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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: Fri, 20 Mar 2015 08:25:07 -0600
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: 1003DEA0-D836-441A-B804-67E2625F1F16**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, March 20, 2015 at 8:24:51 AM
A membership benefit 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)
SUBSTANCE THAT CAUSED HAZMAT SITUATION NOT IDENTIFIED
Tags: us_NC, public, release, injury, sodium_hydroxide
SAFETY EXPERTS SLAM LAX SAFETY PRACTICES AT CDC LABS
Tags: laboratory, follow-up, environmental, unknown_chemical
LAB CREWS AT BACKUS HOSPITAL BRIEFLY EVACUATED BECAUSE OF CHEMICAL REACTION
Tags: us_CT, laboratory, release, response, bleach, methanol, waste
CHEMICAL ODOR SICKENS SEVERAL IN MITCHELL, IL PLANT
Tags: us_IL, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
OFFICIALS MAKE DECISION ON PAULSBORO HIGH SCHOOL OPENING AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK AT PBF REFINERY
Tags: us_NJ, education, follow-up, environmental, carbon_dioxide
OFFICIALS THINK BOARD FOOT FIRE WAS ‰??SPONTANEOUS‰??
Tags: us_KS, public, fire, response, unknown_chemical
CHEMICAL SICKENS 12 AT LOCAL WAREHOUSE HAZMAT TEAM CALLED IN TO IDENTIFY SOURCE OF BREATHING PROBLEMS
Tags: us_IL, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical
FORT ERIE CHEMICAL CLEANUP WILL TAKE TWO MORE WEEKS TO COMPLETE
Tags: Canada, public, release, environmental, acetone, toluene
CHEMICAL REACTION TRIGGERS EVACUATION AT AKZONOBEL
Tags: us_VA, industrial, release, response, paints
METH PRODUCTION MAY BE ON DECLINE
Tags: us_OH, public, follow-up, environmental, meth_lab
SPILLED PAINT THINNER PROMPTS HAZMAT RESPONSE IN TRUMBULL
Tags: us_CT, industrial, release, response, gasoline, solvent
9 TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL ON NAVY SUBMARINE
Tags: us_CT, industrial, release, response, other_chemical
PETROLEUM VAPOR CLOSES PAULSBORO SCHOOL
Tags: us_NJ, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical
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SUBSTANCE THAT CAUSED HAZMAT SITUATION NOT IDENTIFIED
Tags: us_NC, public, release, injury, sodium_hydroxide
MATTHEWS, N.C. ‰?? Investigators haven‰??t said if they‰??ve been able to identify a substance a woman said she was exposed to while inside a home in Indian Trail.
Police, fire and hazmat were called to Novant‰??s Matthews Medical Center in Matthews Thursday after the woman went to the emergency room and complained her eyes and skin were burning. Investigators said shortly after, two nurses who were treating the woman also developed similar symptoms. All three people were decontaminated.
IMAGES: Crews respond to hazmat situation at Novant Health in Matthews
The woman, who identified herself as a private inspector for a mortgage company, told investigators she was inside a house on Bridle Trail when she came in contact with the white powdery substance. The house is vacant and owned by a bank.
Police, fire and hazmat responded to the house. Investigators said they originally thought the substance was lye, a strongly alkaline solution used for washing or cleansing. Crews left after determining there was no threat to the public and a private hazmat team was called in to do further testing and cleaning.
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SAFETY EXPERTS SLAM LAX SAFETY PRACTICES AT CDC LABS
Tags: laboratory, follow-up, environmental, unknown_chemical
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recently had lab mishaps involving some of the world's most dangerous pathogens, does "inadequate" training, lacks leadership commitment toward safety and has a significant percentage of staff who are afraid to report accidents, according to the agency's own safety advisers.
"We are very concerned that the CDC is on the way to losing credibility," wrote the group of external biosafety experts, appointed by the agency as advisers in the wake of high-profile accidents with anthrax and bird flu last year. "The CDC must not see itself as 'special'. The internal controls and rules that the rest of the world works under also apply to CDC."
The CDC quietly posted the experts' report on its website this week. It is dated Jan. 13 ‰?? six months after CDC Director Tom Frieden testified before Congress that he'd taken significant steps to address safety issues. The Atlanta-based agency's high-security labs do wide-ranging public health experiments, including work with the Ebola virus to help combat the ongoing outbreaks in Africa, studies of deadly strains of influenza to help make better vaccines and examinations of anthrax to create better detection methods for bioterror agents.
"CDC concurs with these recommendations, has made progress towards implementing them, and will soon report on that progress," according to text posted with the report on the webpage.
"It's critical that we continue to solicit feedback on how we can improve our operations, especially functions as critical as lab safety," CDC's chief operating officer Sherri Berger, said Wednesday, noting that many actions are already underway to address the committee's recommendations.
