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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, 13 Apr 2016 07:18:22 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: 7A50112A-F672-4F1C-81A0-FB91D055BA24**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at 7:17:39 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=CwIFaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=15m8Y6FSWl7Nlb-anI-3ks7ahIX2lqEfnNSG7Dbvc64&s=13tw-gYhz5dMCHE6lFm8mnqXIThhsBw1N5MhWYnbZPo&e=
Table of Contents (10 articles)
STUDENTS TREATED AFTER PEPPER SPRAY INCIDENT AT LAURALTON HALL
Tags: us_CT, education, release, injury, irritant, pepper_spray
CREWS RESPOND TO HAZMAT SITUATION AT THE PORTS
Tags: us_GA, transportation, release, injury, unknown_chemical
PAINT STORE, GODOWNS GO UP IN FLAMES
Tags: India, industrial, fire, response, solvent
FIRE EXTINGUISHING SYSTEM DISCHARGE TEMPORARILY CLOSES SANDWICH GAS STATION
Tags: us_MA, public, release, response, dust, fire_extinguisher
ETANKFIRE REPORTS RESULTS OF LARGE-SCALE ETHANOL FIRE RESEARCH
Tags: Sweden, laboratory, discovery, environmental, ethanol, gasoline
VEGETABLES GROWN WITH TREATED WASTEWATER BOOST HUMAN EXPOSURE TO PHARMACEUTICAL CONTAMINANTS
Tags: Israel, public, discovery, environmental, pharmaceutical, waste
NORTHBROOK BUSINESS EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_IL, industrial, release, response, methylene_chloride
KERALA TEMPLE FIRE: BANNED CHEMICALS IN CRACKERS CAUSED KOLLAM BLAZE
Tags: India, public, follow-up, death, fireworks, illegal
MAN BURNED IN SUSPECTED METH LAB EXPLOSION IN AROOSTOOK COUNTY
Tags: us_ME, public, explosion, response, meth_lab
CHEMICAL SECURITY: EPA KNOWS WHICH PLANTS VIOLATE RULES -- BUT IT CAN'T TELL YOU -- MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2016 -- WWW.EENEWS.NET
Tags: us_TX, industrial, discovery, environmental
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STUDENTS TREATED AFTER PEPPER SPRAY INCIDENT AT LAURALTON HALL
Tags: us_CT, education, release, injury, irritant, pepper_spray
MILFORD " A canister of pepper spray was released at Lauralton Hall Tuesday morning, affecting about 40 students, none seriously.
There were no reports of foul play at the school, and it wasn"t clear later Tuesday how or why irritant was discharged. But fire officials indicated the spay came from the type of canister used for personal self-defense.
Milford Fire Department Battalion Chief Anthony Fabrizi said only 10 of students at the private Catholic girls" school required treatment at area hospitals. He said there were no severe reactions to the spray among the students who were exposed to it.
"The big fear in a situation like this is that it might trigger an allergic reaction and anaphylactic shock, which, of course, would be a very serious, life-threatening event," Fabrizi said. "But, fortunately, no such reactions were seen."
Officials decided to dismiss the girls early on Tuesday " not because of any lingering chemicals, but rather because the incident left the academic day in tatters. Lauralton Hall is expected to be open as usual Wednesday morning.
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CREWS RESPOND TO HAZMAT SITUATION AT THE PORTS
Tags: us_GA, transportation, release, injury, unknown_chemical
SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) -
Emergency crews were dispatched to a Hazmat situation at the Georgia Ports early Tuesday morning.
This all happened around 2 a.m. Tuesday morning when a container fell from a ship at the Garden City Terminal. It was leaking a hazardous material. Emergency crews responded and quickly contained the situation.
A spokesperson for the Ports released the following statement on the situation:
"At approximately 2 a.m., a container discharged from a vessel at the Garden City Terminal was determined to be leaking a hazardous material. Emergency and environmental teams responded immediately and quickly contained the situation. One ILA employee was transported to an area hospital for treatment. The emergency teams have departed the scene and the container has been safely contained," Robert Morris, PIO for Georgia Ports.
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PAINT STORE, GODOWNS GO UP IN FLAMES
Tags: India, industrial, fire, response, solvent
A major fire broke out at a paint store near Manju Cinema around 2 pm here today.
Thinner and chemicals kept in the shops and godowns worsened the situation as flames went out of control and spread to nearby godowns and shops.
The fire brigade team led by senior fire officials reached on the spot. Ten fire tenders made 50 rounds to douse the flames. The firefighters had a tough time controlling the fire as water was ineffective on thinner and chemicals spread there.
