Interesting article on the Chemical Safety Headlines list "WHEN CHEMICALS BECAME
WEAPONDS OF WAR'. 


http://chemicalweapons.cenmag.org/when-chemicals-became-weapons-of-war/


This paragraph was copied/pasted from the article; it describes a suggestion
for an old-school approach on public PPE training.  
Eric 

Even a decade
after the end of WWI, the pro-chemical-weapons lobby was still going strong.. One
chemist, Harry Holmes, argued in both the New York Times and Scientific American
that the public would be less afraid of chemical warfare if it could be
demonstrated scientifically that defense against attack was an easy matter. "He
suggested that tear gas be dropped on a small [American] city to test the
effectiveness of gas defense training," Ede says. "Holmes found no volunteers to
undertake his experiment, and such suggestions did little to reassure the public
as to the humanity of the supporters of the Chemical Warfare Service."

Eric
Clark, MS, CHMM, CCHO 
Safety Officer, Public Health Scientist III 
Los
Angeles County Public Health Laboratory 


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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday,
February 23, 2015 at 6:44:10 AM

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Table of Contents (16 articles)

WHEN CHEMICALS
BECAME WEAPONS OF WAR
Tags: Belgium, other, discovery, death, chlorine,
gas_cylinders

WCBD-TV: NEWS, WEATHER, AND SPORTS FOR CHARLESTON, SC
Tags:
us_SC, public, discovery, response, meth_lab

SIX IN HOSPITAL AFTER VIC
CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: Australia, laboratory, release, injury,
other_chemical

STATEHOUSE BEAT: REACTION TO OIL TRAIN EXPLOSION DIFFERENT
FROM FREEDOM LEAK
Tags: us_WV, transportation, follow-up, response

HARSH
CHEMICAL ODOR IN SKAGIT COUNTY COMING FROM SHELL REFINERY, SHERIFF'S OFFICE
SAYS
Tags: us_WA, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical

FDNY ON
SCENE OF CHEMICAL EXPLOSION AT MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL
Tags: us_NY, laboratory,
explosion, response, unknown_chemical

UNIVERSITY ROUND UP
Tags:
United_Kingdom, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical

BELLINGHAM:
WORKERS OK AFTER CHEMICAL EXPOSURE AT BELLINGHAM COLD STORAGE TENANT
Tags:
us_WA, industrial, release, injury, chlorine_dioxide

EXXONMOBIL IDENTIFIES
MYSTERY "DUST" RELEASED FROM REFINERY EXPLOSION
Tags: us_CA, industrial,
follow-up, response, dust, metals

POTENTIAL GAS LEAK PROMPTS CLOSURE OF METRO
ATLANTA HIGHWAY
Tags: us_GA, public, release, response, gasoline

VIDEO:
WINNIPEG COMPANY SETTLES OVER 2012 RACING FUEL EXPLOSION
Tags: Canada,
transportation, follow-up, response, unknown_chemical

GAS VAPOR EYED AS
FACTOR IN WEST VIRGINIA OIL TRAIN FIREBALL - NATION - BANGOR DAILY NEWS - BDN
MAINE
Tags: us_WV, transportation, follow-up, response, petroleum

BOUDIN
BAKERY ON SF'S FISHERMAN'S WHARF EVACUATED FOR WHAT ENDED UP BEING PEPPER
SPRAY
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, pepper_spray

WINNEMUCCA JUNIOR
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, STAFF DECONTAMINATED AFT
Tags: us_NV, education, release,
injury, mercury

CHEMICAL SPILL AT BRURIAH OPENS NEW SECURITY
PERSPECTIVES
Tags: us_NJ, education, release, injury, cleaners,
sulfuric_acid

CHS REBUILDING WAREHOUSE AFTER FIRE
Tags: us_SD, industrial,
follow-up, environmental,
pesticides


---------------------------------------------

WHEN CHEMICALS
BECAME WEAPONS OF WAR
Tags: Belgium, other, discovery, death, chlorine,
gas_cylinders

Nobody expected the first chlorine gas attack on April 22,
1915, to be quite so successful, including Fritz Haber, the weapon's main
advocate. The German scientist had proposed using chlorine gas on Allied troops,
overseen its development as a weapon, and gone to the front lines himself to
supervise placement of 5,730 gas cylinders along a 4-mile stretch of road near
the trenches outside the Belgian town of Ypres.

