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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, September 5, 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 http://pinboard.in/u:dchas
Table of Contents (19 articles)
WATCH SAFETY MATCHES SET ABLAZE WITH SULFURIC ACID
Tags: public, discovery, response, phosphorus, sulfuric_acid
LESSONS LEARNED DATABASE
Tags: transportation, release, response, acids, batteries
LESSONS LEARNED DATABASE
Tags: us_NM, laboratory, follow-up, response, oxidizer, waste
WEST EXPLOSION POSTSCRIPT: OVER-REGULATION OF THE WRONG CHEMICAL?
Tags: us_TX, transportation, discovery, environmental, ammonia
CHINESE CHEMICAL BAN CUTTING ILLEGAL DRUG USE IN U.S.
Tags: us_FL, public, discovery, environmental, drugs
SWEDEN SETS OUT BUDGET FOR NON-TOXIC LIVING STRATEGY
Tags: Sweden, public, discovery, environmental, toxics
PINT-SIZE EXPLOSIVES IN THE SERVICE BAY
Tags: us_OK, public, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
WITHIN HOURS, CHEMICAL LEAK FROM RAIL CAR CONTAINED
Tags: us_NC, transportation, release, response, phenol
2 FIREFIGHTERS INJURED BATTLING HUNTINGTON PARK COMMERCIAL FIRE
Tags: us_CA, industrial, fire, injury, cyanide, hydrofluoric_acid, metals
7 SENT TO HOSPITAL AFTER CHLORINE LEAK AT INDUSTRIAL FACILITY OFF TUAS
Tags: Singapore, industrial, release, injury, chlorine, gas_cylinders
U.S. BANS COMMON CHEMICALS IN ANTIBACTERIAL SOAPS
Tags: public, discovery, response, other_chemical
FOUR RUSHED TO HOSPITAL AFTER HORROR CHEMICAL REACTION IN BILLINGHAM, TEESSIDE
Tags: United_Kingdom, transportation, release, response, water_treatment
I-90 NEAR SUNSET HILL BACK OPEN AFTER GAS LEAK
Tags: us_WA, industrial, release, response, ammonia
BORCO CHEMICAL SPILL CLEANUP CONTINUES AFTER 'EXPLOSION' ON TUESDAY
Tags: Bahamas, industrial, explosion, response, unknown_chemical
SHEETS WITH MASSAGE OIL SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST IN SEATTLE BASEMENT
Tags: us_WA, public, fire, response, oils
EPA FIRES BACK AT CUOMO ADMINISTRATION OVER PFOA CRISIS
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, environmental, toxics
PARAMEDICS RESPOND AFTER CUSTODIAN ACCIDENTALLY MIXES TOXIC CLEANING CHEMICALS
Tags: us_WI, industrial, release, response, cleaners
AMMONIA LEAK THAT CAUSED I-90 CLOSURE CAUSED BY FAULTY REFRIGERATION SYSTEM
Tags: us_WA, industrial, release, injury, ammonia
HAZMAT TEAM NEUTRALISES ACID SPILL AT KL SCHOOL
Tags: Malaysia, laboratory, release, response, nitric_acid
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WATCH SAFETY MATCHES SET ABLAZE WITH SULFURIC ACID
Tags: public, discovery, response, phosphorus, sulfuric_acid
If you find yourself with a bunch of safety matches but no red-phosphorus strips upon which to strike them, remember your Hitchhiker‰??s Guide to the Galaxy and don‰??t panic: mainly because you can always use sulfuric acid instead.
(In all seriousness, please don‰??t ever actually use sulfuric acid to light matches‰??it‰??s dangerous, and still quite mesmerizing to watch people like the host of NurdRage execute the whole process in crystal clear 4k anyway.)
NurdRage, the YouTube channel ‰??run by science nerds for science nerds‰?|‰?? combined two of the most (metaphorically) metal things in the world for their latest video: acid and fire. And it turns out that sulfuric acid, which is often found in cleaning products‰??and can do very serious damage to skin upon contact‰??is a stellar way to set a match ablaze.
---------------------------------------------
LESSONS LEARNED DATABASE
Tags: transportation, release, response, acids, batteries
Discussion: An out-of-service floor scrubber was being relocated from the second floor to the first floor via elevator 1. Using a fork truck, the floor scrubber was loaded onto the elevator on the second floor. After the elevator reached the first floor, the employee used a fork truck to remove the floor scrubber from the elevator. After moving back several feet, the employee identified that the scrubber was unstable (wobbling), so he lowered the floor scrubber to the floor. When lowered, the upper plastic cover and side panel on the floor scrubber came free. This resulted in the scrubbers two lead acid batteries (which were not strapped in place) to break free and fall to the floor. One of the refill caps on one battery came off, spilling acid to the floor.
