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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, December 29, 2014 at 7:32:29 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 (11 articles)
HINGE ON CABINET DOOR CAUSES ACID SPILL IN THE RESEARCH TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY
Tags: us_WA, laboratory, release, response, hydrochloric_acid, nitric_acid
ROAD SALT CONTRIBUTES TO TOXIC CHEMICAL LEVELS IN STREAMS
Tags: us_WI, transportation, discovery, environmental, sodium_chloride
CHEMICAL TANKERS BURN NEAR PERRIS WAREHOUSE
Tags: us_CA, transportation, fire, response, unknown_chemical
HAZMAT CREW RESPONDS TO LEXINGTON FUEL SPILL
Tags: us_KY, public, release, response, other_chemical
WEST EXPLOSION DEFENDANTS SEEK TRIAL DELAY, WAIT FOR ATF REPORT
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, response, ag_chems, explosives
FIRE BREAKS OUT IN MKU LAB, NO CASUALTY
Tags: India, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
OPINION: TIME FOR GUBERNATORIAL ACTION ON THE OIL TRAINS
Tags: us_NJ, transportation, follow-up, environmental, flammables, petroleum
MCCULLOM LAKE, ILL.: CHEMICAL COMPANY SETTLES WITH ILLINOIS NEIGHBORS
Tags: us_IL, public, release, environmental, other_chemical
DOZENS OF W.VA. LAWSUITS FILED AGAINST DUPONT
Tags: us_WV, public, follow-up, injury, other_chemical
NUCLEAR REACTORS HALTED FOLLOWING DEADLY CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: Republic_of_Korea, industrial, release, death, nitrogen
A POSSIBLE CHEMICAL SOURCE OF DISCREPANCY BETWEEN IN VITRO AND IN VIVO TESTS IN NANOTOXICOLOGY CAUSED BY STRONG ADSORPTION OF BUFFER COMPONENTS
Tags: public, discovery, response, other_chemical
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HINGE ON CABINET DOOR CAUSES ACID SPILL IN THE RESEARCH TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY
Tags: us_WA, laboratory, release, response, hydrochloric_acid, nitric_acid
Statement: According to PNNL requirements, bottles of oxidizing agents such as nitric acid must be segregated from other incompatible chemicals in storage and be kept in secondary containers in case of a spill. Avoid placing tall bottles in the vicinity of exposed extended arms of cabinet-door hinges that move across the interior or exterior of the cabinet when the door is opened or closed. An exposed arm means taller bottles placed in the arm‰??s travel path can be hit or jarred and potentially broken. Before entering a laboratory space for a walk-through or inspection, read the hazards awareness summary and comply with the requirements.
Discussion: When bottles of nitric acid were found stored in a cabinet near a bottle of concentrated hydrochloric acid (HCl) during a waste accumulation area assessment in the Research Technology Laboratory (RTL 520), a member of the assessment team rearranged the containers to comply with HDI safety requirements. As he closed the cabinet door, the extended arm of the hinge knocked the bottle of HCl onto the floor, causing it to break and spill. Staff members in adjacent spaces were evacuated to another location within RTL 520 until monitoring indicated it was safe to return. No one was injured.
Analysis: While inspecting a corrosive materials cabinet during a waste accumulation area assessment in RTL 520, a team member noticed several containers of nitric acid stored on the same shelf as a 2-liter bottle of concentrated HCl. Per PNNL requirements for proper chemical storage, he segregated the bottles of nitric acid on one side of the shelf away from the HCl, planning to provide secondary containment for them later to prevent mixing in the event of a spill.
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ROAD SALT CONTRIBUTES TO TOXIC CHEMICAL LEVELS IN STREAMS
Tags: us_WI, transportation, discovery, environmental, sodium_chloride
This is the time of year when it's not uncommon to see big trucks barreling down highways and streets spreading road salt.
Steve Corsi, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, says that translates into high levels of chloride concentrations for rivers like the Milwaukee in Wisconsin or 18 other streams near urban areas in Illinois, Ohio, Colorado and several other states.
"At many of the streams, concentrations have now exceeded those that are harmful to aquatic life," he says.
Corsi says that's especially true during the winter. He and other scientists analyzed chloride levels dating back to 1960 but primarily from the 1990s to 2011. The number of times they found toxic levels of chloride doubled over the two decades.