And then Haber waited at the
front lines for weeks, until the prevailing wind turned northwest. This
capricious breeze was the weapon's weakness: It needed to blow the chlorine gas
from the cylinders buried on the German side, across no-man's-land, and into the
Allies' trenches.

Haber had fought his own battle to just get the opportunity
to try out the gas. Most of the German High Command was skeptical of poison gas
as a weapon. "They saw the first chlorine attack as an experiment at best, and
at worst, a kind of stunt," says Andrew Ede, a science historian at the
University of Alberta. Six months into the war, Haber had managed to convince
only one commander on the Western Front to try out chlorine gas. After this
chlorine attack killed more than 1,100 soldiers and injured many more, the lack
of support changed dramatically.

The first large-scale use of chemical
weapons that day in 1915 ignited a chemical arms race among the warring parties.
By the end of World War I, scientists working for both sides had evaluated some
3,000 different chemicals for use as possible weapons; around 50 of these
poisons were actually tried out on the battlefield, says Joseph Gal, a historian
of chemistry at the University of Colorado,
Denver.

---------------------------------------------

WCBD-TV: NEWS,
WEATHER, AND SPORTS FOR CHARLESTON, SC
Tags: us_SC, public, discovery,
response, meth_lab

Saturday evening police with the North Charleston Police
Department were dispatched to Trident Hospital for a hazmat situation. 

The
call came into the dispatch center at 8:40 Saturday. According to a spokesman
for the NCPD, officials with Dorchester County Sheriff's Office warned there may
be people traveling to the hospital with a meth lab inside the car.

Crews
blocked a portion of an Emergency Room parking lot for several hours Saturday. 


 Fire and Police located the vehicle and confirmed an active mobile meth
lab. 

 Two people were taken in to custody.  The scene was turned over to
Hazmat officials.

---------------------------------------------

SIX IN
HOSPITAL AFTER VIC CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: Australia, laboratory, release, injury,
other_chemical

Six people have been taken to hospital and 1000 students
evacuated after a chemical spill at a Melbourne school.

A fault in the
ventilation system of a science room at Lyndale Secondary College prompted the
school to move everyone to the gym, the Country Fire Authority says.

The
incident involved a potassium iodide mixture in the classroom, which was secured
and contained by CFA crews.

A dozen people were treated by paramedics and
Ambulance Victoria says six were taken to hospital in stable
conditions.

---------------------------------------------

STATEHOUSE BEAT:
REACTION TO OIL TRAIN EXPLOSION DIFFERENT FROM FREEDOM LEAK
Tags: us_WV,
transportation, follow-up, response

Two legislative sessions. Two local
crises. Two very different reactions.

It's natural to compare and contrast
the Legislature's reaction to Monday's oil train derailment with the Jan. 9,
2014 Freedom Industries chemical leak.

In 2014, of course, the Legislature
jumped into action, beginning with a joint House-Senate committee that started
its own investigation of the incident days after the leak, and from there, the
water crisis dominated the regular session, culminating with passage of the
state Water Resources Protection Act (SB373), regulating above-ground storage
tanks, by the end of the session. (Subject to bills pending this session to gut
those regulations.)

By comparison, the Legislature's reaction to the "bomb
train" derailment, explosion and fires has been comparatively muted.. In the
Senate, Sens. Bill Laird, D-Fayette, and Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall, referred to
the incident in floor speeches, focusing primarily on how it shows how
vulnerable the state's water supplies are to chemical contamination.. In the
House, Delegate Kayla Kessinger, R-Fayette, praised the efforts of the first
responders, but did not otherwise offer commentary on the incident.

