A couple of quibbles regarding the classifications associated with two of the Chemical Safety Headlines:
First, the article states it was a "whitening pigment", not a dye. From my personal knowledge of operations at this plant, it is undoubtedly titanium dioxide. The real chemical released, however, was almost certainly titanium tetrachloride, which when airborne forms titanium dioxide (visible) and hydrogen chloride gas (not so visible, but MUCH more hazardous). Interesting that the article (and the company spokesman?) conveniently neglects to mention this!
From: "Ralph Stuart" <ras2047**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
Sent: Friday, July 8, 2016 10:12:19 AM
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (14 articles)
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, July 8, 2016 at 8:06:24 AM
A membership benefit of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
All article summaries and tags are archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas
Table of Contents (14 articles)
MH FIREFIGHTERS CLEAN UP CHEMICAL SPILL THURSDAY
Tags: us_AR, industrial, release, response, hydrochloric_acid
HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO STRONG ODOR ON TEMPLE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
Tags: us_PA, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical
AIRBORNE HAZMAT LEAK AT EDISON PLANT THURSDAY MORNING
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, release, injury, dye
HAZMAT INCIDENT IN MONROE CONTAINED
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, response, nitric_acid, sodium
FINAL PREPARATIONS UNDERWAY TO DESTROY CHEMICAL MUNITIONS FOUND ON JOINT BASE
Tags: us_MD, industrial, discovery, environmental, mustard_gas, phosgene
DUPONT ORDERED TO PAY MILLIONS OVER TOXIC CHEMICAL EXPOSURE
Tags: us_OH, public, discovery, environmental, toxics
EXPLOSION INJURES THREE IN HARTFORD
Tags: us_VT, public, explosion, injury, other_chemical
NSF EMPLOYEE ASKS FOR INVESTIGATION OF ROTATING WORKER SYSTEM
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
FDA REQUESTS SAFETY DATA ON HAND SANITIZERS
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental, drugs, ethanol
REPORT: CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD MUST CONDUCT MORE INVESTIGATIONS
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental
6 NEW JERSEY FIREFIGHTERS EXPOSED TO CHEMICALS, HOSPITALIZED
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
SPRAIN REOPENS AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_NY, transportation, release, injury, hydrochloric_acid
NO ONE INJURED IN EXPLOSION AT INDUSTRIAL BUILDING
Tags: us_FL, industrial, explosion, response, unknown_chemical
HAWAII LAB EXPLOSION CAUSED BY STATIC DISCHARGE
Tags: us_HI, laboratory, follow-up, injury, biodiesel, hydrogen
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MH FIREFIGHTERS CLEAN UP CHEMICAL SPILL THURSDAY
Tags: us_AR, industrial, release, response, hydrochloric_acid
Firefighters with Mountain Home Fire Department cleaned up a half-gallon hydrochloric spill Thursday morning at the Village Carpet Shop warehouse. Captain Darrin Peoples said there were no reported injuries, but people need to call the authorities "any time there's a chemical release."
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HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO STRONG ODOR ON TEMPLE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
Tags: us_PA, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical
NORTH PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia Hazmat crews responded to Temple University late Wednesday night after a strong odor was reported.
It happened around 11:30 p.m. at the Beury Science Hall building, located on the 1900 block of North 13th Street.
According to police, A graduate student was conducting an experiment that caused a leaking substance with a strong odor.
Licenses and Inspections and the Health Department were also contacted.
Ten overnight employees were evacuated as a precaution.
Crews ventilated the building, and the incident was placed under control within a half hour.
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AIRBORNE HAZMAT LEAK AT EDISON PLANT THURSDAY MORNING
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, release, injury, dye
Edison, NJ - Edison Township firefighters and the Middlesex County Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) unit helped contain an airborne vapor release early Thursday morning at a 100-acre chemical manufacturing plant on Meadow Road. This is the second hazmat leak this week in Middlesex County: Four chemical storage tanks ruptured in Carteret on Tuesday, causing a leak. Four firefighters required medical treatment in that incident.
An equipment leak at LyondellBasell Industries, 340 Meadow Road, caused the release of a visible cloud on the facility's property at about 4:30 a.m. Thursday. The airborne material contained a whitening pigment commonly used sunscreen, paint, and toothpaste, said Michael Waldron, a spokesman for the company.
Working with LyondellBasell's emergency response team, Edison firefighters and HAZMAT specialists helped ensure the vapor cloud remained contained on-site as it dispersed, said fire Capt. Andy Toth, Edison's emergency management coordinator.
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HAZMAT INCIDENT IN MONROE CONTAINED
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, response, nitric_acid, sodium
KIRYAS JOEL - Monroe Fire Chief Daniel Bennet released the following report last Thursday morning as The Photo News was going to the printer:
=E2=80=A2 On Wednesday, July 6, at 8:53 p.m. the Kiryas Joel Fire Department took a direct call for a reported smoke investigation in the area of 94 Seven Springs Road.