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LAB CREWS AT BACKUS HOSPITAL BRIEFLY EVACUATED BECAUSE OF CHEMICAL REACTION
Tags: us_CT, laboratory, release, response, bleach, methanol, waste
Norwich ‰?? Employees in a lab at The William W. Backus Hospital were briefly evacuated Thursday as fire crews responded to reports of bleach mixing with methanol and causing a chemical reaction.
Yantic Fire Chief Frank Blanchard said firefighters contained the mixed chemicals and packed them into a sealed drum. The drum was removed from the hospital for disposal by a contractor.
Hospital spokesman Shawn Mawhiney said there were no injuries and no impact on patients. The first-floor laboratory is not in a patient care area, he said. Employees were evacuated out of their work space and into other parts of the building, he said.
Employees were let back in about an hour later.
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CHEMICAL ODOR SICKENS SEVERAL IN MITCHELL, IL PLANT
Tags: us_IL, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
MADISON COUNTY, IL (KTVI) ‰?? Hazmat crews are working in a chemical spill in Mitchell, Illinois. The incident occurred the Menasha Packaging Company. There are several patients being treated.
Assistant Chief Chris Modrusic of the Pontoon Beach Police department says that they are not sure what caused people to get sick. He thinks it could be from exhaust from a truck unloading pallets at the plant. The truck was carrying a load of laminate paper that was just printed. The ink had not been cured and was emitting a smell similar to ether. The truck is currently being inspected.
Three people were taken to the hospital. Two were taken to Gateway, one to Anderson. Five people refused treatment. Most patients were treated for asthma-like symptoms. Two had seizures. One of those people has a prior history of seizures.
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OFFICIALS MAKE DECISION ON PAULSBORO HIGH SCHOOL OPENING AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK AT PBF REFINERY
Tags: us_NJ, education, follow-up, environmental, carbon_dioxide
PAULSBORO -- Following Wednesday's chemical leak at the nearby PBF Refinery, Paulsboro High School will open for school at its regularly scheduled time on Thursday, fire Chief Alfonso Giampola said.
The chief said he, county HAZMAT crews, state Department of Environmental Protection and Environmental Protection Agency workers along with with refinery officials came to a consensus that that parts per million (ppm) readings at the school were at acceptable levels.
Readings on Wednesday showed 3 to 5 ppm readings on the 2nd and 3rd floor of the junior high school wing, which were "concerning levels," Giampola said.
Ventilation systems were run during the overnight hours to help clear out any remaining fumes inside the building, Giampola said, and nothing else of concern was found throughout the school.
Readings early Thursday had taken a sharp drop to around .03 to .05, Giampola said, adding that something as small a banana peel in a trash can will give you a reading due to the carbon dioxide coming off it.
Mark Wilgus, a spokesman for PBF Refinery, said the facility is planning for normal operations on Thursday, Tests were also done at the Billingsport and Loudenslager elementary schools, where test levels were "void of any readings," Wilgus said.
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OFFICIALS THINK BOARD FOOT FIRE WAS ‰??SPONTANEOUS‰??
Tags: us_KS, public, fire, response, unknown_chemical
A pile of chemical-soaked rags spontaneously combusted, causing a fire on the inside of a hardware shop on Main Street early Thursday morning, Hutchinson Fire Chief Kim Forbes said.
Hutchinson Fire Department Blue Crew, led by Battalion Chief Darin Gehring, responded to The Board Foot Hardwood and Hardware, 921 S. Main St., at 3:03 a.m. Thursday. Forbes said firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke bellowing from the rear of the business, but there were no visible flames.
Firefighters forced their way in through an overhead garage door, but Forbes said the cloud of dark smoke limited visibility. Firefighters then found a fire towards the middle of the building.
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CHEMICAL SICKENS 12 AT LOCAL WAREHOUSE HAZMAT TEAM CALLED IN TO IDENTIFY SOURCE OF BREATHING PROBLEMS
Tags: us_IL, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical
EDWARDSVILLE ‰?? A chemical sprayed on some mechanical parts in the back of a tractor trailer caused 12 people to require EMS services at an Edwardsville warehouse Thursday.
The Mitchell Fire Department was called to Menasha Packaging, 9 E. Gateway Commerce Center Drive in Edwardsville, at 9:17 a.m. Thursday for an individual having trouble breathing. Before a crew could be dispatched, though, Mitchell Fire Chief Eddie Lee said the warehouse called back and requested a pumper truck come out for a HAZMAT incident.
The respiratory issue was believed to have something to do with a skid unit unloaded at the warehouse shortly before the incident, but it was actually a chemical sprayed on some mechanical parts being transported in the same trailer that caused the issues, Lee said.
‰??They thought it was coming from that skid, but it was coming from another product which was in the truck,‰?? Lee said. ‰??The Madison County HAZMAT Team boarded the truck and determined that it was a chemical that they sprayed on some parts that they were transporting.‰??
