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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 (12 articles)
Date: Mon, 11 May 2015 07:36:43 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: 841FA9D9-7217-433F-A7D9-9284C8908ED0**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, May 11, 2015 at 7:36:25 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 (12 articles)
FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION SEEKS SAFETY DATA ON SKIN SANITIZERS
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental
PRACTICE REAL TO PERFORM REAL
Tags: industrial, discovery, response
HAZMAT TEAM DETECTS STRONG ODOR BELIEVED TO BE GAS AT SITE OF NY FUEL TANK BLAST THAT KILLED 2
Tags: us_NY, public, follow-up, death, gasoline
ARIZONA CHEMICAL COMPANY CATCHES FIRE
Tags: us_FL, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
TEACHER DIES IN UNIVERSITY LABORATORY BLAZE
Tags: Cambodia, laboratory, explosion, death, flammables
GLOBAL TEXTILE GROUP REPORTS ON HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES PROGRESS
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental, formamide, solvent
CHEMICAL FACTORY FINED FOR TENGGER DESERT DUMPING
Tags: China, industrial, discovery, environmental, dye, waste
FIREFIGHTERS RECOVERING FROM HAMILTON HAZMAT SITUATION
Tags: us_NJ, public, fire, injury, chlorine
TWO UT BUILDINGS EVACUATED FOLLOWING HAZMAT SITUATION
Tags: us_OH, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
EDMONDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE BUILDING EVACUATED DUE TO ODOR
Tags: us_WA, education, release, response, unknown_chemical
2 WORKERS KILLED WHEN OIL TANK EXPLODES AT HOME NEAR WESTCHESTER SCHOOL: OFFICIAL
Tags: us_NY, public, explosion, death, unknown_chemical
HOLCOMB HIGH SCHOOL EVACUATED FOLLOWING CHEMICAL REACTION, FLASH FIRE
Tags: us_KS, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
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FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION SEEKS SAFETY DATA ON SKIN SANITIZERS
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental
Federal regulators are planning to reevaluate the safety of long-term daily exposure to skin sanitizers, such as hand washes and surgical hand scrubs, used by workers in hospitals and other health care settings.
FDA has no data suggesting that active ingredients in health care antiseptics are unsafe or ineffective. But the use of these products has skyrocketed since the agency first evaluated them in the 1970s.
‰??Today, health care professionals use antiseptic products much more frequently than they used to, in some cases up to 100 times a day,‰?? says Theresa M. Michele, director of nonprescription drug products in FDA‰??s Center for Drug Evaluation & Research. Emerging science suggests that exposure to some antiseptic active ingredients, such as alcohol and iodine, is higher in health care workers than previously thought, she says.
Because of the higher rates of exposure, FDA is proposing to require manufacturers of these products to provide additional safety data. The information would include the potential for active ingredients to be absorbed through the skin, cause hormonal effects, and contribute to antibiotic resistance.
The agency is not requiring manufacturers to remove any health care antiseptics from the market at this time, Michele emphasizes. ‰??FDA recommends that health care personnel continue to use these products, consistent with infection control guidelines while additional data are gathered,‰?? she says.
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PRACTICE REAL TO PERFORM REAL
Tags: industrial, discovery, response
Statement: Emergency responders practice real so they can perform real. Their ability to do this depends to some extent on how well the population they serve practices and performs, so practice-real-to-perform-real extends to us, too. In most cases, this is just a matter of respecting the exercises and events and maintaining a safe distance from them when they happen.
Discussion: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is fortunate to have a relatively small number of emergencies. Our best approach is to prevent them when we can and be appropriately prepared to respond and recover when they do occur. An emergency exercise is the only opportunity, outside of an actual event, to put preparations into action. LLNL conducts a number of emergency exercises each year, and we are fortunate that over 300 employees prepare to be ready to respond.
Unfortunately, some employees interrupt the Emergency Response Organization (ERO) and emergency responders during emergency exercises. A few examples are:
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HAZMAT TEAM DETECTS STRONG ODOR BELIEVED TO BE GAS AT SITE OF NY FUEL TANK BLAST THAT KILLED 2
Tags: us_NY, public, follow-up, death, gasoline
HASTINGS-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. ‰?? Police in a New York suburb say hazardous materials experts have detected what they believe is the smell of gasoline at the scene of a fuel tank explosion that killed two workers.
The workers had been digging up an underground tank in the backyard of a home in Hastings-on-Hudson on Thursday when the blast occurred. Such tanks are more commonly used for heating oil, which is less explosive than gasoline.
The blast sent the tank flying across the yard into the woods.
Police said Friday that when the Westchester County Hazardous Material Team reached the scene, it found the strong odor of "a substance believed to be gasoline."