=E2=80=A2 Monroe Fire Department was immediately dispatched. Upon arrival of first units on the property two 55 gallon drums were located.
=E2=80=A2 Upon a quick investigation it was determined that both drums were leaking and emitting a vapor.
=E2=80=A2 Monroe Fire Department immediately requested contact with Orange County Hazardous Materials Team duty officer and quickly upgraded their response to the scene.
=E2=80=A2 Also requested to the scene to assist in mitigation was West Point Fire Department with Hazmat technicians.
=E2=80=A2 It was soon determined that one drum was sodium borohydride and the other nitric acid.
=E2=80=A2 Technicians from Orange County Hazmat and West Point worked quickly to contain the leak and prevent any further damage to people or the environment.
=E2=80=A2 From initial time of call to placing this situation under control was approximately three and one half hours.
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FINAL PREPARATIONS UNDERWAY TO DESTROY CHEMICAL MUNITIONS FOUND ON JOINT BASE
Tags: us_MD, industrial, discovery, environmental, mustard_gas, phosgene
JOINT BASE McGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST - It's a little-known fact that the Lakehurst side of the joint base was founded 100 years ago as a munitions testing site for the Imperial Russian Army and that the U.S. Army Chemical Corps also used it as a proving ground and training site during World War I.
Base officials got an all too real reminder of that history late last year when two World War I-era artillery rounds containing chemical agents were discovered on a remote area of the base.
A 75 mm shell that tested positive for mustard was recovered in November and a "Livens projectile" canister that is believed to contain phosgene gas was found in early December..
Since their discovery, both ordnances have been held in special secured containers watched by armed guards 24-hours-a-day.
Now, after months of the planning and preparations, including approvals from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in the Netherlands, the rounds will be disposed of this month by workers from the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Activity without ever leaving the joint base's secure confines.
Based at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, the group specializes in storing, treating and disposing of chemical weapons safely.
"This coming weeks will be the culmination of all this planning and activity and collaboration, and we'll be destroying these devices," said Col. Gregory McClure, commander of the joint base's 87th Civil Engineer Group, during a briefing and tour of the state-of-the-art Explosive Destruction System set up on the Lakehurst side of the sprawling installation, near where the two chemical rounds were discovered.
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DUPONT ORDERED TO PAY MILLIONS OVER TOXIC CHEMICAL EXPOSURE
Tags: us_OH, public, discovery, environmental, toxics
(Reuters) - A U.S. jury on Wednesday ordered DuPont to pay $5.1 million to a man who said he developed testicular cancer from exposure to a toxic chemical used to make Teflon at one of its plants, according to a DuPont spokesman.
It is the second time jurors in Ohio federal court have found against DuPont, which is facing more than 3,400 lawsuits from residents who say they contracted one of six diseases linked to perfluorooctanoic acid, known as PFOA or C-8, which is used to make products such as Teflon non-stick cookware.
Following a five-week trial, jurors deliberated for less than a day before finding DuPont was negligent and awarding $5.1 million in compensatory damages to Mr. David Freeman, an Ohio resident who said he developed testicular cancer from his exposure to C-8 in drinking water.
The jury also decided that DuPont had acted with actual malice, a finding that exposes the company to punitive damages, the amount of which will be determined at a proceeding starting Thursday.
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EXPLOSION INJURES THREE IN HARTFORD
Tags: us_VT, public, explosion, injury, other_chemical
HARTFORD VILLAGE - Two Upper Valley men were airlifted to burn units in Boston and a third remains hospitalized with comparatively minor flash burns following an explosion Tuesday inside a private garage where they were restoring a classic car.
First responders said, the three men were in the process of removing a gas tank from a 1970 Camaro with an oxyacetylene torch when the explosion happened.
Chuck Gordon, owner of A-C Lawn Care, told first responders that he was standing just feet from his best friend Mark Kidder and new employee Chris Macedo, as they cut through the fuel line of the Camaro and a tremendous blast went off inside the three-bay garage on Old River Road.
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NSF EMPLOYEE ASKS FOR INVESTIGATION OF ROTATING WORKER SYSTEM
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
The National Science Foundation relies on temporary employees on detail from universities or other research centers to manage many of its programs, including chemistry. The leader of the American Federation of Government Employees union at the agency says these "rotators" put peer review of federal research grants at risk. In a letter to Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), union president David Verardo claims that NSF is jeopardizing its grant programs by "handing control over to the people who benefit directly from NSF grants." Verardo, a program director for paleoclimate research, claims those jobs could better be filled by career civil servants who would have fewer conflicts. He says the union has been excluded from talks about reforming the rotator system and asks for an investigation by the congressional Government Accountability Office. In response, NSF spokesperson Aya Collins says there is a great benefit to the rotator system. The rotators are "an important par!
t of NSF's workforce, ensuring that the agency has a diverse, agile staff on the forefront of scientific progress," she says.