The employee set the battery upright to stop acid spilling from the battery. As the employee was uprighting the battery, a small amount of acid contacted the employees hand, which was quickly washed off. It is estimated that approximately 1/2 gallon of acid spilled from the battery. The employee notified his supervisor of the event. The supervisor and Environmental Officer arrived to inspect the area. The Plant Shift Superintendent (PSS) was contacted and the Spill Response Team was dispatched. The spill was cleaned up and the area inspected by Industrial Safety. The employee was escorted to Y-12 Occupational Health Services (OHS) by his supervisor and released with no treatment required.
---------------------------------------------
LESSONS LEARNED DATABASE
Tags: us_NM, laboratory, follow-up, response, oxidizer, waste
Discussion: On February 14, 2014, an airborne radiological release occurred at the Department of Energyñ3 (DOEñ3) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, NM. On March 4, 2014, an Accident Investigation Board (AIB) was appointed to determine the cause of the release. The Phase 2 investigation report was issued on April 16, 2015.
The AIB determined that the release was caused by an exothermic reaction involving the mixture of organic material and nitrate salts present inside a transuranic (TRU) waste drum. The drum had been remediated and certified to meet the WIPP Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and was subsequently shipped to WIPP for permanent disposal. While the drum was stored at WIPP, heat from exothermic chemical reactions caused an increase in internal pressure exceeding the drumñ3 venting capacity, leading to drum failure and a rapid release of its contents. The AIB also determined that other drums had been remediated with organic materials, making them susceptible to this failure mode. For this reason, DOE field organizations were requested by OE-2: 2015-1 to review all nitrate-bearing TRU waste streams that used neutralizers and/or absorbents for mitigation.
Except for LANL, which had already declared a Potential Inadequacy in the Safety Analysis, every responding site concluded that their waste streams did not present an ignitability hazard similar to the WIPP scenario because an oxidizer was not present in the waste. In all cases, the LANL … Carlsbad Operations Difficult Waste Team (DWT) agreed with that conclusion, but in some cases found that the conclusion followed from a technical rationale not provided by the site. The discussion below provides methods for testing materials for the presence of an oxidizer, and potential sources of error in making conclusions about ignitability hazards that were identified based on the responses to OE-2: 2015-1.
---------------------------------------------
WEST EXPLOSION POSTSCRIPT: OVER-REGULATION OF THE WRONG CHEMICAL?
Tags: us_TX, transportation, discovery, environmental, ammonia
(TNS) - SEGUIN ‰?? As did his father before him, Central Texas farmer Charles Krackau fertilizes his roughly 4,000 acres of corn, milo and wheat fields with anhydrous ammonia stored in a tank on his property.
Because it is the cheapest and most potent form of nitrogen fertilizer around, he also peddles it to a couple neighboring farmers, who come down the road to collect it in two-ton ‰??nurse tanks‰?? for application on their own land.
They all know it‰??s toxic. While not an explosive, improperly released fumes can choke a person to death. But ‰??running the pencil to it,‰?? as Krackau put it, they also know they‰??re saving $15 to $20 per acre over using less concentrated liquid nitrogen. And he said the farmers he sells to have been around the chemical their whole lives and know how to handle it.
But like thousands of other small-time anhydrous dealers across America, Krackau, 52, is thinking of shutting down. He just got hit with a $25,000 fine after a Department of Transportation inspector saw one of his neighbors transporting about $900 worth of anhydrous from Krackau‰??s farm in a nurse tank that lacked the proper markings, breaking rules Krackau said he didn‰??t know existed.
He was planning on investing about $7,000 to bring the tanks up to standard. But by the end of September, he‰??ll face a whole new set of regulations, this time by the Department of Labor.
‰??They won‰??t be able to use it down here,‰?? Krackau said. ‰??It‰??s getting that everybody‰??s coming after you, pay this, pay that. And it‰??s just not worth it any more.‰??
---------------------------------------------
CHINESE CHEMICAL BAN CUTTING ILLEGAL DRUG USE IN U.S.
Tags: us_FL, public, discovery, environmental, drugs
China's ban on certain chemicals is being credited by Drug Enforcement Administration officials in a noticeable decrease in certain synthetic drugs in the United States.