Police identified the dead workers as 50-year-old Mora Segundo and 52-year-old Luis Jacho. Both are from Ossining.
---------------------------------------------
ARIZONA CHEMICAL COMPANY CATCHES FIRE
Tags: us_FL, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
PANAMA CITY -- It took several agencies to put out a fire near the Panama City Paper Mill this afternoon.
It happened about 4 p.m. at the Arizona Chemical Company.
Springfield, Bay County, Panama City and Callaway fire stations all responded to the fire.
But Arizona Chemical has its own fire brigade on site. They were attacking the fire before the other departments arrived to help.
Crews had the blaze put out in about 20 minutes.
The good news is no one was hurt.
---------------------------------------------
TEACHER DIES IN UNIVERSITY LABORATORY BLAZE
Tags: Cambodia, laboratory, explosion, death, flammables
A 34-year-old science teacher died from smoke inhalation Friday morning following an explosion inside a laboratory at the University of Health Sciences in Phnom Penh, officials said.
Lon Moniroth, bureau chief of the Phnom Penh municipal forensic police, said that the teacher, Huy Siep, is thought to have accidently caused the explosion by spraying a flammable gas inside the second-story classroom while preparing for a lesson.
‰??It was a can of flammable spray that started the fire. He came first to prepare the lab equipment for showing his students and was careless with using the equipment,‰?? Mr. Moniroth said.
‰??When the explosion erupted he tried to put out the fire and shouted for help but he lost his breath and went to sit on a chair and died,‰?? he added.
Oum Chantha, deputy chief of the municipal fire police, said the blaze started at about 6:20 a.m. but his firefighters could not extinguish it in time to save the victim.
‰??We used two trucks to put out the fire‰?|we saw the victim had died on a chair with burns to his body,‰?? he said.
A security guard at the university, Loek Ner, also attempted to save the victim from the flames but could not make his way through smoke emanating from the laboratory.
‰??I heard an explosion from the lab and heard the victim shouting ‰??help, help,‰??‰?? Mr. Ner said. ‰??We tried to save him from the room but it was very dark smoke and we couldn‰??t see anything,‰?? he added.
---------------------------------------------
GLOBAL TEXTILE GROUP REPORTS ON HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES PROGRESS
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental, formamide, solvent
Key achievements and plans towards improving the textile industry‰??s environmental performance have been set out in the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) group's latest annual report.
Last year, the group, which is made up of 21 major apparel and footwear brands, released a list of manufacturing restricted substances (MRSL). It also issued a framework for prioritising hazardous chemicals for elimination or substitution and a ‰??research list‰??- a list of prioritised chemicals for which alternatives do not exist and on which the group will focus its research efforts (CW 5 June 2014).
The latest report, covering 2014, says that by encouraging key stakeholders to develop alternatives to chemicals on the research list, the group hopes to move these substances more rapidly onto the MRSL so that they can be phased out of the supply chain.
Chemicals on the research list, for which safe limits are being sought, include ethylbenzene, methanol, phenol, 2-(2-methoxyethoxy)-ethanol and 2-methoxypropanol. Substances for which the group is seeking safer alternatives include dimethyl formamide (DMF), n,n-dimethylacetamide (DMAC) and toluene.
The group has started research on alternatives to short-chain perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), which members say are a replacement for long-chain PFCs, until a safer substitute is found. However, the group acknowledged this may take many years and, in a few cases, there may never be a suitable alternative.
Eleven chemical guidance sheets to support the MRSL have been issued on toluene, nonylphenol, nonylphenol ethoxylates, long-chain perfluoroalkyl acids, phthalates, halogenated solvents, organotins, short-chain chlorinated paraffins, chlorophenols, chlorinated benzenes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons/naphthalene. They are available in English, Hindi, Kannada, Urdu and simplified Chinese.
The group is developing an MRSL compliance framework to verify chemical formulations and a draft document is currently under review. There are also plans to update the MRSL to include limits for leather processing.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL FACTORY FINED FOR TENGGER DESERT DUMPING
Tags: China, industrial, discovery, environmental, dye, waste
A chemical factory and its legal representative in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region have been punished for dumping untreated waste in the Tengger Desert, according to state media reports.
According to the report, Mingsheng Dye Chemical has been fined over $US800,000, while the company‰??s legal representative was given an 18 month sentence with a two-year reprieve and a 50,000 yuan fine.
The company had already been shut down in September after it was discovered it had been illegally dumping industrial waste for the past 8 years, threatening the local groundwater supply.
The Tengger Desert is the fourth-largest desert in China, located in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and central Gansu province.
The decision follows the suspension of a chemical factory in the northwest Chinese province of Gansu in April. Ronghua Industry & Trade was fined around $US48 million and had its operations suspended after it was found illegally discharging waste water into the desert.