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FDA REQUESTS SAFETY DATA ON HAND SANITIZERS
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental, drugs, ethanol
Manufacturers who market over-the-counter hand sanitizers in the U.S. would have to submit data to FDA on the safety and effectiveness of certain active ingredients in their products, under a rule proposed by FDA last week. Millions of consumers use these products daily to help reduce bacteria on their hands when soap and water are not available. FDA wants to learn more about the long-term safety of daily exposure to three ingredients: ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, and benzalkonium chloride. Ethyl alcohol is used in 90% of all consumer hand sanitizers, FDA says. The proposed rule would not require manufacturers to remove hand sanitizers from the market, but companies would have to show that their products are safe and effective at reducing bacteria on skin. "It's our responsibility to determine whether these products are safe and effective so that consumers can be confident when using them on themselves and their families multiple times a day," says Janet Woodcock,!
director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation & Research.
---------------------------------------------
REPORT: CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD MUST CONDUCT MORE INVESTIGATIONS
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental
The federal agency that investigates incidents at chemical plants fell far short of its statutory responsibilities in recent years, according to a newly released report.
The EPA Office of Inspector General report identified three "major management challenges" - or issues that could make agencies "vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement" =E2=80" with the Chemical Safety Board in the 2016 fiscal year.
The analysis, in particular, found a "gap" between the incidents investigated by CSB and the number of serious chemical accidents that it is charged with investigating.
In the previous five fiscal years, CSB investigated just 11 of 241 chemical accidents that involved fatalities..
In addition to increasing the number of investigations, the report said that CSB needs to improve the controls over the investigations that it does conduct. Two of the three probes wrapped up in fiscal year 2016 lasted six years, while the third - involving a fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas - took nearly three.
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6 NEW JERSEY FIREFIGHTERS EXPOSED TO CHEMICALS, HOSPITALIZED
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
CARTERET, N.J. =E2=80" Six New Jersey firefighters who were exposed to a "chemical haze" pouring out of a warehouse have been taken to a hospital.
Firefighters in Carteret in Middlesex County responded to the warehouse early Tuesday and found "smoke emitting" from the building. Fire officials say the smoke was caused by a chemical reaction.
According to property tax records, NJ.com reports the warehouse is owned by Cyprus Amax Minerals Company. Fire officials say the company doesn't process chemicals, but houses raw materials to be shipped overseas.
Officials say the warehouse manager had opened the doors to the building to ventilate it, and when firefighters arrived, they were hit by a downdraft. Officials say they were taken to a hospital with respiratory-related issues. They're expected to recover.
---------------------------------------------
SPRAIN REOPENS AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_NY, transportation, release, injury, hydrochloric_acid
People are driving again on the Sprain Brook Parkway, hours after they passed the time with guitars and golf after a chemical spill brought the southbound side to a standstill.
Drivers found themselves in a traffic nightmare overnight when a multi-vehicle crash occurred south of the Ardsley Road overpass in Greenburgh, stranding people for hours.
The crash occurred around 9 p.m., when one of the vehicles spilled hydrochloric acid, said Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner. Two people were taken to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla with minor injuries unrelated to chemical exposure, he said.
Greenburgh police said all southbound lanes were shut down in that area while crews cleaned up the spill, and state police said this morning that the road was reopened by 1:30 a.m.
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NO ONE INJURED IN EXPLOSION AT INDUSTRIAL BUILDING
Tags: us_FL, industrial, explosion, response, unknown_chemical
LAKELAND - A chemical explosion happened in Lakeland on Tuesday at Key Safety Systems, an automotive safety components supplier that manufactures air bags.
The explosion happened about 7 p..m. in a building near the headquarters at 5300 Allen K. Breed Highway, north of Lakeland Linder Regional Airport.
No one was injured, said Shannon Turbeville, an investigator with the Lakeland Fire Department.
Turbeville said an employee left a room where she was working, then heard a sound from a machine in the building that makes pellets used in air bags. She and another employee were able to leave the building before the explosion occurred.
Sixteen fire personnel and 10 vehicles from the fire department were at the building after the explosion.
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HAWAII LAB EXPLOSION CAUSED BY STATIC DISCHARGE
Tags: us_HI, laboratory, follow-up, injury, biodiesel, hydrogen
An explosion at a University of Hawaii M=C4=81noa laboratory that took the arm of a visiting postdoctoral researcher was likely caused by static discharge, according to the results of an independent investigation.
The University of California Center for Laboratory Safety has released two reports outlining its findings and providing recommendations on how the university and other research institutions can improve laboratory safety.
Investigators also noted that certain safety failings might have played a role in the incident. 'While it could be argued that the experimental circumstances in the POST 30 lab were unique, the Investigative Team concludes that serious deficiencies in the institution's approach to laboratory safety contributed to a lapse in proper risk assessment and lack of a culture of safety that ultimately led to the accident,' they say in one of the reports.
The explosion occurred in March at the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute biofuels research laboratory, when visiting research fellow, Thea Ekins-Coward, was transferring hydrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide into a low-pressure gas tank to make a growth medium for cells.
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