| About This Archive | | DCHAS-L 2016 Index | | DCHAS-L Yearly Index | |
Check out Safety Emporium for your N95, N99, and face shield needs.
|
Previous by Date: Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] RSO question for somebody Date: Sunday, February 28, 2016 5:10:04 PM Author: Bruce Van Scoy <bvanscoy**At_Symbol_Here**TWC.COM> |
Next by Date: Subject: [DCHAS-L] Philly National Meeting - deadline looms Date: Mon, 29 Feb 2016 16:46:59 +0000 Author: Debbie M. Decker |
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, February 29, 2016 at 8:48:43 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=bQxk6-7ChHKU_YDugg38wHeUfJSidJTh2HwvDTwDwgI&s=hsWSSYWxI36npsBXX429zEjwuu7CJ_gIoG2HGiOgCtM&e=
Table of Contents (15 articles)
DRONE-CURIOUS? HERE"S HOW TO FLY SCIENCE MISSIONS LEGALLY
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental
TOWARD MORE JUDICIOUS SOLVENT SELECTION
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental, solvent
BROKEN METAL HALIDE LAMP BULB CAUSES SMALL FIRE AND BUILDING EVACUATION AT TA-46-0025
Tags: industrial, fire, response, metals
AFTER FIRE, BOULDER WOMAN SPREADS CAUTIONARY WORD ON MASSAGE SHEETS
Tags: us_CO, public, fire, response, oils
TOP SCIENTISTS SHARE VALUES
Tags: education, discovery, environmental
EPA TO CRACK DOWN ON CHEMICAL PLANTS AND REFINERIES
Tags: industrial, release, environmental, petroleum
OIL SPILL LEAKS UP TO 600 GALLONS INTO BRONX RIVER
Tags: us_NY, transportation, release, response, oils
EPA MOVES TO TIGHTEN CHEMICAL PLANT SAFETY RULE
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental
CONCEPTS OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING FOR CHEMISTS (RSC PUBLISHING)
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, discovery, environmental
DOW CHEMICAL CO. SETTLES CASE CITING SUPREME COURT UNCERTAINTY
Tags: us_KS, industrial, follow-up, environmental, urethane
ARCATA FIRE: HAZMAT CALL UNCOVERS AUTO SPRAYING
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
REPORT: RAIL HAZMAT SAFETY VIOLATIONS SHOULD BE PROSECUTED
Tags: transportation, discovery, response, illegal, petroleum
CONNECTICUT EMPLOYEES EXPOSED TO HEXAVALENT CHROMIUM, FIRE HAZARD FROM REPAIR STATION
Tags: us_CT, industrial, discovery, response, other_chemical
PEMEX WORKER DIES IN FIRE AT PETROCHEMICAL PLANT IN SOUTHEAST MEXICO
Tags: Mexico, industrial, fire, death, petroleum
RESIDENTS WORRIED OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AFTER LAFAYETTE'S FIRE
Tags: us_GA, industrial, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
---------------------------------------------
DRONE-CURIOUS? HERE"S HOW TO FLY SCIENCE MISSIONS LEGALLY
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental
Scientists hoping to use drones in airborne research legally in the U.S. face complex regulatory hurdles. Most scientists C&EN interviewed described the regulatory process with exactly the same word: onerous.
"But the bottom line is regulations are regulations," says Virginia Tech"s David G. Schmale III. "You have to obey them."
In fact, if scientists want to get funding for drone research or be able to publish drone research, they"d be wise to follow the rules, which, in the U.S., are set by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). An increasing number of journals won"t publish studies carried out with drones if the scientists can"t prove the work was done legally, Schmale explains. The same applies to funding applications. "You"d be surprised how many grant proposals I"ve seen where the researchers don"t have the legal means to do the experiments," he adds.
In the U.S., the moment drones are used for a commercial activity"including taking photos that get published by media outlets"rather than as a hobby, the flyer must apply for a Section 333 exemption. Meanwhile, scientists flying drones for research purposes, including for a proof-of-principle experiment, need to apply to FAA for a so-called Certificate of Waiver or Authorization.
