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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 (13 articles)
Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 10:02:51 +0000
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: AFB4BA38-9FED-41F3-ACD6-7891E0E7E3B6**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, November 12, 2014 at 10:02:36 AM
A service 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 (13 articles)
40 YEARS AFTER TOXIC MIX-UP, RESEARCHERS CONTINUE TO STUDY MICHIGANDERS POISONED BY PBB
Tags: us_MI, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
EMERGENCY CREWS SEEK $70,000 AFTER STATELINE CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_WA, transportation, follow-up, response, other_chemical
REFRIGERANT LEAK PROMPTS KINGSTON MALL EVACUATION
Tags: us_MA, public, release, injury, hvac_chemicals
GAS PIPE BURSTS IN PIPER STREET
Tags: Australia, public, release, response, other_chemical
MONASH FREEWAY CLOSED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: Australia, public, release, response, other_chemical
GAS LEAK FORCES EVACUATION AT BUCKS COUNTY CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, natural_gas
A CAUTION ON PROCEDURES IN ORGANIC SYNTHESIS JOURNALS
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
U.S. CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD CALLS FOR MORE STRINGENT REGULATION OF CALIFORNIA OIL REFINERIES
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, injury, petroleum
CHEMICAL PLANT EXPLOSION INJURES 66
Tags: Argentina, industrial, explosion, injury, flammables
PEPPER SPRAY WAS SOURCE OF EXPLOSION SCARE AT MOTEL 6 IN BELMONT
Tags: us_CA, public, explosion, injury, pepper_spray
STUDENT INJURED IN CHEMICAL SPLASH AT UNR
Tags: us_NV, laboratory, release, injury, unknown_chemical
POTENTIAL DANGERS OF DETERGENT PODS, MISTAKING CHEMICAL FOR CAND
Tags: public, release, injury, cleaners
COEUR D'ALENE PRESS: LOCAL NEWS
Tags: us_ID, public, follow-up, response, unknown_chemical
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40 YEARS AFTER TOXIC MIX-UP, RESEARCHERS CONTINUE TO STUDY MICHIGANDERS POISONED BY PBB
Tags: us_MI, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
More than 40 years ago, people in Michigan were poisoned. Researchers are still following those people today.
In 1973, a fire-retardant chemical called PBB, polybrominated biphenyl, accidentally got mixed into livestock feed. It took a year to discover the accident.
Studies estimate 70-90% of people in Michigan had some exposure to PBB from eating contaminated milk, meat and eggs. The MDCH says the "overwhelming majority of those who were exposed to PBB received very low levels."
Other people had higher levels of exposure.
Researchers at Emory University in Atlanta are studying the long-term health effects of exposure to PBB. The team was in Michigan this past weekend to continue the study.
---------------------------------------------
EMERGENCY CREWS SEEK $70,000 AFTER STATELINE CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_WA, transportation, follow-up, response, other_chemical
SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. ‰?? Emergency crews are moving forward, seeking reimbursement costs after the Stateline chemical leak in September.
Officials submitted their paperwork to the trucking company asking for more than $70,000.
The Spokane Valley Fire Department has been taking the lead for the last several months to get reimbursement for all those agencies that responded to the leak.
Authorities said more than a dozen state and local agencies responded to Stateline, where up to eight gallons of dangerous anhydrous trimethylamine leaked from a tanker truck. It forced I-90 to shut down for more than 19 hours.
---------------------------------------------
REFRIGERANT LEAK PROMPTS KINGSTON MALL EVACUATION
Tags: us_MA, public, release, injury, hvac_chemicals
KINGSTON, Mass. ‰??A Kingston mall is evacuated Tuesday night and several people were brought to hospitals after a refrigerant leak was reported in the food court.
Officials said several people in the food court started to complain about having difficulty breathing and other respiratory irritations about 4:30 p.m.
"We were eating, then we started coughing and my friend started complaining about the smell and her head started to hurt," Emily Jasmin, of Plymouth, said.
Within minutes someone called 911 and triggered the fire alarm inside the Independence Mall. Everyone was urged to evacuate from the mall's stores to the movie theater.
