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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, January 11, 2016 at 7:54:24 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=wCm8leMljR8x2NN4uB0ivXxAEXd7UI99TFpcTSifQp8&s=F8CquQKkBgkdloIChZAMUM-mW-do-aaT1wvsy-CtpX0&e=
Table of Contents (15 articles)
CHEMICAL EMPLOYERS TO FACE TOUGHER WORKER SAFETY PENALTIES
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, illegal
FINDING NEW HOMES FOR OLD CHEMICALS
Tags: us_CO, public, discovery, environmental, waste
TETRAHYDROFURAN (THF) PEROXIDE TESTING SCHEDULE
Tags: laboratory, discovery, response, peroxide, tetrahydrofuran
CHINA CHEMICAL PLANT EXPLOSION: REPORTS OF FIRE, BLAST SEEN IN LENGSHUIJIANG
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, response, unknown_chemical
CHEMICAL PLANT SECURED FOR STATE INVESTIGATORS
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, follow-up, injury, other_chemical
'SMALL' CHEMICAL SPILL AT YORK COLLEGE POOL
Tags: us_PA, education, release, injury, hydrochloric_acid
HAPPY ACCIDENT LEADS TO FASTER SYNTHESIS
Tags: Netherlands, laboratory, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
MINOR CHLORINE LEAK IN INDUSTRY CAUSES HAZMAT RESPONSE
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, chlorine
TRUCK CARRYING HAZMAT MATERIALS OVERTURNS ON RICHARDSON HWY
Tags: us_AK, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical
MAN JUMPS OFF BUILDING, LANDS ON OXYGEN TANK AT ROOSEVELT HOSPITAL ON UPPER WEST SIDE
Tags: us_NY, public, release, response, liquid_oxygen
LEHIGH'S PACKARD LAB EVACUATED AFTER BOMB THREAT
Tags: us_PA, laboratory, discovery, environmental, bomb
FIRE MARSHAL: CHEMICAL EXPLOSION UNRELATED TO 2013 DEATH
Tags: us_MA, industrial, follow-up, injury, other_chemical
HOVERBOARDS BANNED AT MANY COLLEGES DUE TO CONCERNS ABOUT FIRES AND SAFETY
Tags: us_OH, education, follow-up, environmental, batteries
FDA TO BAN CANCER CAUSING CHEMICAL IN PIZZA BOXES
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
INVESTIGATORS HOPE TO GET FIRST LOOK INSIDE DAMAGED DOW CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: us_MA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
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CHEMICAL EMPLOYERS TO FACE TOUGHER WORKER SAFETY PENALTIES
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, illegal
Chemical or pharma companies and other employers that violate worker safety standards could face stiffer penalties in the future because the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) started 2016 with stronger tools to deter workplace safety violations.
Employers "are far more concerned about OSHA than they were six months ago," says Valerie Butera, an attorney who specializes in workplace safety and health at law firm Epstein Becker Green.
That"s because Congress passed legislation in October 2015 that allows OSHA to increase its civil fines for the first time since 1990. In addition, an expanded joint initiative between the Department of Labor (DOL), of which OSHA is a part, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) will augment penalties by combining worker endangerment cases with charges of environmental and other offenses.
These moves to strengthen worker safety are "useful and long overdue," says Mike Wright, director of health, safety, and environment for the United Steelworkers union. "We think they"ll have a positive impact on worker safety and health."
For several years, OSHA and DOL have been calling for a hike in civil fines. "We"re pleased that Congress has now provided it," says David Michaels, the assistant secretary of labor who heads OSHA.
When OSHA civil fines last increased a quarter-century ago, Congress prohibited the agency from indexing them to inflation, as happens for civil penalties under most federal statutes. In the 2015 law, Congress eliminated that restriction and is allowing OSHA to do a onetime upgrade to account for inflation from 1990 to the present. That will jack fines up an estimated 80%.
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FINDING NEW HOMES FOR OLD CHEMICALS
Tags: us_CO, public, discovery, environmental, waste
If you have a stomachache, you can take magnesium oxide to feel better. But if you have a headache because your barge full of MgO got wet at a terminal in Arkansas, better to call Damon Carson, owner of Repurposed Materials, and see if he"ll take it off your hands.
Carson collects bulk materials that are obsolete, off-spec, out of date, surplus, or once-used. He also collects information about how those products can be used in a different industry.
Each potential purchase puts in motion a bit of detective work. For example, Repurposed Materials recently bought 60 giant sacks of a polymer absorbent that someone abandoned at a freight terminal. Carson resold it to a man who works in hockey facilities. The customer reported that he used the polymer to make a slush that seals the ice surface to the rink"s sideboards.
Carson"s business experience began with regular trash; years ago he and a partner started a company to haul garbage from Colorado ski resorts. They sold the firm to Waste Management. This time, he says, his business aims to keep stuff out of the landfill.