A number of top environmental officials were also suspended in the province after it was found they had failed to properly monitor the polluting companies.
China‰??s Ministry of Environmental Protection has stepped up its watchdog role of late, launching 73,000 investigations last year, an increase of 10.5 per cent on the previous year.
---------------------------------------------
FIREFIGHTERS RECOVERING FROM HAMILTON HAZMAT SITUATION
Tags: us_NJ, public, fire, injury, chlorine
HAMILTON TWP., N.J. (WPVI) -- Dozens of firefighters are still recovering after being sickened while battling a blaze in Hamilton Township.
On Wednesday afternoon on South Broad Street, a backyard fire raged, consuming two garages, a workshop and a shed.
....
A container of chlorine for homeowner Karin Weaver's pool was inside the shed where the fire was roaring.
She was on the way to Newark Airport when police called to tell her about the fire.
"He said 'when the firefighters hit it with the water the chlorine went into the air and now we have a hazmat situation,'" Weaver said.
The chlorine sickened some first responders.
In all, 45 firefighters, police officers, and EMTs were taken to area hospitals to be checked out.
Hamilton Fire Chief Tom Gribbin was admitted overnight with respiratory issues.
"Like a bad sore throat at first and then my chest just kind of felt like, not on fire, but it was a burning sensation in my chest," Gribbin said.
---------------------------------------------
TWO UT BUILDINGS EVACUATED FOLLOWING HAZMAT SITUATION
Tags: us_OH, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
TOLEDO ‰?? Two buildings on the University of Toledo campus have been evacuated following a report of a chemical reaction in a lab.
The two buildings evacuated are Wolfe Hall and Bowman-Oddy Laboratories. The chemical reaction is said to have occurred at 1:30 p.m. in the lab of the second floor of Wolfe Hall.
According to authorities, two students were cleaning cabinets when two chemicals mixed causing a reaction and a small fire. The fire was contained to one room and a vapor cloud developed.
The incident was reported to university police who decided to evacuate both buildings. It is not known how many students were in the buildings at the time. No injuries have been reported.
The university says Wolfe Hall will remain closed for the remainder of the day but scheduled to re-open Friday morning.
---------------------------------------------
EDMONDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE BUILDING EVACUATED DUE TO ODOR
Tags: us_WA, education, release, response, unknown_chemical
LYNNWOOD, Wash. - A building on the Edmonds Community College campus was evacuated Thursday morning due to a strong odor, fire officials said.
A hazmat team responded to the campus at around 6 a.m. after receiving reports that a noxious smell in Snohomish Hall was making people sick. Everyone was evacuated from the hall as hazmat responders began ventilating the building.
Two or three people told firefighters they experienced "symptoms" from the odor, but quickly recovered after getting outside in the fresh air.
A Lynnwood Fire Department spokesperson said the source of the smell was found to be a new chemical used by overnight workers.
---------------------------------------------
2 WORKERS KILLED WHEN OIL TANK EXPLODES AT HOME NEAR WESTCHESTER SCHOOL: OFFICIAL
Tags: us_NY, public, explosion, death, unknown_chemical
Two workers died when the oil tank they were digging up at a home not far from a school in Westchester exploded Thursday, according to officials.
It's not clear what caused the blast at the home at Hillside Avenue and School Street in Hastings-on-Hudson at about 11:30 a.m., the mayor of the town told NBC 4 New York.
Hastings on Hudson Police Chief Anthony Visalli said when the tank exploded, it sailed 75 feet into the air, killing both workers.
Neither the supervisor nor any of the home's tenants were hurt.
Django Morrison, who lives in the home near where the tank exploded, was outside with the two workers moments before the blast.
"They had just unburied it and were getting the excavator here, and the guy who was running it asked him to cut it open so they could clean it out and I decided at that point I was going inside because I didn't want to be around if anything went wrong. And 30 seconds later, there was a huge explosion," said Morrison.
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HOLCOMB HIGH SCHOOL EVACUATED FOLLOWING CHEMICAL REACTION, FLASH FIRE
Tags: us_KS, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
HOLCOMB ‰?? Holcomb High School students were evacuated for about an hour Thursday morning following a flash fire caused by a chemical reaction during a chemistry class.
No one was injured in the incident, which occurred at 10:20 a.m. in the science wing of the building.
HHS Principal Rob Schneeberger said the chemical reaction occurred while students were performing an experiment with a non-toxic chemical. Students and school staff used a fire extinguisher to immediately put out a small fire.
‰??The kids did a good job of putting the fire out,‰?? Schneeberger said.
Schneeberger said students and staff were evacuated to the football field bleachers and waited until getting permission from fire officials to re-enter the building.
‰??Students and staff did a great job of evacuating the building as per the drills we go through,‰?? he said.
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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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