He says there's plenty of reasons for the increase. "We have lots of businesses that have parking lots and sidewalks and such, we have residents who have driveways and sidewalks and a lot of people use road salt."
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CHEMICAL TANKERS BURN NEAR PERRIS WAREHOUSE
Tags: us_CA, transportation, fire, response, unknown_chemical
PERRIS (CNS) - Two tanker trucks filled with roofing material caught fire near a vacant warehouse and burned much of the night, tying down firefighters and hazardous materials experts until early today.
Firefighters responded at 11:10 p.m. Saturday to a report of black smoke coming from a commercial warehouse that was still under construction on East Nance Street, west of Redlands Avenue, Riverside County fire officials said.
Emergency crews found a pressurized tank on a commercial tanker truck aflame. With help from March Air Reserve Base fire crews, county fire units battled the fire for much of the evening, slowed by the fact that the chemicals involved could react dangerously with the addition of water, officials said.
The fire was largely contained by 5:31 a.m., but a water tender remained on scene to watch for flare-ups until 8 a.m.
In all, two trucks containing roofing materials were destroyed.
The nearby warehouse was not damaged and no injuries were reported.
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HAZMAT CREW RESPONDS TO LEXINGTON FUEL SPILL
Tags: us_KY, public, release, response, other_chemical
Lexington firefighters were called out to the Circle K on Pimlico Parkway just before 11:30 a.m. Saturday for a report of a fuel leak.
According to a fire department official, a woman was filling up her gas tank when the fuel pump came out and spilled about 9 gallons of fuel. The fuel made it a couple hundred feet away to the storm sewer. The manager at the gas station was able to use oil dry on the spill before firefighters arrived to contain some of the fuel.
HAZMAT was also called to the scene to monitor the storm drain, but they didn't find any dangerous levels of any fumes or vapors.
"Our biggest concern was when you get vapors like that underground in a storm sewer, we don't want a high level, get an explosive level of gas in an underground area like that, and then we didn't want a lot of the fuel to get out into the rest of the storm water collection systems," said Lexington Fire Major Eddie Crews.
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WEST EXPLOSION DEFENDANTS SEEK TRIAL DELAY, WAIT FOR ATF REPORT
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, response, ag_chems, explosives
Defense attorneys in the massive West fertilizer plant explosion litigation are seeking another delay in trial proceedings because they say they can‰??t properly defend themselves until reviewing findings of the ongoing federal criminal investigation.
In a motion seeking a stay or a delay in the proceedings, Dallas attorney Carlos Balido, a representative of the defendants‰?? steering committee, tells 170th State District Judge Jim Meyer that proceedings should be delayed because of the pending Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigation into the devastating April 17, 2013, explosion at West Fertilizer Co.
The motion, filed earlier this month, says ATF officials recently disclosed that its criminal investigation is ‰??still very much active and ongoing.‰??
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FIRE BREAKS OUT IN MKU LAB, NO CASUALTY
Tags: India, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
MADURAI: A fire broke out inside the chemistry department laboratory of Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) on Thursday morning and completely destroyed the store room. Nobody was hurt, since students and staff were away on Christmas holidays.
The fire broke out at around 8.30am, when electricity returned after a power shutdown. University authorities immediately informed the fire and rescue department.
Three fire tenders reached immediately, and the flames were completely doused by 10 am. However, the store was completely destroyed, including the chemicals and other stock kept inside it.
The fire outbreak was reportedly augmented by the large quantity of chemicals meant for students' research activities.
Apart from the store room on the ground floor, two staff rooms on the first floor and a part of the laboratory and instrument room were also damaged in the incident. University sources said they suspected that the mishap had been caused by a short circuit.
As news about the fire started coming out, a large number of students turned up, besides concerned parents who wanted to take stock of the situation.
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OPINION: TIME FOR GUBERNATORIAL ACTION ON THE OIL TRAINS
Tags: us_NJ, transportation, follow-up, environmental, flammables, petroleum
The governor's failure to ensure public oversight required by law has serious consequences.
THE HAZARDS posed to residents and workers in Bergen County, as well as to other parts of New Jersey, by new ultra-flammable Bakken oil shipments on our railroads have been well-documented by The Record's Scott Fallon. The issue our state now faces is: Who has the responsibility to do something about it?
As The Record has reported, the rapidly growing public safety dangers posed by Bakken oil shipments are real. Last year, a Bakken oil train derailed and exploded in Quebec, killing 47 people and destroying more than 30 buildings.
