GRAVE AT THE NANOSCALE: GAPS IN U.S. REGULATORY OVERSIGHT ALONG THE NANOMATERIAL LIFE CYCLE
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es303591x
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, unknown_chemical
Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) promise great benefits for society, yet our knowledge of potential risks and best practices for regulation are still in their infancy. Toward the end of better practices, this paper analyzes U.S. federal environmental, health, and safety (EHS) regulations using a life cycle framework. It evaluates their adequacy as applied to ENMs to identify gaps through which emerging nanomaterials may escape regulation from initial production to end-of-life. High scientific uncertainty, a lack of EHS and product data, inappropriately designed exemptions and thresholds, and limited agency resources are a challenge to both the applicability and adequacy of current regulations. The result is that some forms of engineered nanomaterials may escape federal oversight and rigorous risk review at one or more stages along their life cycle, with the largest gaps occurring at the postmarket stages, and at points of ENM release to the environment. Oversight can be impro!
ved through pending regulatory reforms, increased research and development for the monitoring, control, and analysis of environmental and end-of-life releases, introduction of periodic re-evaluation of ENM risks, and fostering a "bottom-up" stewardship approach to the responsible management of risks from engineered nanomaterials.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL SPILLED IN WEST PENSACOLA WAS CLEANING SOLUTION
http://www.pnj.com/article/20130523/NEWS01/130523010/Chemical-spilled-in-west-Pensacola-eight-homes-evacuated
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
A substance illegally dumped near the 700 block of Massachusetts Avenue is cleaning solution, officials have determined.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has been called in to clean up and remove the substance.
Earlier today, the county's hazardous-materials unit, as well as the Escambia County Sheriff's Office, EMS and firefighters, responded to the area where a 55-gallon drum of an unknown substance was dupmed this morning, said Escambia County spokesman Bill Pearson.
---------------------------------------------
TOXIC SPILL SHUTS STREET
http://www.dailyadvertiser.com.au/story/1522341/toxic-spill-shuts-street/?cs=12
Tags: Australia, industrial, release, response, pesticides
A WAGGA Hazmat crew were faced with the clean-up of a highly toxic chemical yesterday which led to the evacuation of several industrial businesses.
Emergency services were called to The Freight Specialist on Schiller Street just after 2pm, NSW Fire and Rescue Murray area duty commander Inspector Jeremy Stubbs said.
"It was identified that a 1000-litre container holding toxic herbicide was damaged," Inspector Stubbs said.
"Quick thinking by employees of the transport company moved this to a bunded area where the spill was contained."
The Daily Advertiser understands the chemical was gramoxone - a highly toxic agricultural spray which can kill green plant tissue on contact.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL FIRE PROMPTS EVACUATIONS IN WILKINSBURG
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/05/23/chemical-fire-prompts-evacuations-in-wilkinsburg/
Tags: us_PA, public, fire, response, pool_chemicals
WILKINSBURG (KDKA) - A chemical fire prompted evacuations at an apartment complex in Wilkinsburg Thursday morning.
According to police, the incident happened around 10:45 a.m. in the 500-block of Franklin Avenue.
Maintenance workers were putting bromide tablets into the pool filter, when some type of chemical fire began. The filter was in a closeted area without a lot of ventilation.
---------------------------------------------
NANOPARTICLES FALL THROUGH POLICY CRACKS
http://cen.acs.org/articles/91/web/2013/05/Nanoparticles-Fall-Through-Policy-Cracks.html
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental, nanotech
Nanomaterials end up in a wide range of consumer products such as cosmetics, clothing, and medications. And just like any other chemical or material used in such products, engineered nanomaterials fall under the jurisdiction of U.S. federal environmental, health, and safety guidelines. However, existing rules may be inadequate to regulate the new technologies, concludes a new study (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2013, DOI: 10.1021/es303591x). By slipping through these gaps in regulations, some nanomaterials may not receive appropriate risk assessments, the researchers say.