"My very first project was reusing old advertising billboards," Carson explains. "They have print and designs on one side, but are made of high-quality, waterproof vinyl. When the ad campaign is over, the vinyl can be used as tarps for hay bales." Now five years old, Repurposed Materials has 12 employees and storage locations in Denver, Atlanta, Dallas, and Chicago.
Other durable goods that have a second life thanks to Carson include old fire hoses"used for padding around boat docks"and worn-out rubber conveyor belts, which can line horse corrals or protect the floor under a tractor.
Repurposed Materials began adding products of a more chemical nature to its inventory about six months ago. It"s a potential new market for Carson but one that will take him into the complicated world of hazardous materials regulation.
Carson says he"s proceeding cautiously. "The chemical branch is very new," he says. "Our hypothesis is, we"re already in warehouses at companies, and we see those obsolete liquids and powders."
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TETRAHYDROFURAN (THF) PEROXIDE TESTING SCHEDULE
Tags: laboratory, discovery, response, peroxide, tetrahydrofuran
Discussion: In 2013, six bottles of Tetrahydrofuran (THF), 100 mL per bottle, were purchased and placed in a flammable storage cabinet in accordance with Y73-939 Hazardous Chemical Storage. THF is both a "time sensitive chemical" and a "peroxide former" and is required to be tested annually for the presence of peroxides. The formation of peroxides can cause the chemical/material to become shock sensitive. Initial peroxide testing was performed in August of 2013 on three opened bottles (only opened bottles are required to be tested). In September 2015, the bottles were being considered for excess and the excess material personnel and materials manager noted that the bottles were not in-date for annual testing. A cursory visual inspection indicated there was no evidence of peroxide formation on the external surface of the bottles. Facility Management was informed of the missed annual testing and access to the lab where the storage cabinet was located was administratively contr!
olled with a "Do Not Enter" sign. Facility Management conducted a Hazard Analysis for the testing of THF bottles and an Operational Safety Board (OSB) review was conducted to evaluate the work scope and hazard controls. With approval from the OSB, the THF bottles were removed from the flammable storage cabinet, carefully inspected, placed in an adjacent hood and tested. Testing demonstrated the absence of peroxides. New labels with current inspection dates were applied to the bottles and the lab/area was returned to normal operations.
Analysis: Required continual annual testing was not performed to verity the condition of the bottles and observe for signs of peroxide formation. Although the THF bottles were listed in the facilitys inventory of hazardous materials (Comprehensive Tracking System or CTS), and were barcode scanned during periodic inventories, personnel performing the inventory did not recognize the items were on the "time sensitive" list. The lack of annual inspection was recognized when the bottles were being evaluated for excess material disposition.
---------------------------------------------
CHINA CHEMICAL PLANT EXPLOSION: REPORTS OF FIRE, BLAST SEEN IN LENGSHUIJIANG
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, response, unknown_chemical
A major explosion was reported at a chemical plant in the south-central Chinese city of Lengshuijiang Saturday, according to tweets reportedly sent from the scene. It was unclear if anyone was injured or killed, but rescue efforts appeared to be ongoing by noon EST.
The cause of the blast is still unknown, Huang Zhaouyun tweeted. A video said to be of the explosion was uploaded to Youtube and circulated on social media.
The video shows a fire in the background with smoke piling into the sky. About 12 seconds into the 30-second video what appears to be an explosion could be seen and heard.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL PLANT SECURED FOR STATE INVESTIGATORS
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, follow-up, injury, other_chemical
NORTH ANDOVER " The scene at the Dow Chemical Plant on Willow Street remained active Friday, a day after a chemical explosion at the plant left four people critically injured and dozens of emergency response personnel working through the late evening hours.
State Police bomb squad members and a regional hazardous materials (HAZMAT) team worked throughout the morning and into the afternoon Friday to make the plant safe for state police fire investigators to enter the plant to try to determine what exactly caused the blast, the second at the Dow plant in two years.
According to North Andover Fire Chief Andrew Melnikas, bomb squad and HAZMAT members were attempting to isolate the container which held the chemical officials say triggered the explosion inside a laboratory away from other hazardous materials inside the plant.
Melnikas confirmed the chemical involved was trimethylaluminium, a chemical used to make LED lights and other electronics. The chemical, according to State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan, can create a violent reaction when mixed with water or air.
In a joint press conference with Melnikas just before noon Friday, Coan acknowledged the incident "could have been much worse," but said it was still a "very violent explosion."
---------------------------------------------
'SMALL' CHEMICAL SPILL AT YORK COLLEGE POOL
Tags: us_PA, education, release, injury, hydrochloric_acid
A security guard went to the hospital as a precaution after a chemical spill Saturday at York College, according to Dan Hoff, a battalion chief for York Area United Fire & Rescue.