House
Speaker Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha, told me the Legislature would be working with
the Tomblin administration to determine if any legislative response is
necessary, while Senate Transportation Chairman Chris Walters, R-Putnam, said he
believes the Legislature needs to conduct an overall review of transportation of
hazardous materials through the state. (Never did hear back from Senate
President Bill Cole, R-Mercer, or Senate spokeswoman Jacque Bland on the
matter.)

---------------------------------------------

HARSH CHEMICAL ODOR
IN SKAGIT COUNTY COMING FROM SHELL REFINERY, SHERIFF'S OFFICE SAYS
Tags: us_WA,
industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical

ANACORTES, Wash. - The Skagit
County Sheriff's Office said Friday the Shell Puget Sound Refinery in Anacortes
is the source of the harsh chemical smell that the public has complained about
in the area.

The sheriff's office said the refinery has a flare that is out
of service for maintenance, and that is causing the odor. The flare is now
capped, the sheriff's office said, but the odor is lingering.

No injuries
have been reported.

The sheriff's office said the refinery is taking air
samples and says there is no danger to the public.

The refinery has not
returned calls about the
situation.

---------------------------------------------

FDNY ON SCENE OF
CHEMICAL EXPLOSION AT MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL
Tags: us_NY, laboratory, explosion,
response, unknown_chemical

UPPER EAST SIDE (PIX11) - The FDNY is on the scene
of a chemical explosion inside a room at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Officials say
the explosion and resulting fire happened inside a cancer research lab. The fire
has since been extinguished. The explosion was not in the main hospital building
and did not affect hospital operations or patients.

Three employees were in
the room at the time but are
uninjured.

---------------------------------------------

UNIVERSITY ROUND
UP
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical

Tests
are being undertaken at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich to ensure
there is "no leakage" of chemicals after a laboratory fire.

Hundreds of
people were evacuated from the campus building when firefighters were called to
the third floor blaze at about 10:30am.

The fire service is now working with
UEA staff to establish what chemicals were in the laboratory.

Twelve engines
were dispatched to the incident. Nobody was injured.

Roy Harold, from Norfolk
Fire and Rescue, said: "We understand two members of staff were working on some
chemicals and there was a small fire in a fume cupboard.

"We've now sealed
the area off but we've got breathing apparatus crews taking gas monitoring
equipment to check there is no leakage of chemicals from the
lab."

---------------------------------------------

BELLINGHAM: WORKERS OK
AFTER CHEMICAL EXPOSURE AT BELLINGHAM COLD STORAGE TENANT
Tags: us_WA,
industrial, release, injury, chlorine_dioxide

BELLINGHAM - Paramedics treated
nearly a dozen people for potential respiratory problems after workers
discovered a possible chemical leak at the Bellingham Cold Storage facility,
according to Bellingham Assistant Fire Chief Rob Kintzele.

Paramedics and
firefighters responded to the hazardous materials call at Trident Seafoods,
which leases space from Bellingham Cold Storage, 2825 Roeder Ave., shortly
before 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 20.

Employees at Trident Seafoods discovered too
much chlorine dioxide was infused into water, Kintzele said. The process of
infusing chlorine dioxide into water is routinely for sanitizing surfaces at the
facility, he said.

Paramedics checked roughly 10 people for respiratory
problems. Nobody was taken to the hospital by ambulance or had any serious
health problems, Kintzele said.

Chlorine dioxide is a gas or liquid similar
to chlorine and nitric acid. It can cause irritation of the eyes, nose, throat
and lungs, and repeated exposure can cause chronic bronchitis, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.

---------------------------------------------

EXXONMOBIL
IDENTIFIES MYSTERY "DUST" RELEASED FROM REFINERY EXPLOSION
Tags: us_CA,
industrial, follow-up, response, dust, metals

