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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 (14 articles)
Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2016 06:38:30 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: 92A2309B-97E5-4B7A-8661-556DC980F6DF**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, August 5, 2016 at 6:38:15 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=DQIFaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=n2zPu-oincuhcemJ2mwXT2xPW6cECid0R_qFzSTRUI0&s=76TxkGsvlwCjQy4x1TJT4itbNttd2EaLKKzB8B1VWgQ&e=
Table of Contents (14 articles)
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION (ACS PUBLICATIONS)
Tags: education, discovery, environmental
HAZMAT FIRM CITED BY OSHA AFTER WORKERS SICKENED BY MERCURY
Tags: us_NY, industrial, follow-up, environmental, mercury
GAS LINE LEAK UNDER CONTROL IN SPRINGFIELD
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, natural_gas
CORROSIVE CHEMICAL SPILLS IN TRAILER NEAR GLOBAL MARINE TERMINAL
Tags: us_NJ, transportation, release, response, ammonium_hydroxide
REFINERY FOSTERED WEAK SAFETY, CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD SAYS
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental
CORROSIVE CHEMICAL SPILLS IN TRUCK NEAR HUDSON COUNTY CONTAINER TERMINAL
Tags: us_NJ, transportation, release, response, ammonium_hydroxide
FOLLOWING 2012 CHEVRON FIRE, STATE TO CONSIDER NEW REGULATIONS ON REFINERIES
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental
TRUCK WITH HAZARDOUS MATERIAL CRASHES ON I-90 NEAR CLE ELUM
Tags: us_WA, transportation, release, response, ammonia
HOMELAND SECURITY TODAY: TECHNICAL BRIEF ON BLEVE EXPLOSIONS FOR PROPANE, LPG AND NATURAL GAS TANKS AVAILABLE
Tags: us_IA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, flammables
THYROID DISRUPTING CHEMICALS FOUND IN HOUSEHOLD DUST
Tags: Swaziland, laboratory, discovery, environmental, ag_chems, dust
NEW CHEMICALS ADD CONCERN OVER E-CIGARETTES‰?? HEALTH IMPACT
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental, acrolein, ethylene_glycol, formaldehyde
BURIED BATTERY CASINGS PROMPT HEALTH SCARE IN NJ
Tags: us_NJ, public, discovery, response, batteries, waste
JUDGE ORDERS HANFORD CHEMICAL VAPOR SAFETY MEASURES SUGGESTED BY DOE
Tags: us_WA, industrial, follow-up, response, metals
UNION COUNTY BUSINESS EXPOSED WORKERS TO CHEMICAL, OTHER SAFETY HEALTH HAZARDS: OSHA
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, discovery, response, dust
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JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION (ACS PUBLICATIONS)
Tags: education, discovery, environmental
Safety education is absent in the chemistry curriculum. This commentary discusses the consequences of the missing safety education for graduates and institutions that hire them. It suggests and discusses the application of the theory of Normalization of Deviance to explain why safety education is missing. It suggests ways to fix the shortcoming by involving not only chemistry but other departments and top administrators. It suggests ways to incorporate safety education, the ‰??why‰?? of safety, into the curriculum.
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HAZMAT FIRM CITED BY OSHA AFTER WORKERS SICKENED BY MERCURY
Tags: us_NY, industrial, follow-up, environmental, mercury
A New York hazardous materials remediation contractor has been cited and is facing $142,200 in proposed penalties from federal workplace safety regulators for exposing its workers to mercury.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Schenectady, New York-based Environmental Remediation Services Inc. for one willful and 13 serious violations after finding the contractor failed to properly safeguard employees performing mercury removal work at a Superfund site in Schenectady, the agency said Wednesday in a statement.
The agency began its inspection in March after employees complained about mercury exposure and lack of personal protective equipment while they were removing liquid mercury and mercury-contaminated soil and wood from the site, according to the release. OSHA's inspection found that several employees inhaled or absorbed excessive levels of mercury vapor or liquid mercury through their skin. Biological monitoring confirmed the workers had symptoms consistent with respiratory mercury exposure.