While only 9,500 tanker loads of crude oil were shipped by rail in this country in 2008, that number has skyrocketed 45 times higher to 434,000 per year, according to the Association of American Railroads.
During the past year in Bergen County, Bakken oil shipments have passed through Northvale, Norwood, Harrington Park, Haworth, Closter, Dumont, Bergenfield, Teaneck, Bogota, Ridgefield Park, Ridgefield and North Bergen.
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MCCULLOM LAKE, ILL.: CHEMICAL COMPANY SETTLES WITH ILLINOIS NEIGHBORS
Tags: us_IL, public, release, environmental, other_chemical
MCCULLOM LAKE, ILL. ‰?? A Philadelphia-based chemical manufacturer has settled lawsuits with more than 30 people who lived near a plant in northern Illinois, ending a legal battle over an alleged brain cancer cluster.
The (Crystal Lake) Northwest Herald reports (http://bit.ly/1Ab7keI">http://bit.ly/1Ab7keI ) the details of Rohm and Haas' settlement haven't been disclosed. Attorney Aaron Freiwald says his clients are satisfied with the terms of the settlement, which recently was approved by a Philadelphia judge.
The plaintiffs claimed the company released vinyl chloride into the air and water causing a cluster of brain cancer cases in McCullom Lake, Illinois. The company has denied the pollutant caused any illnesses, but has acknowledged a previous owner of the plant built a sludge pond that leaked into the groundwater.
---------------------------------------------
DOZENS OF W.VA. LAWSUITS FILED AGAINST DUPONT
Tags: us_WV, public, follow-up, injury, other_chemical
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Dozens of West Virginia residents have filed lawsuits against chemical company DuPont for contaminating drinking water.
Filed in West Virginia federal court Friday, the lawsuits allege that the company discharged the chemical C8 into waters surrounding its Washington Works Plant near Parkersburg.
Kathy Brown, a Charleston lawyer representing the plaintiffs, says the lawsuits stem from a 2005 class-action settlement. That settlement followed a lawsuit claiming that six water systems in Ohio and West Virginia were contaminated by C8. A science panel found links between C8 and six medical ailments including testicular and kidney cancers.
Brown says residents of those water systems with any related medical ailments have until the end of January to file suit under the 2005 settlement's terms. Brown says "between 500 and 600" more lawsuits are expected.
---------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REACTORS HALTED FOLLOWING DEADLY CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: Republic_of_Korea, industrial, release, death, nitrogen
ULSAN, Dec. 27 (Yonhap) -- The labor ministry has ordered two nuclear reactors under construction to be shut down to look into the cause of a toxic gas leak that killed three workers, a local branch said Saturday.
Three workers died Friday apparently after inhaling toxic gas at the construction site of a nuclear reactor in Ulsan, about 410 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
The state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. earlier said it suspected nitrogen gas leaked from an underground cable caused the deaths.
The ministry said it will cooperate with the occupational safety agency, the emergency management agency and police to conduct a joint probe into the site and summon officials at the state nuclear power company and contractors.
"We will promptly conduct an investigation and hold accountable those who are responsible (in the incident) if any irregularities are discovered," Yoo Han-bong, who leads the labor ministry's Ulsan branch, said.
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A POSSIBLE CHEMICAL SOURCE OF DISCREPANCY BETWEEN IN VITRO AND IN VIVO TESTS IN NANOTOXICOLOGY CAUSED BY STRONG ADSORPTION OF BUFFER COMPONENTS
Tags: public, discovery, response, other_chemical
In the course of studies of the interaction of biomolecules with TiO2 nanoparticles (of the TiO2 P25 type) we have investigated the role of the medium employed in cellular tests, by measuring the variation of ë¦ potential vs. pH in the range 2-8 and bovine serum albumin adsorption on TiO2 nanoparticles in the presence of either HEPES or PBS as buffers, both mimicking the physiological pH, but with unlike chemical nature. The two buffers yield remarkably dissimilar surface charges and protein uptake, i.e. they impart different surface characteristics to the particles in contact with cells or tissues. This may account for dissimilar toxicological outcomes among in vitro tests and particularly between in vitro vs. in vivo tests, considering the high amount of phosphate ions present in both simulated and actual body fluids.
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Ralph Stuart
secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Secretary
Division of Chemical Health and Safety
American Chemical Society