---------------------------------------------
GAS PIPE BURSTS IN PIPER STREET
Tags: Australia, public, release, response, other_chemical
FIRE crews averted a possible emergency situation in upper Piper Street after a gas pipe was ruptured on Tuesday morning.
Firefighters from NSW Fire and Rescue attended the scene, along with their Hazmat (Hazardous materials) unit, after receiving a triple-0 call at 9.47am.
Station officer at Bathurst Station Sandy Collins said the caller alerted authorities to the situation after a gas pipe was damaged after being hit by a lawn mower.
Station officer Collins said when fire crews arrived, two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus dispersed the built-up gas with a hose line, before clamping the damaged gas pipe.
---------------------------------------------
MONASH FREEWAY CLOSED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: Australia, public, release, response, other_chemical
The Monash Freeway has reopened after a day of traffic chaos sparked by a chemical spill.
The freeway was closed in both directions on Wednesday morning after the chemical spill involving a drum of leaking aviation fuel.
"Although the freeway is now open, drivers need to be prepared for ongoing delays," VicRoads Director of Road Operations Dean Zabrieszach said.
---------------------------------------------
GAS LEAK FORCES EVACUATION AT BUCKS COUNTY CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, natural_gas
A gas leak at a Bucks County chemical plant forced the evacuation of two buildings late Tuesday afternoon.
The leak occurred at the Rohm-Haas chemical plant on 350 George Patterson Boulevard in Bristol Township around 4:45 p.m. Two buildings within the plant were evacuated due to a strong odor of natural gas.
Officials were able to contain the leak and the workers were allowed back inside. No one was injured in the incident.
---------------------------------------------
A CAUTION ON PROCEDURES IN ORGANIC SYNTHESIS JOURNALS
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
Organic Process Research and Development editor Trevor Laird, founder of Scientific Update, recently penned an editorial on ‰??Safety Culture in Industry and Academia‰??. I‰??ll highlight one particular paragraph:
Unfortunately, many companies and most universities are still not using the literature to find out more safety information (and not just MSDSs); for example, Bretherick‰??s Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards is a superb resource to access the literature with respect to safe handling of chemicals, in particular on the issues with scaling up. In the organic synthesis literature, I have seen so many unsafe procedures using perchloric acid/perchlorates and azides/hydrazoic acid, for example, that it is surprising there have not been more explosions in university laboratories. Yet a look through recent issues of Organic Process Research & Development (OPRD) will garner several fine articles which describe exactly the dangers of azides, how to overcome those dangers and to scale up the processes, as well as a book review on this topic.
There‰??s clearly a challenge here for researchers to figure out what‰??s a safe procedure and what isn‰??t. Just because a journal published something doesn‰??t mean it‰??s been vetted for safety. Is there a good way to teach students to be appropriately skeptical of literature procedures? Also, aside from using Bretherick‰??s and OPRD, are there other good resources for people trying to evaluate a procedure for safety?
---------------------------------------------
U.S. CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD CALLS FOR MORE STRINGENT REGULATION OF CALIFORNIA OIL REFINERIES
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, injury, petroleum
RICHMOND -- The U.S. Chemical Safety Board calls for substantial changes in the way oil refineries are regulated in California in its final regulatory report on the August 2012 fire at Chevron's refinery here.
The report, released late Monday, calls on the state "to enhance its process safety management regulations for petroleum refineries to ensure a more robust and adaptive regulatory regime."
The regulatory report is the second of three in the federal agency's investigation into the crude-unit fire that endangered 19 workers and sent more than 15,000 area residents to the hospital. The fire was sparked when a corroded 52-inch-long carbon steel piping component ruptured.
Among the recommendations in the Chemical Safety Board's report are a more comprehensive analysis of process hazards; the documented use of safer systems analysis, with the goal of reducing risks to a specified target; analysis of the effectiveness of safeguards intended to control hazards; more effective process safety indicators; and more thorough inspections and audits by a technically qualified regulator.
