Check out Safety Emporium for your N95, N99, and face shield needs.
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, 24 Feb 2016 07:35:08 -0500
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: 5D6F4D12-1306-4773-9ACA-ACE84E8391A2**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, February 24, 2016 at 7:34:51 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=XrUSPbbojHsBt_V0pHIjdkhahTsZ7zPjgMWEBK2MxdQ&s=9Ei23nEAKIkyg4Ub9vHVjJ8yPic4Q7OjYT3kkkRJWoM&e=
Table of Contents (11 articles)
AKRON FIRE DEPARTMENT RESPONDS TO HYGENIC CORPORATION FOR HAZMAT LEAK
Tags: us_OH, public, release, response, chlorine
MERCURY SPILL IN UPPER NYACK BRINGS OUT HAZMAT CREW
Tags: us_NY, public, release, response, mercury
SCIENTISTS FIND CAUSE OF TAKATA AIR BAG EXPLOSIONS
Tags: Japan, transportation, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
FORD ENGINEERS FIND HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL AT NJ SUPERFUND SITE: OFFICIALS
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, release, environmental, other_chemical, waste
US POSTAL SERVICE APOLOGIZES AFTER DELIVERING CHEMICAL-SOAKED MAIL TO BROOKLYN PARK HOME
Tags: us_MN, transportation, release, response, other_chemical
HOW BIG DATA IS CHANGING CHEMICAL MANUFACTURING å• ENVIRONMENTAL LEADER å• ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT NEWS
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental
NANOSCALE SYSTEM REACHES PERFECT EFFICIENCY FOR SOLAR FUEL PRODUCTION STEP
Tags: Israel, laboratory, discovery, environmental, hydrogen, oxygen
AUDIT SOUNDS THE ALARM ON SERIOUS CODE VIOLATIONS AT SOUTHERN
Tags: us_LA, laboratory, follow-up, response
FEDERAL CHEMICAL EXPOSURE TEAM TO PROBE RASHES IN FLINT
Tags: us_MI, public, follow-up, injury, corrosives
UNIVERSITY OF TULSA SUES CHEMICAL COMPANY FOR COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH RADIOACTIVE SPILL
Tags: us_OK, laboratory, follow-up, environmental, radiation
NEWPORT NEWS OFFICIALS DISCUSS RISE IN METH LAB BUSTS
Tags: us_VA, public, discovery, response, meth_lab
---------------------------------------------
AKRON FIRE DEPARTMENT RESPONDS TO HYGENIC CORPORATION FOR HAZMAT LEAK
Tags: us_OH, public, release, response, chlorine
AKRON - The Akron Fire Department was called to a business on Home Avenue Tuesday for a HazMat leak.
According to officials, fire crews responded to Hygenic Corporation just before 11 a.m. after a 140 pound Chlorine tank started leaking.
A HazMat team and a decontamination team tried to seal the leak.
The business was evacuated as crews cleaned up.
Akron Fire said Chlorine levels are now at 'zero.' Employees were able to re-enter the building.
---------------------------------------------
MERCURY SPILL IN UPPER NYACK BRINGS OUT HAZMAT CREW
Tags: us_NY, public, release, response, mercury
UPPER NYACK - A mercury spill in a home in Upper Nyack is now cleaned up.
Officials say three men were removing a large barometer at a home on the 200 block of Hilltop Lane. The men dropped the barometer, spilling about three ounces of mercury on the floor.
The Rockland County HAZMAT crew and a private contractor used a special vacuum to clean up the spill.
---------------------------------------------
SCIENTISTS FIND CAUSE OF TAKATA AIR BAG EXPLOSIONS
Tags: Japan, transportation, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
Scientists hired by the auto industry have determined that multiple factors " including moisture and high humidity " can cause some Takata air bags to inflate with too much force and hurl shrapnel at drivers and passengers.
The Independent Testing Coalition, which has been investigating the cause for the past year, announced its findings Tuesday afternoon.
The group of 10 automotive manufactures took the unusual and nearly unprecedented step of forming a coalition to delve into the safety issue as pressure mounted on Takata to move faster to investigate problems with its airbags and as automakers decided they needed to cordinate their own responses.
Air bags made by Japan"s Takata Corp. have caused at least 10 deaths and 139 injuries worldwide. Takata uses the chemical ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion and inflate the air bags in a crash.
The Virginia rocket science company Orbital ATK, which was hired by the coalition, determined that three factors, working together, can cause the air bags to explode with too much force.
Using "phase-stabilized" ammonium nitrate without a moisture-absorbing substance " as Takata does " increases the risk of an explosion after long-term exposure to high temperatures and moisture. Orbital ATK also found that Takata"s inflator assembly doesn"t adequately prevent moisture from intruding in very humid conditions.