Hoff said it appears that a supply line off a chemical tank came loose and caused "a small spill" of hydrochloric acid that is used for treating the pool at the Grumbacher Sport and Fitness Center. He said the tank itself wasn't breached or damaged.
Emergency responders checked out the security guard and thought he was OK.
"One of his fellow officers decided to take him to the hospital just to be on the safe side," Hoff said, adding that there was concern about the guard possibly having inhaled some of the chemical vapors.
A county hazmat team responded to the scene for cleanup.
The spill was contained to a storage room area, Hoff said. The pool itself was closed Saturday because of the college's holiday break, according to a sign outside the pool. Hoff said if the pool had been in use, emergency responders would have temporarily closed it as a precaution.
Crews responded to the scene shortly after 1 p.m. Saturday, and Hoff said they determined the inside of the building was safe.
---------------------------------------------
HAPPY ACCIDENT LEADS TO FASTER SYNTHESIS
Tags: Netherlands, laboratory, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
When a power outage hit the labs of biochemist Tilman M. Hackeng of the University of Maastricht, his colleague Stijn M. Agten rushed to remove some samples from their ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry machine. Agten was monitoring the progress of an oxime ligation reaction, and to give himself time to reboot the machine, he froze his samples to -20 è?C, expecting to slow the reaction rates and allow him to salvage something from his efforts.
But when the sample thawed, Agten was shocked to see that his reaction was almost complete (Bioconjugate Chem. 2015, DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.5b00611). "Normal oxime ligations take days to get acceptable yields of partial completion," Hackeng says.
In oxime ligations, an aldehyde or ketone reacts with an aminooxy group on another molecule to form an oxime bond. Hackeng and his colleagues, who are investigating oxime ligations as a way to label proteins, were testing how temperature, concentration, and catalysts affect the rate of oxime formation when they made their discovery.
The team tried to shorten the freezing time by using lower temperatures: -80 and -196 è?C. But the hour-long freeze at -20 è?C they uncovered by accident sped up the reaction most effectively. This is probably because slow-growing ice crystals push out the reactants and concentrate them in the liquid phase, Hackeng says.
They also discovered that by freezing, they could run the reaction without a catalyst at a neutral pH and still get better results than adding aniline as a catalyst and reacting at low pH, as is typically done for oxime ligations at warmer temperatures. They then tested the technique by labeling a model protein system. After three freezing and thawing cycles, the reaction was 77% complete"a stark improvement on the usual method, which left the reaction only 10% complete after 48 hours.
Hackeng says that the notion of accelerating a reaction by freezing is "completely counterintuitive," though scouring the literature brought up a few other examples.
---------------------------------------------
MINOR CHLORINE LEAK IN INDUSTRY CAUSES HAZMAT RESPONSE
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, chlorine
INDUSTRY -- A chlorine leak at a water well along Highland Avenue prompted the Beaver County hazardous materials response team to briefly respond to the scene.
Bob Neble, manager of Industry"s water authority, said a very small chlorine leak occurred Friday morning when crews were performing a "routine changeover" of two wells at an authority substation off Engle Road.
"It was a very minor incident, but we erred on the side of caution," Neble said.
It made sense to "bring in the professionals" to examine the scene before everything went back into operating order.
"The community was never at risk," Neble said. "My guys were never at risk."
Neble said the entire incident was taken care of quickly.
---------------------------------------------
TRUCK CARRYING HAZMAT MATERIALS OVERTURNS ON RICHARDSON HWY
Tags: us_AK, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical
A tractor-trailer containing hazmat materials overturned Friday on the Richardson Highway, Alaska State Troopers wrote in a dispatch.
Troopers received reports at noon that 23-year-old Kyle Sheffield of Fairbanks was driving a Lynden Transport truck, pulling a box trailer loaded with hazmat materials for the Pogo mine when "equipment problems that caused the trailer to slide into the ditch."
"He attempted to correct the problem but the trailer pulled the tractor into the ditch where it overturned onto its side," troopers wrote. "The contents of the trailer emitted a white gas."
The North Star Borough hazmat response team, Department of Transportation Commercial Vehicle Enforcement and officials with Lynden Transport responded to the scene, troopers say.
---------------------------------------------
MAN JUMPS OFF BUILDING, LANDS ON OXYGEN TANK AT ROOSEVELT HOSPITAL ON UPPER WEST SIDE
Tags: us_NY, public, release, response, liquid_oxygen
UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- Mount Sinai Roosevelt Hospital reports that all damaged items from its oxygen area have been removed and replaced after a HAZMAT incident early Friday.
A man, who apparently jumped off a building Friday, landed on a liquid oxygen tank at an Upper West Side hospital.
The 31-year-old landed on a tank outside Roosevelt, rupturing a pressured line and causing a HAZMAT situation, just after 2 a.m. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
A private oxygen vendor responded from New Jersey to fix the leak. Portable oxygen tanks are being used for patients. Restoring the oxygen service will take much of the day.