---------------------------------------------
TOWARD MORE JUDICIOUS SOLVENT SELECTION
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental, solvent
Scientists at AstraZeneca have taken solvent selection guides to a new level by developing an interactive software tool. Several pharma companies have created tabular guides over the years for their internal use to aid scientists in considering safety, human health, environmental impact, and regulatory concerns when choosing a solvent for a process. The ACS Green Chemistry Institute"s Pharmaceutical Roundtable offers a solvent guide based on those efforts on its website and as a mobile app. As AstraZeneca"s Louis J. Diorazio, David R. J. Hose, and Neil K. Adlington point out, the limitation of these guides is that they are static and tend to be prescriptive, focusing on avoiding certain solvents and barely considering the main purpose of a solvent, which is to help facilitate a chemical process (Org. Process Res. Dev. 2016, DOI: 10.1021/acs.oprd.6b00015). In developing the new guide, the AstraZeneca team started with 272 solvents and experimental and computational data. !
Using Microsoft Excel, the researchers developed a system to create statistical maps that allow researchers to still focus on safety and environmental impact while selecting reaction parameters to zoom in on the best solvent options to increase reaction rates, reduce reaction steps, steer product selectivity, and improve yields. To make the approach user-friendly, they built a data manipulation tool using the software package Spotfire. AstraZeneca is using the new software tool internally and plans to make it available through the Pharmaceutical Roundtable.
---------------------------------------------
BROKEN METAL HALIDE LAMP BULB CAUSES SMALL FIRE AND BUILDING EVACUATION AT TA-46-0025
Tags: industrial, fire, response, metals
Discussion: A small fire started on October 16, 2015, at the Los Alamos National Laboratoryñ3 Technical Area-46, Building 0025, when the hot particles from a ruptured metal halide lamp and its melted diffuser dropped onto a chair and other items located under the fixture. The arc tube in a 400W metal halide (MH) lamp shattered and broke the outside glass envelope of the lamp inside of an enclosed fixture that had a polymeric prismatic lens diffuser. The small fire started when the hot particles of the ruptured lamp melted the diffuser and hot particles from the ruptured lamp and melted lens material dropped onto a small section of a chair and the other items that were located under the fixture. The fire alarm was pulled and the building was evacuated. The fire was then extinguished with a local fire extinguisher before the Los Alamos Fire Department arrived. It was later determined that the type of lamp installed in the fixture was incorrect, which could have possibly contri!
buted to the non-passive failure of the lamp.
Analysis: The lamp was a Sylvania MS400/BU ONLY ANSI Code M59/S. The "BU ONLY" designation indicated the lamp was a "base-up" style lamp that was intended to be installed only in a fixture with the screw base facing up in a vertical configuration. The fixture in which the lamp was installed was intended for horizontally installed lamps. The age of the lamp or its service life may have also been a factor in the lampñ3 non-passive failure. It is understood within the lighting industry that non-passive MH lamp failures can occur and possibly cause property damage and/or fire. Manufacturers of metal halide fixtures and lamps now provide installation instructions and warnings such as not locating open fixtures or enclosed fixtures that incorporate polymeric lens diffusers above combustible material. The instructions should be taken into consideration to reduce the risk of such property damage/fire.
---------------------------------------------
AFTER FIRE, BOULDER WOMAN SPREADS CAUTIONARY WORD ON MASSAGE SHEETS
Tags: us_CO, public, fire, response, oils
One Boulder woman is hoping to warn others about the fire dangers of an unlikely source: Massage sheets.
Alison Rothman, a massage therapist in Boulder, found out the hard way when a laundry basket of massage sheets ignited in her home earlier this year and smoke destroyed the inside of her home.
"I've done massage for 15 years and never in my life thought that would have happened," Rothman said. "I wish I had that remotely in my brain as a possibility."