"The same properties that make nanomaterials so promising, namely that they behave differently than their bulk chemical counterparts, also make them very difficult to assess and regulate," says Christian E. H. Beaudrie of the University of British Columbia, in Canada. Scientists can't fully predict a nanomaterial's physical and chemical properties before it's created, so they can't always determine how it might interact with humans or the environment, he says. This uncertainty contributes to how some kinds of new materials might escape federal oversight and rigorous risk review.
In their study, Beaudrie and his coworkers looked at how nanomaterials would be handled by several U.S. government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). They examined how these agencies would deal with a nanomaterial over its life cycleÑfrom production, commercial use, to disposal.
For example, a new material meant to be a pesticide would receive scrutiny from the EPA, which assesses the risks of pesticides before they enter the market. Meanwhile, CPSC can review products like children's toys already on the market if the agency receives information suggesting the products' materials are unsafe.
---------------------------------------------
FERTILIZER TRUCK OVERTURNS
http://www.wlos.com/shared/news/features/top-stories/stories/wlos_fertilizer-truck-overturns-11763.shtml
Tags: us_NC, transportation, release, response, ammonium_nitrate
A Johnson, TN truck driver hauling the fertilizer says he had no place to go when traffic began braking in front of him. The truck turned on its side and landed on the guard rail. Bags of ammonium nitrate landed on the pavement.
When Hazmat crews arrived, they began removing all the bags from the truck and stacking them against the guard rail. If diesel fuel or kerosene from the truck's tanks mix with the ammonium nitrate, it can explode. Crews managed to move the bags away from the truck, reducing the threat.
Police say the driver will be charged with the accident. No one was injured and no other cars were involved in the wreck.
---------------------------------------------
SENATORS DAVID VITTER, FRANK LAUTENBERG ANNOUNCE CHEMICAL SAFETY COMPROMISE
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/05/vitterlautenberg_announce_new.html
Tags: us_LA, industrial, follow-up, environmental
WASHINGTON - After more than two decades of impasse over chemical regulations, a bipartisan group of senators Wednesday announced a compromise that won support from both environmental and industry officials.
"Our bill strikes the right balance between strengthening consumer confidence in the safety of chemicals, while also promoting innovation and the growth of an important sector of our economy," said Sen. David Vitter, R-La., the top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Two years ago, Vitter and Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who has been pressing for tightening the Toxic Substances Control Act since 1995, came close to a compromise. But the deal couldn't be finalized.
---------------------------------------------
'UPSETS': CHEMICAL RELEASES DISRUPT LIVES BUT RARELY RESULT IN PUNISHMENT
http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/21/18401250-upsets-chemical-releases-disrupt-lives-but-rarely-result-in-punishment?lite
Tags: us_LA, industrial, follow-up, response, toxics
BATON ROUGE, La. Ñ Shirley Bowman noticed the smell after 8 a.m. on June 14, 2012, her 61st birthday. In Baton Rouge, where the petrochemical industry dominates the landscape, foul odors resembling burnt rubber or propane are perennial. But this odor, caustic and potent, seemed especially foul Ñ "like some sort of chemical," she recalls.
Bowman found her daughter crying over a migraine. Her neighbors experienced headaches, dizziness, nausea. One family reported a toddler son coughing up phlegm; another, an elderly father collapsing on the floor. She soon suspected the cause: A leak of "steam-cracked" naphtha, a liquid mixture of volatile petrochemicals, occurring at the ExxonMobil Baton Rouge petrochemical complex a half mile away.
Four hours earlier, Exxon operators detected an odor in the East area tank field and discovered a "bleeder" valve on Tank 801 dripping naphtha into a sewer. The leaky valve dumped 411 barrels into the underground system, company records filed with the state show. The liquid traveled a mile before pouring into a separator pit, vaporizing along the way, and releasing tens of thousands of pounds of benzene and other toxic chemicals into the air.
