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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 (10 articles)
Date: Wed, 27 May 2015 07:36:55 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: D518133E-F5DB-4321-B6C7-06576B97D63F**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, May 27, 2015 at 7:36:37 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 (10 articles)
WORKER HOSPITALIZED FOR MONITORING AFTER 3M CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_MN, industrial, release, injury, nitric_acid
FIRE AT MONOVIKAS KENDRA, NONE INJURED
Tags: India, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
MASSIVE FIRE GUTS AJMAN FOAM FACTORY
Tags: United_Arab_Emirates, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
TEXAS LEGISLATURE PASSED AMMONIUM NITRATE REGULATIONS
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, environmental, ag_chems, ammonium_nitrate
INDUSTRY BODY ACCUSED OVER LINKS TO DISCREDITED US FIRE SAFETY GROUP
Tags: industrial, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
CHEMICAL FUMES FORCE EVACUATION OF GLENDALE APARTMENTS
Tags: us_AZ, public, release, injury, cleaners
FOUR FAMILIES EVACUATED AFTER AMMONIA GAS LEAK
Tags: Malaysia, public, release, response, ammonia
CHEMICAL SCARE AT STOUGHTON HOUSING AUTHORITY BUILDING
Tags: us_MA, public, release, response, irritant
CALIFORNIA MOVING TO CHANGE ITS CHEMICAL WARNING LABELS
Tags: us_CA, public, discovery, environmental, ag_chems, drugs, dye, pesticides, solvent
MINOR FIRE BREAKS OUT AT JADAVPUR UNIVERSITY
Tags: India, laboratory, fire, response, pharmaceutical
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WORKER HOSPITALIZED FOR MONITORING AFTER 3M CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_MN, industrial, release, injury, nitric_acid
COTTAGE GROVE, Minn‰??A 3M employee was hospitalized for monitoring after a chemical leak Tuesday at the company‰??s Cottage Grove plant.
A 30-percent solution of nitric acid leaked from a container in a manufacturing building, 3M spokeswoman Donna Fleming Runyon said.
Employees noticed the leak around 6:50 a.m. and reported it. Cottage Grove and Woodbury emergency crews responded to provide assistance, but Fleming Runyon said the company‰??s on-site emergency team contained the leak.
The liquid was cleaned up and vapors from the nitric acid were captured by water before they were released from the facility, Fleming Runyon said. Based on the company‰??s conservative estimates, 3M believes there is no health risk to the community, she said.
Two male employees were exposed to the chemical and one was transported to Regions Hospital in St. Paul, according to the report received by Cottage Grove police.
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FIRE AT MONOVIKAS KENDRA, NONE INJURED
Tags: India, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
A major fire broke out at Monovikas Kendra, Rehabilitation and Research Institute for The Handicapped, located on EM Bypass on Tuesday.
Fire was reported at 3.30 pm from a bio-medical research lab on the second floor of the four-storeyed building.
Though the institute, which has around 500 students and 150 faculty members, was closed for summer vacation, sources said there were around 10 students, 10 researchers and two senior scientists at the time of the incident.
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MASSIVE FIRE GUTS AJMAN FOAM FACTORY
Tags: United_Arab_Emirates, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
Ajman: A fire broke out at a foam factory in Ajman‰??s Al Jurf area early on Tuesday.
No injuries were reported in the blaze that left the factory severely damaged.
Ajman Civil Defence managed to bring the fire under control within 20 minutes, Colonel Nasser Rashid Al Ziri, director of media and public relations at Ajman Civil Defence, said.
A rescue team evacuated the factory and nearby buildings to ensure workers‰?? safety.
Police patrols closed roads leading to the factory so firefighters and ambulances could reach the area quickly.
The factory manufactured and stored materials such as wood and foam.
Ajman Civil Defence is continuing to monitor the area that houses foam warehouses.
The site of the fire will be handed over to the forensic laboratory to determine the cause of the fire.
---------------------------------------------
TEXAS LEGISLATURE PASSED AMMONIUM NITRATE REGULATIONS
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, environmental, ag_chems, ammonium_nitrate
The Texas legislature has finally passed legislation for new regulations pertaining to the storage and handling of ammonium nitrate, which was the source of the 2013 explosion at the West, Texas, fertilizer facility that killed 15 people.
The legislation went to Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature to become law the end of last week.
‰??What we‰??ve done in the bill were the right steps to swing the pendulum to the middle,‰?? said State Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) in describing the balance between protecting health and safety and keeping minimal regulation, as reported by the Dallas Morning News. Birdwell contends that the changes will not be burdensome to business.
The legislation attempts to clarify and redefine regulatory procedures and processes, according to additional reports from Texas. The inspection of facilities by the state and local fire marshals, who will have the power of citing facility owners for code violations, is included in the legislation. Reports on chemical storage will now go to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality instead of the Department of State Health Services, and copies must be shared with local fire departments.
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INDUSTRY BODY ACCUSED OVER LINKS TO DISCREDITED US FIRE SAFETY GROUP
Tags: industrial, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
Explosive allegations levelled at the American Chemistry Council (ACC) by a former industry insider are exposing frictions underlying the science and policy of flame retardants.
Before it was discredited and disbanded in the summer of 2013, the Citizens for Fire Safety Institute (CFFSI) purported to be a non-profit coalition of fire professionals, burn centres, doctors, fire departments and industry leaders advocating for the highest fire safety standards. But when the organisation was exposed as primarily a front group for the chemical industry, and flame retardant manufacturers in particular, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) immediately distanced itself and said neither its staff nor its resources were used to support the organisation‰??s activities.