Rothman said that she had just taken a load of massage sheets out of her dryer at her home in the 4500 block of Eighth Street on Jan. 14 when she put them in her laundry basket. Rothman said normally she lets the sheets air out a bit on her furniture, but she said this time she had to leave them in the basket to leave the house.
She left the basket in her kitchen, and returned later to find the sheets had ignited.
"I came home to my house on fire," Rothman said. "The combination of heat from the dryer and being in my hot, sunny kitchen caused the sheets to spontaneously combust."
Boulder fire Marshal Dave Lowrey said the oils used in massages that then get into the sheets are the reason they can ignite.
"It's the oils that are used, like sesame oil, that can spontaneously heat when it is basically drying," Lowrey said. "If the sheets are wadded up and that heat can't dissipate, it heats until it heats the sheets to basically their ignition temperature, then they catch fire."
Lowrey said it is a chemical version of what happens with grass clippings or hay bales.
---------------------------------------------
TOP SCIENTISTS SHARE VALUES
Tags: education, discovery, environmental
Honor and curiosity are the most important personal values to top natural scientists, a new study shows. Authors Robert T. Pennock of Michigan State University and Jon D. Miller of the University of Michigan wanted to identify the values that scientists find most important and seek to cultivate in their students. The researchers interviewed almost 500 scientists across many disciplines who had been honored by their peers, such as members of the National Academy of Sciences and fellows of the American Chemical Society, which publishes C&EN. The researchers presented the scientists with a set of 10 personal values to evaluate. In the ranking, honesty and curiosity came out on top, followed by attentiveness, perseverance, objectivity, and humility to evidence. Collaboration ranked lowest, but the authors suggested that might be because collaboration is more important in some research fields than others. "If you"re not curious, you"re probably not a real scientist," !
says Pennock, who presented the work at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Washington, D.C., this month. "The goal that you have is to find out something true about the world, regardless of what your preferred hypothesis might be."
---------------------------------------------
EPA TO CRACK DOWN ON CHEMICAL PLANTS AND REFINERIES
Tags: industrial, release, environmental, petroleum
U.S. chemical companies and refineries are in the crosshairs of an enforcement initiative that EPA unveiled earlier this month.
The new effort is designed to reduce industrial discharges into water, limit toxic air emissions, and cut accidental releases from chemical and other industrial facilities, the agency says.
Some 150 catastrophic accidents occur each year at U.S. facilities that make, use, or store extremely hazardous substances, according to EPA. These incidents release chemicals that cause fatalities, serious injuries, and evacuations. They often occur near low-income or minority communities.
To combat these releases, the agency says its new initiative will focus on innovative prevention measures and better accident response capabilities.
"Enforcement initiatives help EPA focus time and resources on national pollution problems," says Cynthia Giles, EPA assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance. The initiatives are intended to "better protect communities, especially those overburdened by pollution."
The American Chemistry Council, a chemical trade association, offered no comment on EPA"s enforcement efforts. The American Petroleum Institute says, "These initiatives are chasing nonexistent problems," adding that API members strive to comply with federal and state regulations. Refinery emissions have declined significantly in recent years, API says.
However, in the past few years, EPA"s refinery enforcement actions have led to facilities shelling out more than $700 million for settlements of alleged violations, investments in environmental improvements, and penalties, according to EPA data.
---------------------------------------------
OIL SPILL LEAKS UP TO 600 GALLONS INTO BRONX RIVER
Tags: us_NY, transportation, release, response, oils
YONKERS - As much as 600 gallons of oil drained into the Bronx River Saturday as hazmat crews scrambled to clean up a large oil spill.
"It's a major cleanup operation," said Yonkers Fire Department Chief of Operations Robert Capurso.
The truck, carrying 6,000 gallons of home-heating oil, was en route to Glendale Gardens, an apartment building at 125 Bronx River Road, around 8:30 a.m., Battalion Chief Timothy Fitzpatrick said. As the truck pulled into a driveway to make the delivery, oil began leaking out of the truck.
The truck's oil tank was divided into three sections, and the driver managed to contain the oil in two of them as the third section leaked.