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GAS LINE LEAK UNDER CONTROL IN SPRINGFIELD
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, natural_gas
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Hazmat crews have a gas line leak under control on North Laura Street in the Springfield area, according to the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department.
The 2-inch natural gas line broke during construction about 11:20 a.m. about a block west of U.S. 1, fire officials said.
Crews had the leak under control just after noon.
Gas utility company personnel were at the scene, along with firefighters.
The gas line break was a few blocks south of Kirby-Smith Middle School and Andrew A. Robinson Elementary School.
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CORROSIVE CHEMICAL SPILLS IN TRAILER NEAR GLOBAL MARINE TERMINAL
Tags: us_NJ, transportation, release, response, ammonium_hydroxide
BAYONNE ‰?? Police and fire personnel responded yesterday to a report of a corrosive chemical leaking inside a tractor-trailer near Global Marine Terminal.
At 12:01 p.m., city firefighters were dispatched to 100 Port Jersey Blvd., located adjacent to the terminal, where they found a small spill on the ground at the rear of the trailer, Bayonne Fire Chief Keith Weaver said.
The trailer contained 55-gallon drums of what the state Department of Environmental Protection identified as ammonium hydroxide, and it was determined that two of the drums had leaked about 15 to 20 gallons of the chemical, Weaver said.
The fire chief said no one was injured in the incident.
Ammonium hydroxide is a colorless solution with a pungent odor that is used in household cleaners, photography and fertilizers, among other things, according to the state Department of Health.
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REFINERY FOSTERED WEAK SAFETY, CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD SAYS
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental
The Tesoro refinery in Martinez, Calif., for years ignored safety problems and fostered a weak safety culture, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board says in a report released on Aug. 2.
Board officials urged Tesoro and other refiners to elevate the importance of process safety and encouraged state and local regulators to frequently conduct preventive safety inspections of the facility.
Triggering CSB‰??s report and investigation were incidents in February and March 2014 at the facility‰??s alkylation unit, which carries out a process common at U.S. refineries. Tesoro‰??s unit uses sulfuric acid as a catalyst to reformulate low-value hydrocarbons, such as propane and butane, to produce a premium, high-octane gasoline blend stock.
The first of the two accidents was the result of a piping failure that released some 38,000 kg of sulfuric acid over two hours and burned two employees. Tesoro initially characterized the accident as minor and refused to allow CSB to investigate. In the second incident a month later, two contract workers were sprayed and burned with sulfuric acid at the same unit.
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CORROSIVE CHEMICAL SPILLS IN TRUCK NEAR HUDSON COUNTY CONTAINER TERMINAL
Tags: us_NJ, transportation, release, response, ammonium_hydroxide
BAYONNE -- Police and fire personnel responded today to a report of a corrosive chemical leaking inside a tractor trailer near Global Marine Terminal.
At 12:01 p.m., city firefighters were dispatched to 100 Port Jersey Blvd., located adjacent to the terminal, where they found a small spill on the ground at the rear of the trailer, Bayonne Fire Chief Keith Weaver said.
The trailer contained 55-gallon drums of what the state Department of Environmental Protection identified as ammonium hydroxide, and it was determined that two of the drums had leaked about 15 to 20 gallons of the chemical, Weaver said.
---------------------------------------------
FOLLOWING 2012 CHEVRON FIRE, STATE TO CONSIDER NEW REGULATIONS ON REFINERIES
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental
RICHMOND -- Four years after a massive fire at the Chevron refinery sent thousands of people to area hospitals, the state is considering new regulations for oil refineries that, if enacted, could be among the toughest in the country.
Proposed changes include adopting safer designs and systems, giving refinery employees authority to shut down operations if they feel there are unsafe conditions, and requiring all incidents to be investigated, not just those the refinery chooses. Refineries would also be required to investigate the root cause of any incident and develop corrective measures in response.