The powdery substance that fell
from the sky onto Torrance after Wednesday's explosion in the ExxonMobil
Refinery was from  a chemical catalyst used in the plant, and "may cause
irritation," according to a statement released by the oil company.
"The
material is not expected to be hazardous to people or animals under the
conditions it was released," stated ExxonMobil.  "However, it may cause
irritation to the skin, eyes, and throat."
Industry analysts agree the
explosion at the Torrance ExxonMobil Refinery has put upward pressure on
gasoline prices--as much as 30 cents a gallon in the next wee. Patrick Healy
reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Feb. 19, 2015. (Published Thursday, Feb
19, 2015)
Some witnesses as far as three miles from the refinery had described
"ash"  coming down and sticking to cars.   "Fine light dust" is the phrase
ExxonMobil used. 
"The material is a catalyst used in our process and is
primarily composed of some metal oxides and amorphous silica," ExxonMobil
stated.  "We sent the material for testing and our preliminary results are
consistent with the results from an independent test conducted at the request of
the Torrance Fire Department."
The company announced it has established a
"claims hotline," reachable at
844-631-2539.

---------------------------------------------

POTENTIAL GAS
LEAK PROMPTS CLOSURE OF METRO ATLANTA HIGHWAY
Tags: us_GA, public, release,
response, gasoline

NORCROSS, Ga. (AP) - Gwinnett County fire officials are
investigating a suspected gas leak in Norcross.

Fire officials said in a
statement Thursday afternoon that county officials reported a fuel-like odor
wafting from a sewer manhole on Buford Highway near Langford Road. Officials say
a hazardous materials crew found high concentrations of gasoline vapors in front
of a nearby gas station.

Fire officials say the hazmat crew is working with
county and state officials to locate the source of the vapor. Authorities say
it's unclear whether the nearby gas station may have contributed to the
concentration of gas vapors.

Buford Highway is closed while authorities
investigate the source of the vapors. No evacuations or injuries have been
reported.

---------------------------------------------

VIDEO: WINNIPEG
COMPANY SETTLES OVER 2012 RACING FUEL EXPLOSION
Tags: Canada, transportation,
follow-up, response, unknown_chemical

Winnipeg-based racing fuel manufacturer
Speedway International has reached an agreement to pay $30,000 to cover costs
resulting from the 2012 explosion of a rail car that stored combustible
chemicals.

Nobody was injured in the October 2012 spontaneous combustion,
which according to local reports, caused widespread evacuations and an estimated
$15 million in damage.

The fuel facility was razed in the fire, which the
defence called "an act of God," and "accidental".

A judge has agreed that the
company will pay almost $5,000 in fines - along with $25,000 to cover
firefighting costs.

---------------------------------------------

GAS
VAPOR EYED AS FACTOR IN WEST VIRGINIA OIL TRAIN FIREBALL - NATION - BANGOR DAILY
NEWS - BDN MAINE
Tags: us_WV, transportation, follow-up, response,
petroleum

WASHINGTON - Federal investigators will examine whether pressurized
gas played a role in the massive blast that followed the derailment of a train
carrying crude oil through West Virginia this week, the U.S. Transportation
Department said on Thursday.

Questioning the possible role of gas vapors in
the West Virginia fire broadens the debate over how to ensure public safety at a
time when drastically larger volumes of crude oil are being shipped by rail and
roll through cities and towns.

At least two dozen oil tankers jumped a CSX
Corp. track about 30 miles south of the state capital, Charleston, on Monday,
touching off a fireball that sent flames hundreds of feet into the sky.

The
U.S. Transportation Department said it has an investigator at the site to take
samples of crude once the wreckage stops burning.

"We will measure vapor
pressure in the tank cars that derailed in West Virginia," department
spokeswoman Suzanne Emmerling said.

Some experts say the nature of the
explosion, which saw a dense cloud of smoke and flame soaring upwards, could be
explained by the presence of highly pressurized gas trapped in crude oil moving
in the rail cars.

---------------------------------------------

BOUDIN
BAKERY ON SF'S FISHERMAN'S WHARF EVACUATED FOR WHAT ENDED UP BEING PEPPER
SPRAY
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, pepper_spray

SAN FRANCISCO
(KCBS)- The San Francisco Fire Department evacuated Boudin Bakery in response to
what they thought was a possible hazardous materials situation at Fisherman's
Wharf Friday morning, but turned out to be pepper spray.
San Francisco Fire
Department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge said it happened around at 10:20 a.m. at
the restaurant on Jefferson Street.
She said people were coughing in the
Bakery, so crews decided to evacuate it.
"Somebody actually discharged pepper
spray in the establishment." Talmadge said. It wasn't clear who discharged the
substance, but 11 people were treated on scene and refused transport to the
hospital.
When it initially occurred, a hazmat team brought in CGI monitors to
see if anything registered, according to
Talmadge.