Police encounters with six substances that were part of China's 115-chemical ban have dropped dramatically since it took effect in October, DEA numbers show.
Synthetic cannabinoids -- commonly known as K2 or spice -- stimulants similar to cocaine or MDMA and the notoriously dangerous synthetic known as flakka have fallen dramatically from they were last summer.
Flakka has all but disappeared from Florida, where it was wreaking havoc.
"We've definitely seen a significant decrease, especially of flakka," Broward County Sheriff's Lt. Ozzy Tianga said.
As a result, DEA officials say, they are optimistic that ongoing meetings with their Chinese counterparts can continue the trend. This month, 14 high-ranking DEA officials spent a week in Beijing and two other Chinese provinces, where they talked about how to work together to tackle the problem of Chinese chemists making and selling dangerous synthetic drugs in the United States.
DEA spokesman Russell Baer called it an "unprecedented dialogue between the two countries."
---------------------------------------------
SWEDEN SETS OUT BUDGET FOR NON-TOXIC LIVING STRATEGY
Tags: Sweden, public, discovery, environmental, toxics
The Swedish government has announced plans to strengthen its work on non-toxic living.
In its budget for 2017 it will set aside SEK 375m (‰?Â39m) for chemical investments. This will cover the period up to 2020.
The money will be directed towards several areas of action, including:
strengthening environmental monitoring of hazardous chemicals;
achieving a better understanding of perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), especially in drinking water sources;
funding for a support centre to replace hazardous substances in chemical products and goods;
mapping the presence of dangerous substances not yet regulated in the EU; and
national chemicals agency Kemi achieving shorter pesticide processing times.
The government points out that hazardous substances can cause cancer, allergies or affect reproductivity.
Children are particularly vulnerable, it says, and promises to focus on initiatives aimed at young people.
"A non-toxic environment is one of the most important and challenging tasks in environmental policy," says environment minister Karolina Skog.
---------------------------------------------
PINT-SIZE EXPLOSIVES IN THE SERVICE BAY
Tags: us_OK, public, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
Every day at auto dealerships around the country, service technicians dealing with the massive Takata airbag recall are taking pint-sized explosives into their hands.
Replacing the airbag inflators is delicate work. The canisters are filled with ammonium nitrate, the same chemical Timothy McVeigh used to blow up a federal building in Oklahoma City. Workers must put each canister in a device vised onto a table that provides some protection in case of explosion. They need to make sure there's nothing loose within three feet of the back of the cage and two feet on the sides that could become a projectile.
And workers are reminded to keep touching metal objects nearby to make sure their static electricity is discharged. Again and again and again. Because an accident with the canisters could be fatal.
"My guys might feel differently, but it scares me to death," said Carroll Smith, owner of Monument Chevrolet in Pasadena, Texas, outside Houston. "I was in the Navy, and these [airbag units] remind me of a Claymore mine.
"If we were in the Army, my guys would be getting hazardous duty pay just to deal with these things."
---------------------------------------------
WITHIN HOURS, CHEMICAL LEAK FROM RAIL CAR CONTAINED
Tags: us_NC, transportation, release, response, phenol
Within hours of its discovery Friday night, a chemical leak from a rail car was contained, Fayetteville Fire Marshal Michael Martin said.
At 10:28 p.m., the Fayetteville Fire and Emergency Management Department responded to Hexion Chemicals in the 1400 block of Industrial Drive off Old Wilmington Road, a news release said.
Plant employees told the first responders that a line connected to a rail car transporting phenol had ruptured, according to the release.
Phenol is a chemical primarily used to make nylon and other synthetic fibers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The plant and surrounding roads were briefly closed by the Fayetteville Police Department and the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office as a precaution, Martin said. The plant and all roads surrounding it have since been reopened.
---------------------------------------------
2 FIREFIGHTERS INJURED BATTLING HUNTINGTON PARK COMMERCIAL FIRE
Tags: us_CA, industrial, fire, injury, cyanide, hydrofluoric_acid, metals
Firefighters and a hazardous material team are working to contain dangerous leaking chemicals and flare-ups following a commercial building fire in Huntington Park on Saturday.
Two firefighters were injured while battling the fire at a metal plating facility.
The fire was reported just before 5 p.m. on Saturday on the 3300 block of Benedict Way in Huntington Park.
The fire was quickly knocked down, but firefighters were ordered to stay on scene.
