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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 (11 articles)
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2015 07:35:59 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: CAF1A42C-B06B-4799-814E-69CBF220C9E8**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at 7:35:34 AM
A membership benefit of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
All article summaries and tags are archived at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__pinboard.in_u-3Adchas&d=BQIFaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=0qcDI9ORSjKQdL0e-OuSAJxoJZjRX5Ryo5XkCYihzPY&s=tWay1--6cx3UcCfcNDn0jPwCs1h4NfXPuqBRY9MD68E&e=
Table of Contents (11 articles)
NO ARRESTS AFTER EASTON HAZMAT INVESTIGATION
Tags: us_MA, public, discovery, response, bomb, meth_lab
1 HOSPITALIZED FOR CADMIUM EXPOSURE AT INDIANA COUNTY PLANT; NEARLY 20 DECONTAMINATED
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, injury, metals
CAMPERS DEAL WITH FAUX CHEMICAL EXPLOSION AT NCHS
Tags: us_ID, laboratory, discovery, environmental
OHIO CITY DETECTS LAKE ERIE TOXINS THAT LED TO 2014 CRISIS
Tags: us_OH, public, discovery, environmental, phosphorus, toxics
HAZMAT TEAM CALLED TO MERCURY EXPOSURE AT BAKERSFIELD MOTEL
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, mercury
UTHEALTH ALUMNUS INVESTIGATES HOW BIOSAFETY PROFESSIONALS ASSESS THE RISKS OF FIELD RESEARCH BIONEWS TEXAS
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, discovery, environmental
INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY IN CSX TRAIN CART LEAKING CHEMICAL COMPOUND IN SOUTH PHILLY
Tags: us_PA, transportation, release, injury, hydrogen_peroxide
MAPLE SYRUP LEAK BRINGS TRAFFIC DELAYS AT KEENE ROUNDABOUT
Tags: us_NH, transportation, release, response, other_chemical
CHEMICAL RESPONSE: GEORGETOWN (MA) FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO TRACTOR-TRAILER HAZMAT SPILL
Tags: us_MA, transportation, release, response, magnesium
RESIDENTS EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL SUE RAILROAD
Tags: us_TN, transportation, follow-up, response, toxics
RESIDENTS DISPLACED BY NORTH BRUNSWICK FIRE FINALLY RETURN HOME
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
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NO ARRESTS AFTER EASTON HAZMAT INVESTIGATION
Tags: us_MA, public, discovery, response, bomb, meth_lab
EASTON, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Police and other officials were on scene at an Easton home Tuesday for a hazmat investigation.
At about 1 p.m., an Easton officer saw a 29-year-old man walking on Summer Street, and says when the man saw him, the man threw his backpack into the woods.
"The officer turned around to investigate. During his investigation he was told by the subject that was walking that he had hazardous materials inside the backpack," Police Chief Gary Sullivan said.
The materials were determined to be those used to make methamphetamine, and are extremely dangerous, police say. They were not yet able to determine if he planned to sell it or use it himself.
A search warrant was then executed at a home on Pheasant Lane, where police say the man lived with his mother. A bomb squad and hazmat team wore protective clothing while searching the home for anything from household cleaners to over the counter drugs that could be used to make methamphetamine. The road had to be shut down temporarily due to the investigation.
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1 HOSPITALIZED FOR CADMIUM EXPOSURE AT INDIANA COUNTY PLANT; NEARLY 20 DECONTAMINATED
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, injury, metals
One person was admitted Tuesday to Indiana Regional Medical Center, and nearly 20 others were treated because they were exposed to cadmium at a metals and alloy plant, according to spokesman Mark Richards.
The Occupational Safety & Health Administration confirmed the incident occurred at Prime Metals & Alloys Inc. in Center. Multiple messages left with the company's chief operating officer were not returned.
Cadmium can be highly toxic, and exposure to the silvery white metal can cause cancer, according to OSHA. Inhalation exposure to high levels over a short period of time can result in flu-like symptoms and can damage the lungs. Chronic exposure to a low level over time can result in kidney, bone and lung disease, the OSHA website states.
The administration estimates that about 300,000 workers are exposed to the metal annually in the United States, mostly in the manufacturing and construction sectors.
The Indiana County hazardous materials team was dispatched to the hospital shortly after noon and helped to treat those exposed to the metal, along with the hospital staff, said John Pividori, deputy director in charge of operations.
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CAMPERS DEAL WITH FAUX CHEMICAL EXPLOSION AT NCHS
Tags: us_ID, laboratory, discovery, environmental
If you saw mass mayhem and destruction going on at Nampa Christian High School last week, don‰??t panic. It might happen again. You can blame the summer camp ReadyKamp.