The hospital is not being evacuated, although some patients were relocated to other areas of the hospital.
Police are trying to figure out from where exactly the man jumped.
---------------------------------------------
LEHIGH'S PACKARD LAB EVACUATED AFTER BOMB THREAT
Tags: us_PA, laboratory, discovery, environmental, bomb
BETHLEHEM " Packard Laboratory at Lehigh University was evacuated Thursday night after someone called campus police to say he had left a bomb in a bookbag, police said.
"A male said he had a bomb in a backpack at Packard Lab," Bethlehem police Chief Mark DiLuzio said. "It looks like only a threat. I don't believe anything has been found."
University police Chief Ed Shupp said Packard Lab was searched from top to bottom, but nothing suspicious was found. The city fire department sent a firetruck but the bomb squad was not dispatched.
Shupp said there was no sign anyone was in danger.
The phone call was made about 7:30 p.m., DiLuzio said. Campus police examined an emergency call box where they believe the call was made.
---------------------------------------------
FIRE MARSHAL: CHEMICAL EXPLOSION UNRELATED TO 2013 DEATH
Tags: us_MA, industrial, follow-up, injury, other_chemical
The Massachusetts Fire Marshal says an explosion at a chemical plant that injured four people had a different cause than an explosion at the same plant in 2013 that killed one.
Fire Marshal Stephen Coan says a preliminary investigation found that the explosion Thursday at the Dow Chemical plant in North Andover was caused when a chemical used in the manufacture of LED lights made contact with water.
Coan says Dow is fully cooperating in the investigation.
Emergency workers responded to the plant 30 miles north of Boston at about 2:30 p.m. Thursday. Officials said there was no fire, and no chemicals were released into the air.
Hospital officials said the victims had shrapnel and burn injuries.
The 2013 explosion was caused when a different chemical came into contact with air.
---------------------------------------------
HOVERBOARDS BANNED AT MANY COLLEGES DUE TO CONCERNS ABOUT FIRES AND SAFETY
Tags: us_OH, education, follow-up, environmental, batteries
CLEVELAND, Ohio - College students returning to campus after winter break are being told to leave their hoverboards at home.
Concerns about safety and about the battery-powered self-balancing scooters catching fire, especially if they are being charged and stored in residence halls, has led to swift action by many colleges, said Allan Blattner, president of the executive board of the Association of College & University Housing Officers-International.
"This is one of those gifts that went viral," Blattner said. "They were nowhere and now they are everywhere. Because of safety concerns a lot of residential programs, at least temporarily, have banned them until the final safety outcome."
The devices are powered by lithium-ion batteries. Certain models have caught fire and nearly every airline bans them.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission, which periodically updates its figures on Twitter, says it is investigating reports of 28 hoverboard-related fires in 19 states, and "70 ER-treated injuries."
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FDA TO BAN CANCER CAUSING CHEMICAL IN PIZZA BOXES
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
WASHINGTON " Packaging for pizza and sandwiches will change once a new FDA rule takes effect which will eliminate a cancer causing chemical.
The National Resources Defense Council is one of a dozen groups that petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to order the ban of a common chemical found in many pizza boxes, perchlorate.
Studies have shown the chemical can cause birth defects and cancer. It"s used in pizza boxes, sandwich wrappers and microwave popcorn bags.
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INVESTIGATORS HOPE TO GET FIRST LOOK INSIDE DAMAGED DOW CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: us_MA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
NORTH ANDOVER " Hazardous materials and bomb technicians removed a volatile chemical on Friday from a Dow Chemical Co. laboratory where an explosion injured five people on Thursday. The dangerous operation took hours and was described as among the largest and most complex in recent time.
A container of trimethylaluminum that had been compromised in Thursday"s blast was buried in sand in the back of a dump truck and driven away from the Willow Street facility under police escort just before 4 p.m. Friday.
Authorities said the State Police bomb squad planned to take the container, which is about the size of a basketball, to a remote location where it would be rendered safe.
"This is one of the more complex and larger hazmat incidents that we have responded to in recent times," state Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan said.
He said the operation was complicated by the volatility of the chemical, which is used to make LED lights and electronics, its proximity to other dangerous materials in the facility, and the painstaking work necessary to recover it from the pile of debris left behind by the explosion.
View Story
Blast critically injures 4
Fire officials say it is too early to determine if Thursday"s explosion occurred because of human error.
The blast took place in a laboratory measuring 15 feet by 20 feet, located in the rear of the building. It was so powerful that it blew out a section of wall, North Andover Fire Chief Andy Melnikas said.
"This is a very successful outcome. It could have been a much more tragic incident," Coan said. "This went well because of the professionalism and the training levels of the people involved."
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