Twenty vats of cyanide and hydrofluoric acid were inside the plant. Neighbors, unaware of the dangerous chemicals inside, are looking for answers after a thick plume of smoke covered the area.
---------------------------------------------
7 SENT TO HOSPITAL AFTER CHLORINE LEAK AT INDUSTRIAL FACILITY OFF TUAS
Tags: Singapore, industrial, release, injury, chlorine, gas_cylinders
SINGAPORE: Seven people were taken to hospital after a chlorine gas leak at an industrial facility at Jalan Samulun on Sunday (Sep 4), the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said.
According to the SCDF, the leak was traced to a one-tonne cylinder of chlorine gas housed within an indoor storage facility.
Three fire engines, four Hazardous Materials (HazMat) appliances, three ambulances and two support vehicles were deployed to the location, which is off Tuas.
The source of the leak was plugged within twenty minutes by a SCDF HazMat specialist team. Another team, the SCDF added, ‰??simultaneously performed vapour suppression operation using three water jets". This operation quickly diluted the release of low concentration of chlorine vapour from the leaked cylinder into the surroundings.
---------------------------------------------
U.S. BANS COMMON CHEMICALS IN ANTIBACTERIAL SOAPS
Tags: public, discovery, response, other_chemical
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released its decision Friday on banning 19 active ingredients in antibacterial soaps. The ruling, 40 years in the making, caps a decades-long debate over whether these germ-busting chemicals are safe and offer any advantage over ordinary soap. The ban includes the most widely used antiseptic in hand soaps, triclosan‰??after a large number of studies have fallen short of manufacturers‰?? claims about its health benefits.
‰??Consumers may think antibacterial washes are more effective at preventing the spread of germs, but we have no scientific evidence that they are any better than plain soap and water,‰?? said Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of the FDA‰??s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) in a statement. ‰??In fact, some data suggests that antibacterial ingredients may do more harm than good over the long-term.‰??
When it hit the market in the 1960s, triclosan was intended for use in hospitals. But consumer demand for antibacterial soap surged due to increased marketing and media reports on dangerous infections. So manufacturers started making such soaps available to the public and added antibacterials to other products including toothpaste, mouthwash, toys, clothing and more. It was not long until concerns about the safety and efficacy of the triclosan-based soaps arose, however, and as soon as the FDA began regulating over-the-counter drugs in the mid-1970s, it proposed banning triclosan. Yet the ruling was never finalized and the decision fell by the wayside. It was not until 2010 that the FDA‰??after the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council sued it over the long delay‰??imposed a series of deadlines to determine the safety of antibacterial consumer soaps, hand sanitizers and health care soaps.
So what has four decades of research determined? Most studies have focused on triclosan, and as far as human health is concerned the research into its toxic effects has produced mixed results. For nearly every study that shows triclosan has some particular effect, another shows it does not. Yet one thing is clear: Several clinical studies, following several hundred households, have shown that triclosan-based soap does not prevent illness any better than regular soap and water alone.
---------------------------------------------
FOUR RUSHED TO HOSPITAL AFTER HORROR CHEMICAL REACTION IN BILLINGHAM, TEESSIDE
Tags: United_Kingdom, transportation, release, response, water_treatment
Cleveland Fire Brigade were called to the Biochemica UK facility at Cowpen Lane, Billingham, at 11.24am today to reports of four people with breathing difficulties.
It is believed that the victims were suffering from the effects of a "chemical reaction" from a tank or tanker at the site in what was described as a "potentially life threatening" incident.
The fire brigade remains at the plant, whic produces wastewater treatment products, on protective standby.
The incident occured at the Biochemica unit in Billingham, Teesside
He said: "There was some process taking place with a small amount of chemical, and we believe there was some reaction which has taken place with a different chemical which created a very small gas cloud, but we'd just like to stress there were no off-site implications.
"It was a very small-scale incident."
---------------------------------------------
I-90 NEAR SUNSET HILL BACK OPEN AFTER GAS LEAK
Tags: us_WA, industrial, release, response, ammonia
SPOKANE, Wash. --- The Washington State Patrol has reopened Interstate 90 near Sunset Hill after a gas leak shut down parts of the freeway Wednesday night.
Troopers said what appeared to be an ammonia cloud was on the south side of I-90 near Geiger. They shut down the freeway westbound from Highway 195 to Geiger and eastbound from Geiger to Highway 2.
Authorities said the leak was from a nearby business, Johanna Beverage. They said the leak could possibly have been anhydrous ammonia.