The cost of refinery accidents in California has been estimated at $800 million per year, as a result of additional emergency services, health care, and reduction in property values and tax revenue to local governments, according to a recent Rand Corporation study.
There are four oil refineries in Contra Costa County that combined have had 19 accidents over the past decade, according to the county's Health Services Department, the agency tasked with regulating refineries.
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TRUCK WITH HAZARDOUS MATERIAL CRASHES ON I-90 NEAR CLE ELUM
Tags: us_WA, transportation, release, response, ammonia
CLE ELUM, WASH.
A semitrailer carrying hazardous material crashed on Interstate 90 in central Washington state, killing the driver, sending fumes into the air and causing some residences to be temporarily evacuated.
Washington State Patrol Trooper John Bryant says hazmat crews plugged a vent in a 1,000-gallon tank that punctured in the crash and released anhydrous ammonia, a gas widely used on farms as nitrogen fertilizer.
Eastbound lanes of I-90 between Cle Elum and Ellensburg re-opened to traffic in the afternoon while westbound lanes re-opened at 8 p.m. Cle Elum is about 75 miles southeast of Seattle.
Bryant says the truck was heading west with four tanks of anhydrous ammonia Wednesday morning when the driver apparently lost control, veered into the median and rolled over
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HOMELAND SECURITY TODAY: TECHNICAL BRIEF ON BLEVE EXPLOSIONS FOR PROPANE, LPG AND NATURAL GAS TANKS AVAILABLE
Tags: us_IA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, flammables
A Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion (BLEVE) can occur if a propane, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or a natural gas tank is heated such as when engulfed in a fire, causing buildup of vapor pressure within the tank which overwhelms the ability of safety valves to allow the pressure buildup to escape. Flaming jets exiting a tank from a safety valve due to BLEVE are followed by a sudden explosion and fireball, as can be viewed in this video.
‰??Tank fragments can be tossed long distances as a result of the explosion,‰?? said Aristatek, Inc, a leading provider of hazardous materials planning and response solutions in a new technical paper, Propane Brief, detailing the hazards of propane, LPG and natural gas that includes a BLEVE chart for safe standoff distances.
Indeed. Aristatek noted in its new technical brief that an 18,000 gallon propane tank explosion occurring on April 9, 1998 near Albert City, Iowa, resulting in the deaths of two firefighters and seven more injured. The explosion was invested by the US Chemical Safety Board, which found the tank was engulfed in flames shooting jets 70 to 100 yards into the air before the explosion. Fragments from the exploding tank killed two firefighters and narrowly missed or injured others. At least 36 (possibly 40) fragments were recovered some distance away, including off the 14-acre property site. The pressure relief valve (set at 250 psi) was working, but the Chemical Safety Board estimated the pressure inside the tank had built up to almost 1,000 psi before the explosion. The CSB report said the firefighters were too close.
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THYROID DISRUPTING CHEMICALS FOUND IN HOUSEHOLD DUST
Tags: Swaziland, laboratory, discovery, environmental, ag_chems, dust
Thyroid hormone signaling helps regulate many processes, including metabolism, cardiovascular function, and brain development. But manmade chemicals like herbicides and plasticizers that can disrupt this signaling have found their way into the environment. And part of that environment is pretty close to home: household dust.
Researchers at UmeÌ´ University have developed a model to help identify which of the chemicals found in household dust might be binding to the thyroid receptor and thus disrupting the signaling process.
Kwangho Nam, Patrik L. Andersson, and coworkers incorporated into their model multiple crystal structures of the ë21 form of the human thyroid receptor, each complexed with a different ligand and with a slightly different conformation of the ligand binding site (Chem. Res. Toxicol. 2016, DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.6b00171). They used a set of compounds known to bind to the thyroid receptor to develop computational methods for predicting compounds that interact with the binding site. To get better predictions, they used a molecular mechanics method that better estimates how the solvent affects ligand binding.