But now the ACC‰??s story is being challenged by Grant Gillham, a consultant who was hired to develop a national public relations campaign promoting flame retardants through the CFFSI. Gillham says he had a six-year relationship with the ACC and three of its members who manufacture flame retardants ‰?? Albemarle, Chemtura and Israeli Chemical Corporation ‰?? that began in 2007. Together, he says, they set up the institute as a non-profit whose role was to advocate for the use of flame retardants in furniture, home goods and building materials. At all times, he says, the institute coordinated closely with the ACC‰??s senior staff and legal counsel.
Over its five years of operation, the CFFSI‰??s advocacy campaign defeated 58 of 60 separate piece of legislation that addressed flame retardants in 21 states, according to Gillham.
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CHEMICAL FUMES FORCE EVACUATION OF GLENDALE APARTMENTS
Tags: us_AZ, public, release, injury, cleaners
Chemical fumes that resulted from a mixture of two cleaning products caused a Glendale apartment complex to be evacuated Tuesday night, according to officials.
Emergency crews received a call around 7:15 p.m. that a woman in the complex was having trouble breathing after inhaling fumes from two cleaning products that she mixed while cleaning her bathroom, said Glendale Fire Battalion Chief Linda Rider.
When crews arrived on the scene, they evacuated all residents from the apartment complex near 67th Avenue and Bethany Home Road as a precaution, and a hazardous materials team checked the area to ensure the fumes were not endangering others, Rider said.
The woman was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure, Rider said, but residents were allowed to return to their apartments by 8 p.m. once the team determined the fumes didn't pose any further risk.
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FOUR FAMILIES EVACUATED AFTER AMMONIA GAS LEAK
Tags: Malaysia, public, release, response, ammonia
KUALA LUMPUR MAY 27, 2015:
four families, comprising 15 people, were evacuated from their homes due to an ammonia gas leak from an abandoned ice factory in Perak, yesterday, Berita Harian reported.
The incident which happened around 3pm yesterday, saw the Hazardous Materials (Hazmat) team of the Perak Fire and Rescue Department patch up the leaking pipes till 1.25am, this morning, according to the Malay daily.
‰??We received few calls and reports regarding the incident around 3.08pm yesterday before rushing to the location,‰?? said Pasir Putih Hazmat operations commander Shazlein Mohd Hanafiah.
Shazlein said the leaks occurred after the industrial cleaning contractors disposed all the rusted pipes that were left unused.
‰??We managed to contain the leaking pipes and everything is stable now,‰?? Berita Harian quoted him as saying.
Shazlein also revealed the residents in Jalan Pelantar, Pantai Remis were given an evacuation notice prior to the incident.
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CHEMICAL SCARE AT STOUGHTON HOUSING AUTHORITY BUILDING
Tags: us_MA, public, release, response, irritant
STOUGHTON ‰?? Local firefighters and a state hazardous materials response team are working to identify an irritant inside a public housing building.
Maintenance workers at the Stoughton Housing Authority‰??s Capen Street building discovered an irritant likely inside a wall on Tuesday morning.
The men opened the wall to do work inside a vacant apartment when they became irritated.
‰??It overcame a couple of the workers,‰?? said fire Capt. Jim Bertram. ‰??They started choking. They were running some wires through.‰??
The Department of Fire Services‰?? Hazardous Materials Response team also responded to the Tier 1 hazardous materials response.
Firefighters from Stoughton and Sharon entered the room in white HAZMAT suits to try to determine the substance.
‰??It‰??s odorless and sightless,‰?? said Deputy Fire Chief Gregory Goldberg.
The hazardous material was found in an apartment on the first floor. No one was living in that apartment or the ones surrounding or above it.
The building did not need to be evacuated, but plans were in place to take residents to the Council on Aging if needed.
---------------------------------------------
CALIFORNIA MOVING TO CHANGE ITS CHEMICAL WARNING LABELS
Tags: us_CA, public, discovery, environmental, ag_chems, drugs, dye, pesticides, solvent
The California Safe Drinking Water & Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, as Prop 65 is more formally known, requires businesses to give people ‰??clear and reasonable warning‰?? before they expose them to any chemical known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. About 850 chemicals, including ingredients in pesticides, household products, foods, drugs, dyes, and solvents, are subject to the law.
The overwarning problem arose because manufacturers often slap Prop 65 warning labels on their products as a way to avoid lawsuits. Indeed, some plaintiffs‰?? lawyers troll for products or places in California that lack Prop 65 warning labels and then file suit for alleged noncompliance. In other words, manufacturers and business owners are getting sued and the plaintiffs‰?? lawyers are getting rich, Gorsen says.
Given this situation, nearly everyone agrees that Prop 65 is in need of an overhaul to reduce lawsuits and overwarning. But there is little agreement on how, exactly, to fix the law. The chemical industry, environmental groups, and state officials all have varying, sometimes contradictory ideas about what to do. California‰??s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) earlier this year released a proposal for sweeping changes to Prop 65 warning labels. The agency says it is on track to finalize the modifications by the end of 2015.
The proposed changes, the agency says, would reduce litigation and consumer confusion. Chemical manufacturers and some consumer advocates say just the opposite would happen. They and many other groups are urging the agency to withdraw the proposed rule or make significant revisions.
---------------------------------------------
MINOR FIRE BREAKS OUT AT JADAVPUR UNIVERSITY
Tags: India, laboratory, fire, response, pharmaceutical
A minor fire broke out at the Jadavpur University‰??s pharmaceutical laboratory on Monday evening at around 5pm.
As many as five fire tenders were rushed to the spot besides other officials of the West Bengal Fire Services Department to douse the fire.
Within half an hour, the officials of the fire services department brought the fire under control. While the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, a section of the pharmaceutical laboratory got gutted in the incident.
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