Moreover, when the chemical drained into the sewerage, it produced smoke and gas. Also, cracks emerged in the manholes.
Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria and senior police officials visited the spot.
According to the information, there are two shops named Friends Paint and Amber Paint, which belong to two brothers. They have godowns at the back of the shops where they had kept the chemicals and thinner.
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FIRE EXTINGUISHING SYSTEM DISCHARGE TEMPORARILY CLOSES SANDWICH GAS STATION
Tags: us_MA, public, release, response, dust, fire_extinguisher
SANDWICH -- A dry chemical fire extinguishing system discharged for an unknown reason early Tuesday outside a Speedway gas station on Cotuit Road, closing the business for the day according to the Sandwich fire department.
One person was evaluated at the scene but not taken to the hospital, Sandwich fire Captain Scott Ames said.
The fire department was called at 6:54 a.m. to the gas station at 273 Cotuit Road after the fire extinguishing system discharged in the area of the gas pumps. The gas station also includes a convenience store with a Dunkin" Donuts coffee shop.
"We"re not quite sure of the reason for the discharge," Ames said. The dry chemical system is designed to discharge a yellow fire-suppressant powder from nozzles around all the gas pumps. Anyone who happens to be pumping gas or who is in the vicinity can either be covered with the powder or experience eye irritation, Ames said.
The gas station, the convenience store and the coffee shop inside were closed for the day, Ames said. The town health department was called due to concerns about food service at the coffee shop, he said.
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ETANKFIRE REPORTS RESULTS OF LARGE-SCALE ETHANOL FIRE RESEARCH
Tags: Sweden, laboratory, discovery, environmental, ethanol, gasoline
A Swedish research institute released experimental results on the burning behavior of various ethanol blends, conducted as part of the Etankfire project.
The purpose of the joint industry project run by Sweden"s SP Fire Research is to investigate the behavior of large-scale ethanol fires. Significant differences between laboratory and large scale tests indicate that laboratory tests cannot predict large-scale burning behavior.
Multiple tests measured the heat flux, flame height and burning rates of ethanol blends. Three laboratory tests on 200 liter (50 gallon) blends of E97, E85 and E50 were followed by two large- scale tests on 20,000 liters of E97 and E85.
It is known from small-scale experiments that ethanol-rich fuels emit roughly half of the heat flux into the surrounding environment as gasoline. A comparison between the new data from the large-scale experiments and the calculations and existing test data showed that the heat flux levels of an ethanol fire may be two to three times higher than that of a corresponding gasoline fire, which means that there is an increased risk of fire propagation, a greater need for cooling, and more limitations on the performance of the fire and rescue personnel, according to SP Fire Research.
Partners in the large-scale fire research included Shell Research Ltd., Slackmedelscentralen - SMC AB, Lantmannen and Brandforsk. New partners are being recruited for the next stage in the Etankfire project which will investigate methodology and tactics for extinguishing storage tank fires involving ethanol.
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VEGETABLES GROWN WITH TREATED WASTEWATER BOOST HUMAN EXPOSURE TO PHARMACEUTICAL CONTAMINANTS
Tags: Israel, public, discovery, environmental, pharmaceutical, waste
With water shortages rising worldwide, the practice of treating and reusing wastewater for agricultural and household use is growing. In Israel, for example, some 60% of water used in agriculture is reclaimed. But that practice might have a dark side: A new study shows that eating vegetables grown using reclaimed water boosts urine levels of carbamazepine, an anti-epileptic drug commonly detected in wastewater (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2016, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b06256).
The randomized, controlled study is the first to directly address exposure to such pharmaceutical contaminants in humans, says coauthor Ora Paltiel, a professor of hematology and epidemiology at the Hadassah-Hebrew University. "We were very surprised that the effect was so clear."
Drugs can enter the water supply by excretion"through the urine of people who take them"or by disposal of unused medicines down the toilet or in the garbage, at home or in healthcare institutions like hospitals and nursing homes. Water disposed of by drug manufacturers can also contain residues of pharmaceutical compounds. Treatment for wastewater used in agriculture generally does not remove these trace chemicals because purifying such a large quantity of water to drinking water standards would be prohibitively expensive, says Benny Chefetz, a professor of soil science at Hebrew University and study coauthor. So drugs can contaminate treated wastewater and find their way into agricultural use.