---------------------------------------------
NEW CHEMICALS ADD CONCERN OVER E-CIGARETTES‰?? HEALTH IMPACT
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental, acrolein, ethylene_glycol, formaldehyde
Two new chemicals of concern have been connected to electronic cigarettes: Glycidol, a probable carcinogen, is found in e-cigarette vapor; and propylene oxide, a respiratory irritant and possible carcinogen, is found in the flavored liquid heated by the device to produce the vapor. Hugo Destaillats of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and his colleagues also confirmed the presence of the probable carcinogens formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, as well as the strong respiratory and eye irritant acrolein, in the vapor (Environ. Sci. Technol., DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b01741).
Notably, the researchers conclude that several of these compounds come from heating the liquid‰??s solvents, propylene glycol and glycerin. Glycidol, acrolein, and formaldehyde are thermal by-products of glycerin, and propylene glycol degrades into acetaldehyde and formaldehyde.
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BURIED BATTERY CASINGS PROMPT HEALTH SCARE IN NJ
Tags: us_NJ, public, discovery, response, batteries, waste
WEST DEPTFORD, N.J. (WPVI) -- Dangerous chemicals have been found lurking in contaminated soil in Gloucester County, New Jersey.
The cleanup is costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, and has an entire neighborhood worried about its health.
It all began a few months ago the Martins Family of West Deptford hired someone to repair a damaged sewer line beneath their home.
"As they are digging, it looked like they found battery parts. They called hazmat and they started digging," said Wilma Martins.
The hazmat team, in turn, called in EPA officials, who determined that sometime before the house was built, someone had buried tons of toxic car battery casings beneath the property.
"Essentially our investigation is collecting soil samples, mainly looking for lead contamination associated with the battery casings. Also, obviously, looking for the batter casings themselves because the battery casings en masse are a hazardous waste," said David Rosoff of the EPA.
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JUDGE ORDERS HANFORD CHEMICAL VAPOR SAFETY MEASURES SUGGESTED BY DOE
Tags: us_WA, industrial, follow-up, response, metals
The Department of Energy and its tank farm contractor have been ordered to continue using supplied-air respirators and take other steps already proposed by DOE to protect Hanford workers from chemical vapors.
U.S. Judge Thomas Rice ordered DOE and its contractor at a hearing Tuesday to take the steps until he rules on immediate protections requested by the state of Washington and other plaintiffs in a motion for preliminary injunction they filed last month.
DOE had asked for reasonable time to prepare arguments and retain expert witnesses before Rice ruled on the preliminary injunction but offered to take steps to protect workers until the ruling.
It said it would continue using supplied air respirators within all Hanford tank farms. It had already taken that action in response to demands made in June by the Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council, an organization of Hanford unions.
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UNION COUNTY BUSINESS EXPOSED WORKERS TO CHEMICAL, OTHER SAFETY HEALTH HAZARDS: OSHA
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, discovery, response, dust
RAHWAY, NJ ‰?? A Union County furniture manufacturer has been cited for exposing workers to chemical and other safety, health hazards by the U.S. Department of Labor‰??s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The Spoon Group, doing business as ‰??Prop N Spoon‰?? at 970 New Brunswick Ave., Bldg. 1 in Rahway was issued citations for 19 serious and one other-than-serious health and safety violations and could face $47,600 in penalties.
‰??If not addressed immediately, the hazards cited at Prop N Spoon‰??s warehouse will continue to pose serious safety and health dangers to employees. This is especially true for workers handling chemicals and working in areas with combustible dust,‰?? said Patricia Jones, director of OSHA‰??s Avenel Area Office. ‰??This employer and all employers should take steps to anticipate, recognize, evaluate and control potential safety and health hazards in their workplace."
A health inspection by OSHA was started on Feb. 25 after a complaint stated the employer was exposing workers to chemical hazards and not providing them with a respiratory protection program, according to OSHA.
On May 5, a safety inspection followed where an OSHA compliance officer observed and reported combustible dust hazards and a lack of safety guards on machines, according to OSHA.
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