---------------------------------------------

WINNEMUCCA JUNIOR
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, STAFF DECONTAMINATED AFT
Tags: us_NV, education, release,
injury, mercury

Winnemucca Junior High School students are in the process of
being decontaminated after a student brought a salt shaker filled with mercury
to school Thursday morning.

Emergency responders were initially dispatched on
the report of a mercury spill. They subsequently learned the container of
mercury was passed around among some of the students and may have been spilled
in some locations.

Having consulted with HAZMAT experts, and facing the
possibility the students may have carried the mercury on their hands and clothes
throughout the school, the decision was made to decontaminate all the students.
As part of that process, the shoes of all the students were collected and will
be destroyed. 

The decontamination process was conducted by Humboldt General
Hospital - EMS, who are responsible for HAZMAT responses in Humboldt County,
along with the fire departments.

The student who brought the mercury to
school and the 10-15 students who may have had contact with the mercury were
transported to Humboldt General Hospital as a precaution. 

Emergency
responders subsequently learned the container of mercury may also have been
passed around on the bus with students from three other schools. Those schools
(Lowry High School, Winnemucca Grammar School, and French Ford Middle School)
were instructed to shelter-in-place until cleared. The schools were ultimately
cleared and the students were allowed to go home.


---------------------------------------------

CHEMICAL SPILL AT BRURIAH
OPENS NEW SECURITY PERSPECTIVES
Tags: us_NJ, education, release, injury,
cleaners, sulfuric_acid

Elizabeth-The JEC's Bruriah High School for Girls was
evacuated last Thursday when a maintenance worker accidentally spilled sulfuric
acid/drain cleaner in his workroom. As ambulances and fire crews filled the
street in front of the school, the students were evacuated to the JEC=E2=80™s shul,
Adath Israel, one block away, where they spent a few hours waiting for the spill
to be cleaned up and the area to be declared safe.

"Who would have thought
that spilling some liquid drain opener would lead to the evacuation of an entire
school building? But the reality of what happened at Bruriah has been the
catalyst for an overview of many of our procedures, from cataloging and
disposing of cleaning products to the uses of such substances in intentional
ways to harm people," said Rabbi Eliyahu Teitz, Associate Dean of Bruriah High
School.

Some girls broke out in a kumsitz (sing along-the literal translation
from the Yiddish means "come and sit"). Then someone came in and said whoever
doesn't feel good should go to the nurse.

"My head was hurting, and they told
us that whoever has asthma should go. Hatzalah came to treat about 30 girls..
They went down to get evaluated and some of them went to the hospital and then
the buses came."

---------------------------------------------

CHS
REBUILDING WAREHOUSE AFTER FIRE
Tags: us_SD, industrial, follow-up,
environmental, pesticides

Mitchell's CHS Farmers Alliance plans to start
rebuilding its chemical storage warehouse in the next couple of weeks.

The
former warehouse burned in an early-morning November fire that blanketed the
town in a putrid smell. CHS General Manager Jim Morken said Thursday the
estimated losses from the fire will total more than $2 million.

He explained
the warehouse will be built on the same site as the previous building. The same
foundation will be used.

"We'll be using the same design for this building,
but it will be 4 feet longer and 4 feet wider, so the poles to support the
building can be outside the existing concrete," Morken said.

When the
building burned, the containers inside melted. The chemicals -- mostly crop
herbicide -- leaked onto the concrete pad and were held in by a 6-inch high berm
designed to hold in the chemicals from leaking out.

"We were very glad that
berm worked the way it was designed to," Morken said.

Morken said there was
about 25,000 gallons of chemicals that spilled from containers during the
fire.

Mitchell Fire Marshal Marius Laursen complimented CHS on the design of
the building.

---------------------------------------------




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