The researchers gave 34 healthy volunteers batches of produce, including lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and other vegetables, to use according to their normal eating habits. For the first week of the study, participants received either vegetables grown on a farm irrigated with reclaimed wastewater or vegetables grown on an organic farm that only used freshwater. For the second week, the reclaimed-water group received freshwater-grown produce, and the freshwater group"because of a produce supply issue"received produce from a supermarket, which likely included a mix of produce grown with freshwater and reclaimed water. Everyone received bottled water from the researchers to drink to control for other sources of water contamination.
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NORTHBROOK BUSINESS EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_IL, industrial, release, response, methylene_chloride
No one was injured in a hazardous material incident at a Northbrook factory Monday night, according to Northbrook Fire Department officials.
Firefighters were called to Ramcel Engineering Co., 2926 MacArthur Blvd., about 6:45 p.m. after a liter or more of a degreasing compound leaked from a machine, Deputy Fire Chief Tim Smeltzer said.
The chemical was dichloromethane, Northbrook Fire Department District Chief Dan Quinn said. Dichloromethane in high concentrations is an inhalation hazard and can cause irritation to skin and eyes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Quinn said the company immediately evacuated about 25 employees and called the fire department.
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KERALA TEMPLE FIRE: BANNED CHEMICALS IN CRACKERS CAUSED KOLLAM BLAZE
Tags: India, public, follow-up, death, fireworks, illegal
Officials investigating Sunday"s temple fire in Kerala are almost certain that potassium chlorate, a banned and deadly chemical, was used in making the firecrackers that caused the mishap, killing 112 people.
Only two months ago, investigators in Bengaluru revealed that potassium chlorate was one of the chemicals that Simi operative Mohammed Rafiq used in making a crude bomb that killed a woman outside a restaurant in that city.
One of the reasons for mishaps during fireworks displays in Kerala has always been the use of potassium chlorate, an official of the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) told Firstpost.
A view of a damaged building after a massive fire broke out during a fireworks display in Paravoor north of Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. PTI
Known earlier as the Department of Explosives, PESO has its headquarters in Nagpur and comes under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. A team PESO experts, led by Chief Controller of Explosives Sudharshan Kamal, reached the mishap site on Monday to conduct its own investigation.
The reason potassium chlorate is used illegally in making firecrackers is that it makes them more noisy, besides making them more colourful and more likely to fly higher. More importantly, it costs one-third as much as the mixture of potassium nitrate or sodium nitrate that most Indian firecracker-makers use as a substitute.
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MAN BURNED IN SUSPECTED METH LAB EXPLOSION IN AROOSTOOK COUNTY
Tags: us_ME, public, explosion, response, meth_lab
A 45-year-old man was burned on his hands, arms and face Sunday in Sherman in what investigators believe was a methamphetamine laboratory explosion.
Todd Budick was treated by rescue workers at the scene of the fire on Sunday on Gallison Road in the Aroostook County town, where a meth lab inside a shed caught fire, according to Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety.
"Sunday"s fire was discovered by an off-duty firefighter who drove by the property on Gallison Road and saw that Budick"s clothes were on fire," McCausland said in a news release.
Budick left the property after being treated.
Fire investigators from the State Fire Marshal"s Office returned to the property Monday with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency"s lab team, which is cleaning up the meth lab remnants inside the shed.
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CHEMICAL SECURITY: EPA KNOWS WHICH PLANTS VIOLATE RULES -- BUT IT CAN'T TELL YOU -- MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2016 -- WWW.EENEWS.NET
Tags: us_TX, industrial, discovery, environmental
U.S. EPA knows which chemical facilities aren't following federal safety protocols, but it can't tell the public where they are.
So-called outlier plants handle hazardous chemicals at levels high enough to trigger federal reporting requirements -- but they're not complying.
EPA identified between 13 and 15 potential violators in the wake of an explosion at an outlier plant in West, Texas, three years ago this month that killed 15 people. At least two outliers remain out of compliance.
But their identities remain a secret thanks to post-Sept. 11 regulations administered by a different agency, the Department of Homeland Security.
Unlike an earlier generation of environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, programs launched under the umbrella of DHS were crafted largely without any sense of transparency in mind.
If EPA told the public the names of the 13 outlier plants, people who live near them might be prodded to take more precautions. Workers might think twice before taking a job there. Or community groups could protest at the plants and pressure them to listen to federal overseers.
"The disaster at West illustrates the level of harm that our communities can suffer when something at even a small facility holding hazardous chemicals goes wrong," Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.) said at a hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee's Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Security Technologies in 2013. "Whether the harm is intentional or the result is an accident, the effects are devastating. And that's why it's so important that these outliers are accounted for."
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