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FORT ERIE CHEMICAL CLEANUP WILL TAKE TWO MORE WEEKS TO COMPLETE
Tags: Canada, public, release, environmental, acetone, toluene
FORT ERIE, Ont. ‰?? The private hazardous materials company hired by regional authorities will be working for about the next two weeks to clean up a chemical spill on Helena Street, Fort Erie Fire Chief Larry Coplen said Wednesday night.
Though the spill has forced the closing of Helena between Garrison Road and Albany Street, the basically rural nature of that part of the town has not caused great problems for the few nearby residents who have been allowed to remain in their homes and have no problem driving out of the area, officials said.
The acetone and toluene that spilled out of a building at 833 Helena over a week ago remained under investigation by town officials. The chemicals are not believed to pose any immediate health problems to residents but is not to be touched without protective clothing, officials said. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment is in charge of the cleanup operations.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL REACTION TRIGGERS EVACUATION AT AKZONOBEL
Tags: us_VA, industrial, release, response, paints
Roanoke Fire-EMS officials are investigating a chemical reaction at the AkzoNobel plant that prompted an evacuation Wednesday afternoon, officials said.
Roanoke Fire-EMS spokeswoman Tiffany Bradbury said in a news release that a chemical contained in a drum started smoking around 12:45 p.m. at an auxiliary building in the 2800 block of Roanoke Avenue. The company manufactures wood coatings for kitchen and bath cabinets.
Three employees worked in that building, but the fire alarm triggered an evacuation for all production workers, said company site manager Russell Huff in an email. Huff said no one was injured and there were no reports of environmental releases.
Though residents near the business might have been able to smell fumes, Bradbury said the chemical is not toxic.
Huff said the drum contained material used to make coatings, and it exceeded optimum temperature. What exactly the chemical is hasn't been released.
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METH PRODUCTION MAY BE ON DECLINE
Tags: us_OH, public, follow-up, environmental, meth_lab
CHILLICOTHE ‰?? Despite a pair of Tuesday arrests in Pike County connected to a suspected methamphetamine laboratory, meth activity across the area appears to be trending downward.
According to Capt. Kevin Teeters, of the Chillicothe Police Department, the city has dealt with far fewer calls of suspicious chemical smells consistent with methamphetamine manufacturing than in recent years.
"Every once in a while, we get a report of places that smell like a meth lab," Teeters said. "But we just don't get the calls like we did years ago."
In October, during a discussion of a relatively new city law that holds property owners responsible to pay for the cost of cleanup of meth labs on their property, Chillicothe Fire Chief Jeff Creed pointed out that the city had not responded to any calls for meth lab cleanup over at least the previous six months.
The change is a classic good news, bad news situation. Teeters said the resurgence of heroin as the drug of choice locally has been a primary reason for the decrease in methamphetamine production.
With regard to the Pike County situation, two people were arrested on charges of operating a suspected methamphetamine laboratory Tuesday morning after Pike County Sheriff's Office deputies were dispatched to a home in reference to a noise complaint.
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SPILLED PAINT THINNER PROMPTS HAZMAT RESPONSE IN TRUMBULL
Tags: us_CT, industrial, release, response, gasoline, solvent
Firefighters in Trumbull were called to a loading dock at Kennedy Industries on Lindeman Drive on Wednesday afternoon after spilled paint thinner mixed with gasoline residue and created fumes, according to the fire department.
Officials with the Trumbull fire department said the fumes created a vapor that traveled into the ventilation system of the building at 39 Lindeman Drive. Firefighters responded to the scene around 1 p.m..
No one was hurt, and fire officials said crews ventilated the building within half an hour.
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9 TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL ON NAVY SUBMARINE
Tags: us_CT, industrial, release, response, other_chemical
GROTON, Conn. (AP) ‰?? Officials say nine people were taken to a hospital as a precaution after a chemical spill during routine maintenance aboard a submarine at Connecticut's Navy base.
The Groton base commander, Capt. Carl Lahti, says the potassium hydroxide spill Wednesday was contained to the submarine. He says no injuries were reported.
Atlantic fleet spokesman Cmdr. Tommy Crosby says about a gallon of the chemical spilled aboard the USS Annapolis. He says eight sailors and a fireman were taken to a hospital as a precaution.
Lawrence & Memorial Hospital spokesman Michael O'Farrell in New London says the patients were released after being evaluated for respiratory and skin irritation.
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PETROLEUM VAPOR CLOSES PAULSBORO SCHOOL
Tags: us_NJ, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical
More than a dozen students and two teachers at Paulsboro High School were taken to a nearby hospital Wednesday after they were overcome by fumes in the building.
Officials believe the fumes were caused by a neighboring refinery that has been dealing with odor issues this week.
Paulsboro police say 16 students and the two teachers were being treated, but their issues were not believed to be serious.
The high school closed early.
"What was done today was more of a precaution," Paulsboro police chief Chris Wachter said. "The last two days there were odors coming from one of the refineries, which had a seal on a storage tank that ruptured, which allowed odor from the tank to escape.
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