---------------------------------------------
FORD ENGINEERS FIND HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL AT NJ SUPERFUND SITE: OFFICIALS
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, release, environmental, other_chemical, waste
RINGWOOD, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) " Engineers say a hazardous chemical was found at nearly 100 times the state standard in the groundwater of a northern New Jersey site where Ford Motor Co. once dumped toxic paint.
Records obtained by The Record newspaper show that engineers for Ford discovered the chemical 1,4-dioxane deep under the Peters Mine area at the Superfund site in Ringwood.
The engineers wrote to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in January saying it would drill new wells to better understand the contaminants. The EPA couldn"t say Monday if the chemical came directly from Ford"s industrial waste.
Federal regulators have said contamination from the site hasn"t polluted the area"s drinking water.
A Ford spokesman says the company is working with federal regulators to assess the groundwater conditions.
---------------------------------------------
US POSTAL SERVICE APOLOGIZES AFTER DELIVERING CHEMICAL-SOAKED MAIL TO BROOKLYN PARK HOME
Tags: us_MN, transportation, release, response, other_chemical
The U.S. Postal Service is apologizing after chemical-soaked mail was delivered to a Brooklyn Park home.
Doug Korzendorfer says he received two packages last week that were soaked in a chemical, giving him a headache and a burning feeling on his hands. The U.S. Postal Service apologized and said another piece of mail that contained a fuel additive leaked onto Korzendorfer's packages.
"I'm please they know what it is, but it's still upsetting to me that in this day and age that they allowed this to happen," Korzendorfer said.
In a statement issued to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, the U.S. Postal Service said: "We apologize for not following proper procedures in this situation and for any concern this action has caused. The entire staff of this facility is receiving additional training in proper response to incidents of this type to ensure that this will not happen again. We will also contact the sender to ensure all applicable postal regulations were followed."
---------------------------------------------
HOW BIG DATA IS CHANGING CHEMICAL MANUFACTURING å• ENVIRONMENTAL LEADER å• ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT NEWS
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental
Big data and analytics can make chemical manufacturing more efficient, cutting the cost and time needed to bring a new product to market and improving the industry"s environmental impact, according to Lux Research.
In a new report, Big Data and Analytics in Chemicals: From Cheminformatics and LIMS to Launch, Lux Research says novel sensors, materials and information technologies are making research and development more effective, integrating lab data with chemical databases and academic literature, and quickening the pace of innovation cycles.
Mark BÌ1Ú4nger, Lux Research VP and lead author of the report, tells Environmental Leader that big data and analytics can also help chemical companies and their customers, as well as the government and independent organizations that watch them, in their efforts to make the industry more environmentally sustainable.
"A lot of the ways are just simple things that improve normal business practices: reducing the amount of energy and materials wasted, for example, by better understanding supply, demand and the operating condition of the plant," BÌ1Ú4nger says.
"Monitoring equipment to make sure it"s operating in the safe range, to avoid breakdowns, and hazards like spills or explosions," he continues. "Better tracking of safety incidents, so the conditions that lead to them and the methods for remediating them are better documented and communicated. Providing better data within the company, and to regulators and the public so that everyone can make smarter, more informed decisions about the impact of chemicals and chemical processes on the environment."
---------------------------------------------
NANOSCALE SYSTEM REACHES PERFECT EFFICIENCY FOR SOLAR FUEL PRODUCTION STEP
Tags: Israel, laboratory, discovery, environmental, hydrogen, oxygen
A major goal in renewable energy research is to harvest the energy of the sun to convert water into hydrogen gas, a storable fuel. Now, with a nanoparticle-based system, researchers have set a record for one of the half-reactions in this process, reporting 100% efficiency for the reduction of water to hydrogen (Nano Lett. 2016, DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b04813).
To make such water-splitting systems, researchers must find the right materials to absorb light and catalyze the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen. The two half-reactions in this process"the reduction of water to hydrogen gas, and the oxidation of water to oxygen gas"must be isolated from each other so their products don"t react and explode. "Completing the cycle in an efficient, stable, safe fashion with earth-abundant elements is an ongoing challenge," says chemist Nathan S. Lewis of Caltech, who was not involved in this study.
Until recently, the efficiency of the reduction step had maxed out at 60%. One challenge is that electrons and positive charges formed in the light absorption process can rapidly recombine, preventing the electrons from reducing water molecules to form hydrogen. To overcome this problem, several years ago, Lilac Amirav of Technion"Israel Institute of Technology and her colleagues designed a nanoparticle-based system (J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2010, DOI: 10.1021/jz100075c) that would physically separate the charges formed during photocatalysis.
---------------------------------------------
AUDIT SOUNDS THE ALARM ON SERIOUS CODE VIOLATIONS AT SOUTHERN
Tags: us_LA, laboratory, follow-up, response
BATON ROUGE - Infrastructure issues abound in a state audit that highlights a growing problem at Southern University.