Up to 2,000 gallons of oil spilled onto the roadway in front of the apartment building, Fitzpatrick said.
---------------------------------------------
EPA MOVES TO TIGHTEN CHEMICAL PLANT SAFETY RULE
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental
The Obama administration on Thursday unveiled a long-awaited plan to reform the nation"s chemical plant safety standards, with a proposal that would require companies to weigh potentially safer alternatives in the design and operation of manufacturing facilities.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials emphasized that their proposal would not force chemical plants to actually adopt "inherently safer technologies," but simply to analyze those technologies and evaluate the feasibility of implementing less-hazardous approaches.
The EPA proposal also includes changes that the agency says would assist local emergency officials in planning for and responding to plant accidents and improve public awareness of chemical hazards in their communities.
"This proposal is a step in the right direction," EPA assistant administrator Mathy Stanislaus said in a blog post promoting the agency effort. "We want to build on the success of leaders in the chemical industry by enhancing their operations to prevent accidents, and we want to make sure that communities are fully prepared for a chemical plant accident, so that first responders, workers, and neighboring community members are protected."
Chemical industry officials were quick to question the EPA effort, with the American Chemistry Council saying the proposed requirements would "create unnecessary and potentially detrimental complexity."
---------------------------------------------
CONCEPTS OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING FOR CHEMISTS (RSC PUBLISHING)
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, discovery, environmental
Based on a former popular course of the same title, Concepts of Chemical Engineering for Chemists outlines the basic aspects of chemical engineering for chemistry professionals. It clarifies the terminology used and explains the systems methodology approach to process design and operation for chemists with limited chemical engineering knowledge. The book provides practical insights into all areas of chemical engineering with well explained worked examples and case studies. The new edition contains a revised chapter on Process Analysis and two new chapters "Process and Personal Safety" and "Systems Integration and Experimental Design", the latter drawing together material covered in the previous chapters so that readers can design and test their own pilot process systems.
This book is a guide for chemists (and other scientists) who either work alongside chemical engineers or who are undertaking chemical engineering-type projects and who wish to communicate with their colleagues and understand chemical engineering principles.
---------------------------------------------
DOW CHEMICAL CO. SETTLES CASE CITING SUPREME COURT UNCERTAINTY
Tags: us_KS, industrial, follow-up, environmental, urethane
Dow Chemical Co. said Friday it will pay $835 million to settle a long-standing class action lawsuit, after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia decreased its chances of prevailing at the Supreme Court.
The announcement is an early indication of how corporations are shifting their legal strategy after the loss of the court's 5-4 conservative majority.
"I think most corporations facing class actions regarded Justice Scalia as a friend," said Robert Peck, president of the Center for Constitutional Litigation in Washington. "He has been a thoroughly consistent vote on their side of the equation."
Dow was found liable in 2013 by a Kansas jury of allegedly conspiring to fix prices for polyurethane, an industrial chemical used in everything from packaging to car interiors. The judgment dealt with alleged actions by Dow and several other companies between 2000 and 2003. Dow had petitioned the Supreme Court to reconsider the judgment.
But the company said Friday the court's current lineup has "increased the likelihood for unfavorable outcomes for business involved in class action suits."
After Scalia's death earlier this month, the Supreme Court is split 4-4 between justices who are usually conservative and those who are liberal. Split decisions revert to the lower court's opinion, such as the federal court in Kansas which ruled against Dow.
---------------------------------------------
ARCATA FIRE: HAZMAT CALL UNCOVERS AUTO SPRAYING
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
Shortly after 11 a.m. today, Arcata Fire District was dispatched to a possible hazardous material incident at the Bracut Industrial Park off of U.S. Highway 101. Initial reports stated employees could smell fumes coming from a nearby building and complained of feeling sick and nauseous.
Arcata fire crews arrived on scene and the first two engine crews immediately evacuated the building. A third Arcata engine crew worked with Hazmat personnel from Humboldt Bay Fire to develop a plan to make entry into the building. After crews entered the building it was discovered that the building was being used for auto body restoration. It was reported by the tenant that he had sprayed a vehicle in the building.