---------------------------------------------
THE ENQUIRER :: TWO MEN IN HOSPITAL AFTER MIXING CHEMICALS IN FLAT
http://www.theenquirer.co.uk/read.aspx?id=10617
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, injury, cleaners, sulfuric_acid
Fire crews and the ambulance service were called to the flat on Anerley Road, Westcliff following the chemical incident at around 11.09am today (Wednesday, 22 May).
The men had mixed sulphuric acid and toilet cleaner in the toilet bowl creating a dangerous gas which affected their breathing.
The men were taken to Southend Hospital with respiratory problems.
EEAST spokesman Gary Sanderson said; "Two men who we believe to be in their 60s have been treated and stabilised by paramedics at the scene before they were taken to hospital for further assessments."
Firefighters in breathing apparatus have entered the flat and are ventilating it with a positive pressure ventilation fan. The gas does not pose any danger to neighbours.
---------------------------------------------
3 TEENS ARRESTED IN BAKERSFIELD HIGH SCHOOL EXPLOSIONS THAT PUT THE SCHOOL ON LOCK DOWN
http://www.turnto23.com/news/local-news/3-teens-arrested-in-bakersfield-high-school-explosions-that-put-the-school-on-lock-down
Tags: us_CA, education, follow-up, response, unknown_chemical
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Officers with the Bakersfield Police Department arrested three juvenile suspects on charges of possession of a destructive device, possession of a destructive device near a place where people pass by, possession of substances or materials with the intent to make a destructive device and for conspiracy.
---------------------------------------------
TENSION IN WEST INVESTIGATION HIGHLIGHTS JURISDICTIONAL BATTLES
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/west-explosion/headlines/20130522-tension-in-west-investigation-highlights-jurisdictional-battles.ece
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, death, ag_chems, explosives
Law enforcement officials have impeded the U.S. Chemical Safety Board's efforts to investigate not only the deadly West explosion, but also dozens of others dating back years, the agency's top official said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the two lead investigators in West Ñ the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the State Fire Marshal's Office Ñ responded to the safety board's claims for the first time Wednesday evening. Both stressed that their criminal case remained active, and that "takes priority over all other investigations."
The tension highlights how investigations into chemical and industrial accidents can become complicated by jurisdictional battles among law enforcers and the independent safety board.
In a letter released earlier this week, the CSB told Congress it has "experienced significant obstacles that potentially compromise and delay our ability to complete" its probe of the West Fertilizer Co. blast, which left 15 dead and 200 injured on April 17.
The CSB, a small agency that only began operating in 1998, is responsible for recommending ways to close safety and regulation gaps that can allow such disasters to happen.
---------------------------------------------
RICHMOND POSTPONES SUING CHEVRON OVER AUGUST 2012 REFINERY FIRE
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=9112930
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, response
RICHMOND, Calif. (KGO) -- There is a new ultimatum from the city of Richmond to Chevron -- settle up with the city over last year's refinery fire or leave it for a judge to decide.
Richmond's City Council is prepared to sue its biggest corporate neighbor if necessary, but on Tuesday night the council voted to delay filing that lawsuit.
Chevron knows it is in trouble over last year's refinery fire. The Chemical Safety Board found negligence. Now the city of Richmond and Chevron are trying to reach a settlement.
After the fire on Aug. 6, 2012, hundreds of Richmond residents lined up to file claims for compensation for the ill effects they suffered from the fire. At the time Chevron said they would settle all legitimate claims, but Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin believes the company needs prodding.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL EXPLOSIONS USED TO CREATE A DUBSTEP SONG [WUB WUB]
http://www.gamenguide.com/articles/6808/20130521/chemical-explosions-used-create-dubstep-song-wub-wub.htm
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
Dubstep is a very popular genre of music, created electronically with lots of grinding and screeching sounds. You hear it a lot in video game commercials like this one for Borderlands 2. Two students from the University of Nottingham in the U.K. have made a track with noises similar to those heard in dubstep songs, but not with just any simple sound effects you can make on a computer.