Among the most serious problems found in the audit made public Monday morning, are a lack of fire alarm systems at two buildings on campus: John B. Cade Library and laboratory building A.O. Williams. Both buildings are on fire watch - where someone must walk the hallways each hour looking for smoke or fire. The audit found the library has not had a working fire alarm since July 2004. The system at A.O. Williams is deficient, auditors reported. Deficiencies began in February 2015. However, for five months, the fire watch was not conducted properly.
Other buildings are in disrepair - 33 of the 140 buildings on campus were built prior to 1968 and many are not maintained. Nineteen, the auditors said, were vacant.
"Safety deficiencies and potentially hazardous conditions exist on the SUBR campus," auditors wrote.
In addition to fire safety violations, buildings are plagued with sewer malfunctions and some do not meet the Americans with Disabilities Act - a law that requires buildings be accessible for people who are handicapped.
Auditors said for years SUBR has asked for money to make repairs, but due to state budget cuts rarely gets enough to do anything. In both fiscal years 2014 and 2015, university officials asked for $21.7 million but only received $4.8 million.
"SUBR has received limited funding for repairs and maintenance," auditors wrote.
Southern agreed. In its response, it said funding is the paramount issue as to why buildings are not maintained. However, the university said it feels it is doing the best it can with dealing with the problems.
---------------------------------------------
FEDERAL CHEMICAL EXPOSURE TEAM TO PROBE RASHES IN FLINT
Tags: us_MI, public, follow-up, injury, corrosives
A four-member chemical exposure team from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is expected to arrive in Flint this week to investigate rashes possibly associated with the city"s water, state officials announced Monday.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has requested an assessment of chemical exposure from the federal department,, according to state officials. The request comes as the state conducts its own follow-up this month with Flint residents who reported skin rashes, officials said.
"While working with the community and our federal partners on these investigations, the option to utilize an ACE team in Flint has been identified as an important next step," Dr. Eden Wells, chief medical executive with the state health department, said in a statement Monday. "We"re hopeful that an ACE investigation will assist us in further protecting the health of Flint residents by identifying any concerns that may be contributing to rashes and other skin concerns."
Wells added that her department will work with local and federal partners to address the investigation"s findings.
In January, state health officials said Flint parents could bathe children in the city"s water, despite an increase in rashes reported in the previous couple of weeks. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services previously issued an advisory saying there was "no scientific link" between Flint water and skin rashes that began to appear after the city switched its water supply from the Detroit system to Flint River water in April 2014.
In mid-October, the city switched back to the Detroit water system, but residents still can"t drink the water without a filter due to lead seepage from water pipes damaged by highly corrosive Flint River water.
---------------------------------------------
UNIVERSITY OF TULSA SUES CHEMICAL COMPANY FOR COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH RADIOACTIVE SPILL
Tags: us_OK, laboratory, follow-up, environmental, radiation
The University of Tulsa is suing a chemical company for damages, claiming the company"s employees spilled a teaspoon-size amount of a radioactive isotope in a university building and did not notify campus officials for more than a year.
Employees from Tracerco, a chemical company contracted through the university, are accused of spilling Cesium-137 in the university"s North Campus Process Building between Oct. 13 and 17 during the 2014 fall semester, according to court documents.
University officials were notified of the spill Aug. 25, 2015, according to court documents.
The North Campus, at 2450 E. Marshall St., east of Lewis Avenue between Independence and Pine streets, is restricted to certain people, and its individual buildings are restricted to those who work there, university officials said last year.
TU is suing the company for indemnity, negligence and negligent supervision, saying Tracerco is responsible for both the spill and costs associated with hiring medical, toxicological and environmental consultants in its aftermath.
The university also alleges the company was negligent for not notifying TU officials in a timely manner and failing to properly remediate the spill, according to court documents.
The university contracted Tracerco to transport, handle and inject radioactive isotopes Barium-137m and Cesium-137, both of which were used in flow loop tests conducted on the North Campus.
The tests are meant to simulate oil well fluid flow.
On Oct. 14, 2014, Tracerco representatives were working with a Cesium-Barium generator when a tubing connector broke. Tracerco employees attempted to reattach the connector using three different means, according to court documents.
---------------------------------------------
NEWPORT NEWS OFFICIALS DISCUSS RISE IN METH LAB BUSTS
Tags: us_VA, public, discovery, response, meth_lab
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) " Newport News authorities met with the media Monday to discuss the rising number of meth lab busts.
Authorities have found three meth labs in less than a week in the city and arrested four suspects in relation to them.
"It really sends off some alarm bells for us," said Battalion Chief Steve Pincus of the Newport News Fire Department.
"If you look at the statistics, for all of the states, every year it goes up. The labs aren"t going down, they"re going up," said Todd Cannon with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.
Several emergency responders gathered to discuss concerns at the fire station on Oyster Point Road. Officials opted not to address the actual ongoing investigations, but rather to explain the safety measures associated with the "busts."
Pincus said that all fire personnel in Virginia receive basic training in order to recognize hazardous materials, yet firefighters are often walking into unknown territory.
---------------------------------------------
Previous post | Top of Page | Next post