---------------------------------------------
REPORT: RAIL HAZMAT SAFETY VIOLATIONS SHOULD BE PROSECUTED
Tags: transportation, discovery, response, illegal, petroleum
Federal regulators are failing to refer serious safety violations involving freight rail shipments of crude oil and other hazardous cargo for criminal prosecution, and are going lightly on civil fines, according to a report released Friday by a government watchdog.
The Federal Railroad Administration routinely applies only modest civil penalties for hazardous materials safety violations, even though inspectors request penalties only for serious or repeated infractions, said the report by the Department of Transportation's inspector general.
Instead, the agency's attorneys have made it a priority to process penalties quickly and avoid legal challenges, the report said.
And, although the agency processes hundreds of safety violations each year, it appears that not a single case has ever been referred for criminal investigation, the report said. After examining a random sample of safety violations over five years, the inspector general's office found 17 cases it said should have referred for criminal investigation.
Based on that sample, the inspector general's office estimated 20 percent, or 227 out of 1,126 violations, may have warranted criminal referral. The agency's attorneys told the watchdog that they didn't make criminal referrals because they didn't know the procedures for doing so, and they didn't think it was part of their job.
---------------------------------------------
CONNECTICUT EMPLOYEES EXPOSED TO HEXAVALENT CHROMIUM, FIRE HAZARD FROM REPAIR STATION
Tags: us_CT, industrial, discovery, response, other_chemical
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has recently found that there are several hazards related to the use and presence of hexavalent chromium, a known carcinogen, in the aircraft repair engine station of Budney Overhaul & Repair, Ltd. Inc.
Like Us on Facebook
Budney specializes in the repair and overhaul of various aviation engine and airframe components, with its repair facilities located at 131 New Park Drive, Berlin, Connecticut.
It was established in 1988, this business is actually composed of two companies, a FAA/JAA licensed repair station, and an OEM (original equipment manufacturer).
....
By virtue of its operations and the chemical substances Budney uses, hazards to its workers are therefore part of its operational issues.
OSHA inspectors responded to complaints against the company and found that the grievances are valid. The inspectors found out that there is employee overexposure to hexavalent chromium coupled with a failure to monitor exposure levels and lack of adequate controls to decrease contact levels.
---------------------------------------------
PEMEX WORKER DIES IN FIRE AT PETROCHEMICAL PLANT IN SOUTHEAST MEXICO
Tags: Mexico, industrial, fire, death, petroleum
Feb 26 A worker was killed on Friday after a fire broke out at a petrochemical plant in southeastern Mexico jointly controlled by Mexican state oil giant Pemex and chemicals maker Mexichem, Pemex said.
In a statement, Pemex said Jaime Cisneros was badly burned by the fire, which took place in the incinerator area of Petroquimica Mexicana de Vinilo (PMV) in the Gulf state of Veracruz. He died in the hospital.
The plant, which Pemex said was operating normally after the blaze, produces vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), also known as chloroethene, which is an industrial chemical used to produce plastic piping. (Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter and David Alire Garcia; Editing by David Gregorio)
---------------------------------------------
RESIDENTS WORRIED OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AFTER LAFAYETTE'S FIRE
Tags: us_GA, industrial, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
LAFAYETTE, WALKER COUNTY -
The state fire marshal is investigating what started a fire inside a north Georgia business Friday.
It happened in the Buy the Truck facility in Lafayette injuring 10 employees, two of them critically and putting the surrounding air and water quality in a questionable state.
"We don't have certainty of all of the chemicals that may be in the building," Lafayette City Manager David Hamilton said.
We do know the business works with foam, latex and plastic materials which are non-hazardous but Hamilton said that may have changed.
"They can change when they catch on fire. So a non-hazardous chemical, when it catches on fire, can release a hazardous chemical," he said.
It's unclear how much of a toll Friday's fire will have on the environment which has some who live in this area worried.
---------------------------------------------
Previous post | Top of Page | Next post