Campers from Adams, Canyon, Gem and Owyhee counties attended the four-day camp that promotes citizen preparedness, and the activity I am referring to was Wednesday‰??s disaster exercise. Starting at noon, each of the 32 camp participants were challenged to apply the first-aid and emergency training they had been taught at camp ‰?? to deal with a faux chemical explosion in a chemistry lab at the school. Volunteer victims went through triage and were decontaminated, and First Responders and the 101st Civil Support Team was on hand to assist the campers.
Some of those volunteers wore make-up to make the wounds look real, so that‰??s where you may have come away with some trauma. But it‰??s OK, no worries, it all went off fine and there was a graduation ceremony that night.
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OHIO CITY DETECTS LAKE ERIE TOXINS THAT LED TO 2014 CRISIS
Tags: us_OH, public, discovery, environmental, phosphorus, toxics
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) ‰?? Toledo has detected the first signs in Lake Erie of the dangerous toxin that resulted in a water crisis last year that left 400,000 people in northwestern Ohio and southeastern Michigan without safe tap water for two days.
Toledo Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson and city officials announced late Monday that the intake mechanisms that draw Toledo's drinking water from Lake Erie detected a toxin that can cause liver and kidney damage, The Blade reported (https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__bit.ly_1MsT8Ef&d=BQIFaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=0qcDI9ORSjKQdL0e-OuSAJxoJZjRX5Ryo5XkCYihzPY&s=rx4SE1iitQ5HepSubHu8HOcHPuPGipqdxQeCObwKBYw&e= ">https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__bit.ly_1MsT8Ef&d=BQIFaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=0qcDI9ORSjKQdL0e-OuSAJxoJZjRX5Ryo5XkCYihzPY&s=rx4SE1iitQ5HepSubHu8HOcHPuPGipqdxQeCObwKBYw&e= ).
The mayor says the city's drinking water remains safe but she has updated the status of the water to a "Watch" category. The next stage, "Caution," means a toxin has been detected in tap water but the level isn't great enough to require an advisory.
A severe toxic algae outbreak on the lake's western end ‰?? where the toxin was recently detected ‰?? was forecast after heavy rains in June washed huge amounts of algae-feeding phosphorus into the lake.
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HAZMAT TEAM CALLED TO MERCURY EXPOSURE AT BAKERSFIELD MOTEL
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, mercury
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) -- Hazmat teams were called to a hotel on Wible Road Monday morning in response to a mercury exposure.
At least one room in the Ramada Limited motel was placed on lockdown because of a spill that started last week at another location and somehow made it past the quarantine.
Now officials say both locations are contaminated.
The first spill was at a rental home on Lincoln Avenue, where a woman lives with her teenage son.
‰??Not sure where they obtained this mercury, what the source is, or why they had it,‰?? said Donna Fenton of Kern County Environmental Health.
‰??The story that we have, to us, is that a teenager found a bottle of liquid mercury in a shed,‰?? said Battalion Chief Danny Brown of the Bakersfield Fire Department.
Both members of the family were exposed and then decontaminated.
They took a few blood tests and should be okay.
---------------------------------------------
UTHEALTH ALUMNUS INVESTIGATES HOW BIOSAFETY PROFESSIONALS ASSESS THE RISKS OF FIELD RESEARCH BIONEWS TEXAS
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, discovery, environmental
Recently, The University of Texas School of Public Health (UTSPH) Alumnist and current director of Environmental Health and Safety for The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), Dr. Scott Patlovich‰??s doctoral dissertation article was featured on the cover of Applied Biosafety, the peer-reviewed professional journal of the American Biological Safety Association ABSA.
Dr. Patlovich worked with his advisor Robert Emery, Dr.P.H., professor of occupational health and UTHealth vice president for safety, health, environment and risk management to investigate the safety deficits that put biosafety professionals working out in the field at an increased risk for injury, illness or even death.
The inspiration for the study came from his experience as a safety manager for the National University of Singapore, where he observed the inadequacies of established safety protocols that were being utilized by researchers collecting infectious disease agents outside the laboratory environment.
As Dr. Patlovich explains in a University press release about the study, ‰??Clearly there were a lot of issues related to field work that we weren‰??t considering. And I knew we weren‰??t the only ones. Other institutions have similar challenges assessing field safety, and many biosafety professionals are asked to review protocols involving areas of safety in which we aren‰??t traditionally trained.‰??
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INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY IN CSX TRAIN CART LEAKING CHEMICAL COMPOUND IN SOUTH PHILLY
Tags: us_PA, transportation, release, injury, hydrogen_peroxide
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) ‰?? Authorities say an investigation is underway regarding a CSX train cart that was leaking hydrogen peroxide in the Grays Ferry section of the city Monday morning.