---------------------------------------------
SPECIAL REPORT: POOR PLANNING LEFT TEXAS FIREFIGHTERS UNPREPARED
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/23/us-chemical-emergency-specialreport-idUSBRE94L19020130523
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, death, ag_chems
(Reuters) - The fertilizer-plant explosion that killed 14 and injured about 200 others in Texas last month highlights the failings of a U.S. federal law intended to save lives during chemical accidents, a Reuters investigation has found.
Known as the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act, the law requires companies to tell emergency responders about the hazardous chemicals stored on their properties. But even when companies do so, the law stops there: After the paperwork is filed, it is up to the companies and local firefighters, paramedics and police to plan and train for potential disasters.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT TEAM CLEARS ACCIDENTAL CHEMICAL MIX IN COLUMBIA
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/columbia/ph-hazmat-team-clears-accidental-chemical-mix-in-columbia-20130522,0,6138930.story
Tags: us_MD, public, release, injury, bromine, cleaners
A Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services hazardous materials team cleared a potentially hazard chemical mixture Wednesday morning caused by a cleaning crew at the Columbia Athletic Club.
According to a department spokesman, the crew was dispatched to the 5400 block of Beaverkill Road in Columbia at 8:35 a.m. after members of the cleaning crew accidentally mixed Bromine and "Simple Green," an all-purpose cleaner.
The spokesman said the accidental mixture caused a red smoke, which was inhaled by one of the cleaning employees.
The employee was taken to Howard County General Hospital as a precaution, according to the spokesman.
The incident caused a road closure for over an hour. The incident was cleared by 10:09 a.m., according to the department'sTwitter account.
---------------------------------------------
3 HURT IN SECOND FIRE IN A WEEK AT WHEATLAND PLANT
http://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/stories/3-hurt-in-second-fire-in-a-week-at-Wheatland-plant,91070?category_id=4&content_class=1&sub_type=stories,maps
Tags: us_WY, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
WHEATLAND Ñ One worker was hospitalized and two others treated and released after a second fire in a week at the same power plant.
The fire early Sunday happened at the coal unloading area at the Laramie River Station plant, Basin Electric Power Cooperative said in a release Monday.
The three workers were hurt trying to put out the fire. All three were treated at Platte County Memorial Hospital in Wheatland.
One worker was flown to the North Colorado Medical Center Western States Burn Center in Greeley, Colo., and remained there Monday. The others were released but scheduled for follow-up treatment at the burn center Monday.
Basin Electric spokesman Daryl Hill said he didn't know the conditions of the three employees. The utility did not release their names.
A fire broke out at the same coal-fired power plant last Tuesday. Nobody was hurt in that fire, which firefighters put out within a few hours.
---------------------------------------------
CALIF. WINERY FIRE PROMPTS SCHOOL EVACUATION
http://www.mynews4.com/news/state/story/Calif-winery-fire-prompts-school-evacuation/upc_8HnFaUONRA9N-tO7pg.cspx
Tags: us_CA, industrial, fire, response, flammables
REEDLEY, Calif. (AP) Ñ Fire officials in the Central Valley farming community of Reedley evacuated an elementary school after a winery next door to the school caught on fire.
Fresno County Cal Fire Spokesman Captain John Dominguez says students at Riverview School, a kindergarten through eighth grade school about 25 miles southeast of Fresno, were evacuated after a fire broke out at the O'Neil Vintners and Distillery around 1:50 p.m. Monday.
Dominguez says the fire was confined to one large storage tank at the winery and the tank was filled with alcohol. He says the winery stores some chemicals which are highly flammable.
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Ralph Stuart
secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Secretary
Division of Chemical Health and Safety
American Chemical Society
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