The goal of reducing risks to a specified target reflects principles that have been adopted in the refinery and chemical industries in Europe and Australia, as well as the nuclear and space sectors in the United States, C.S.B. investigator Amanda Johnson said in a news release announcing the report. The Chemical Safety Board's news release noted that in September, the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) released draft regulations for refinery safety that include a number of more rigorous requirements.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL PLANT EXPLOSION INJURES 66
Tags: Argentina, industrial, explosion, injury, flammables
An explosion November 6 at the Rigoni chemical facility in CÌ3rdoba, located in north western Argentina, injured 66, including police and firefighters, according to the Buenos Aires Herald. The blast also damaged about 20 buildings and left a huge crater in the facility's backyard. A gas cloud was seen above the area immediately after the explosion.
Two of the victims were in serious condition.
A preliminary investigation points to the overheating of a machine as the cause of the explosion that occurred at about 8pm local time. The investigation also revealed the existence of highly flammable products, although the company had no legal authorization to stock such substances. The plant‰??s owner has been arrested and accused of ‰??aggravated criminal damage.‰??
---------------------------------------------
PEPPER SPRAY WAS SOURCE OF EXPLOSION SCARE AT MOTEL 6 IN BELMONT
Tags: us_CA, public, explosion, injury, pepper_spray
BELMONT, Calif. -- Pepper spray was at the root of a reported explosion and strong odors at a Motel 6 in Belmont this afternoon that left 10 people in need of medical treatment, according to police.
Police said reports of an explosion at a Motel 6 in Belmont are unfounded but that nearly a dozen people inside the building were treated for exposure to chemical odors.
The odors affecting people inside the building "turned out to be pepper spray," a post on the Belmont Police Department's official Twitter page said.
---------------------------------------------
STUDENT INJURED IN CHEMICAL SPLASH AT UNR
Tags: us_NV, laboratory, release, injury, unknown_chemical
RENO, Nev. (MyNews4.com & KRNV) -- A UNR building was evacuated Monday afternoon after a chemical splash sent one student to the hospital.
Natalie Savidge,Senior Communications Specialist Senior Communications Specialist at UNR, told News 4 the student is being treated for injuries sustained during the chemical splash at the Manville Health Services building. The building is expected to reopen sometime Monday. Savidge said no other labs were affected by the chemical splash.
Both RPD and the University Environmental Health and Safety Department responded and are currently on scene investigating the incident.
---------------------------------------------
POTENTIAL DANGERS OF DETERGENT PODS, MISTAKING CHEMICAL FOR CAND
Tags: public, release, injury, cleaners
CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KFVS) -
Could your child mistake a chemical for candy?
You may have seen reports about the potential dangers of laundry detergent pods, now there are some surprising numbers that may make you reach for a different product.
According to a new study, one child per day is hospitalized because they tried to eat the chemical.
Little hands can too often get into a little too much. LaVar and Susan Sinks' son Max is almost two years old. His parents say keeping him out of things that could be harmful can be a full time job.
‰??He likes to play and play with his puppy and read books and get into whatever he can find to get into,‰?? Susan said.
However, there's one thing these parents and others don't want their kids getting their hands on.
‰??Do not put in mouth, keep out of reach of children,‰?? Kathryn Richards said.
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COEUR D'ALENE PRESS: LOCAL NEWS
Tags: us_ID, public, follow-up, response, unknown_chemical
POST FALLS - Some agencies that responded to the hazardous materials leak that closed Interstate 90 in both directions near the state line for 18 hours on Sept. 14 have requested $77,000 in reimbursement from the chemical firm for their services during the incident.
Andy Hail of the Spokane Valley Fire Department said individual agencies submitted requests for reimbursement to him and he forwarded the requests to Allentown, Pa.-based Taminco U.S. Inc.
"They have received the bill and have forwarded it to their insurance carrier," Hail said. "They're requesting quite a bit of documentation, so we'll be doing some followup. But hopefully this will get the ball rolling."
Hail said the requests are for overtime that was incurred during the incident, food needed for responders and equipment charges, not for regular expenses.
"From that perspective, we're not into it for a huge amount," said Hail, whose agency was among the primary responders. "Spokane Valley did not have to backfill any of its stations during this incident."
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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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