Officials say the cause of the leak is unknown at this time.
One person was taken to the hospital prior to the arrival of first responders. No word on their condition.
Authorities say the leak did not prompt any evacuations, nor did it contaminate the water supply.
The water department is on the scene investigating.
Officials placed the incident under control at 10:49 a.m.
Authorities say this is not being investigated as a hazmat situation.
---------------------------------------------
MAPLE SYRUP LEAK BRINGS TRAFFIC DELAYS AT KEENE ROUNDABOUT
Tags: us_NH, transportation, release, response, other_chemical
Traffic was backed up onto Route 9 thanks to a truck leaking maple syrup in the area of Keene's Winchester Street-Route 101 roundabout.
About 75 gallons of syrup is believed to have leaked from the truck, according to a tweet from Southwestern N.H. District Fire
Mutual Aid. The freight truck was carrying 220 gallons, according to the driver, who declined to identify himself.
The driver said he was traveling between Alstead and Marlborough when N.H. Department of Transportation officials, who were driving in a truck behind him, flagged him down to alert him to the fact that his truck was leaking. He said he doesn't know what caused it.
The truck was blocking one lane of traffic entering the circle from the direction of Route 9, while officials attempted to sop up the syrup with an absorbent material.
The leak was evident down the length of the truck.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL RESPONSE: GEORGETOWN (MA) FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO TRACTOR-TRAILER HAZMAT SPILL
Tags: us_MA, transportation, release, response, magnesium
Firefighters with the Georgetown (MA) Fire Department successfully handled and decontaminated a section of the roadway after a tractor-trailer spilled suspected hazardous material on the ground last week, according to a release from the department.
Firefighters received a call of a possible hazardous materials incident on Norino Way, opposite the Longview Apartments, at 4:29 p.m. on Wednesday.
The operator of a tractor-trailer reported his liquid cargo had broken open and spilled magnesium hydroxide along Access Road from National Way to Norino Way. Georgetown Engine 5, Ambulance 11, Car 1, and Georgetown Police responded to the area.
At the scene, firefighters found a trail of white liquid stretching about a half-mile leading up to the truck. The entire back of the tractor-trailer, as well as the ground, were covered with the chemical.
Magnesium hydroxide, or milk of magnesia, is a water suspension that is used in medicine and in a number of industrial applications.
---------------------------------------------
RESIDENTS EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL SUE RAILROAD
Tags: us_TN, transportation, follow-up, response, toxics
Four residents of Maryville in Blount County, Tennessee, have filed a $5 million class action lawsuit against railroad CSX Transportation Inc., and Union Tank Car Co.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee in Knoxville, was filed by four residents who were evacuated from their homes when a train car carrying the toxic chemical acrylonitrile derailed after midnight on July 2 and caught fire.
When on fire, the combustion caused by acrylonitrile produces hydrogen cyanide gas, which can be rapidly fatal if inhaled, according to court documents.
Police went to the homes in the area and evacuated over 5,000 people within a two mile radius of the derailment. They were not allowed to return home until the evening of July 3.
The plaintiffs in the suit, Charles Tipton and Billy Tipton, both inhaled fumes and smoke from the accident. Both Tiptons and Travis and Elizabeth Pruett are filing on behalf of themselves and on behalf of others who were evacuated and suffered from the experience.
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RESIDENTS DISPLACED BY NORTH BRUNSWICK FIRE FINALLY RETURN HOME
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
NORTH BRUNSWICK ‰?? The residents who were displaced by an enormous warehouse fire in North Brunswick last week finally got to return home as of 2 p.m. Sunday.
Township police said they've had to stay elsewhere since early Wednesday morning as a safety measure. As many as 200 people had to be evacuated after the five-alarm fire at 1600 Livingston Ave.
Sunday afternoon, residents of the nearby Hearthwood condos began returning home, the last remaining evacuees, according to Lt. Gina Braconi.
PREVIOUSLY: North Brunswick warehouse fire evacuees endure Day 3 of 'horrible' smoke
One resident told MyCentralJersey.com that there was little sign of the billowing cloud of smoke that had lingered in the air for days.
"I'm impressed," Wilda Irizarry said, according to the report. "There's no soot and no smoke. Coming in, the house smelled wonderful."
The fire burned through automotive parts, as much as 500,000 pounds of plastic and home building supplies like linoleum and rugs. A chemical plume was a concern, state and federal officials said, but air monitoring showed that it posed no environmental hazard, instead drifting directly into the sky.
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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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