Around 10:00 p.m. Wednesday, crews reopened the freeway and contained the scene.
---------------------------------------------
BORCO CHEMICAL SPILL CLEANUP CONTINUES AFTER 'EXPLOSION' ON TUESDAY
Tags: Bahamas, industrial, explosion, response, unknown_chemical
A HAZARDOUS materials team is still cleaning up a chemical spill at the BORCO plant in Grand Bahama three days after nearby residents of Pinder‰??s Point reported hearing an explosion.
#Residents said they heard a ‰??loud bang‰?? on Tuesday night and saw men wearing protective hazmat suits, masks and breathing apparatus putting sand down in the area to contain the spill.
#A representative of BORCO told The Tribune on Friday that their corporate office would be releasing an official statement concerning the incident.
#According to a reliable source, a sub-contractor was transferring chemicals from one container to another at the plant when a spill occurred during a rainstorm on Tuesday night. The chemical had stained the road and grounds on the south west side of the plant where the spill had occurred.
#Bertha McPhee Duncanson, chief health inspector at the Department of Environmental Health Services, was out of office and could not be reached on Friday for comment.
#According to reports, nearby residents who reported hearing a bang late on Tuesday night, had contacted BORCO, but were told that no such incident had occurred at the plant.
---------------------------------------------
SHEETS WITH MASSAGE OIL SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST IN SEATTLE BASEMENT
Tags: us_WA, public, fire, response, oils
SEATTLE - A Seattle landlord has a cautionary tale about a household product that could pose a fire danger.
Karen Lucht was fixing up one of her rental properties on Capitol Hill when she smelled something coming from the laundry room in the basement.
‰??There was no smoke, there weren't any flames but there was something in the air,‰?? she said. ‰??You could tell there were particulates in the air.‰??
She couldn't figure out what it was, but when the firefighters arrived, they zeroed in on her tenant's backpack they pulled from the laundry room. The backpack was filled with freshly washed sheets.
Lucht pulled out her cell phone and recorded video as firefighters slowly pulled back the zipper and pulled out the sheets and right away they knew they found the source.
Lucht's tenant is a massage therapist. Hours earlier, he had pulled the sheets from the dryer and stuffed them into the backpack. The residual massage oil is what combusted and caught fire.
‰??It actually happens quite often,‰?? said Captain Kyle Ohashi with Kent Fire Department.
Ohashi said people are unaware of how combustible organic oils can be, like massage and linseed oils, especially on cotton sheets or rags that can easily catch fire.
---------------------------------------------
EPA FIRES BACK AT CUOMO ADMINISTRATION OVER PFOA CRISIS
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, environmental, toxics
Gina McCarthy, the administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, on Thursday fired back at New York's commissioners of health and environmental conservation, who this week accused the federal agency of giving "conflicting guidance" about a toxic chemical that polluted water supplies in eastern Rensselaer County.
On Tuesday, the state agencies released a letter in which they cast blame at the EPA for issues in the state's handling of the crisis, including guiding local officials who waited more than a year to warn residents in the village of Hoosick Falls to stop drinking the PFOA-contaminated water. The state's letter was issued as a Senate hearing began in Hoosick Falls that day in which legislators called on government officials to explain their responses to the situation.
"I urge you to move beyond accusatory letters and, rather, work cooperatively with EPA Region 2 and the residents of Hoosick Falls on the important work of cleaning up the contamination in the village and protecting the public drinking water supply," McCarthy wrote in a letter Thursday to DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos and Health Commissioner Howard A. Zucker.
McCarthy's letter questioned the assertion by Seggos and Zucker that "changing" EPA guidelines on PFOA resulted in "undue public confusion."
---------------------------------------------
PARAMEDICS RESPOND AFTER CUSTODIAN ACCIDENTALLY MIXES TOXIC CLEANING CHEMICALS
Tags: us_WI, industrial, release, response, cleaners
MADISON, Wis. ‰?? A custodian at the Wisconsin Department of Corrections accidentally created a toxic mixture of cleaning chemicals on Tuesday.
The Madison Fire Department responded to a report of a chemical spill at 5:30 pm, reported NBC 15 News. Paramedics were contacted when someone in the building reported difficulty breathing.
Officials said the custodian was preparing to clean a bathroom when she mixed lemon bleach and toilet bowl cleaner together. The combination is known to create chemicals that are toxic to humans, including hydrochloric acid and chlorine gas.
An incident report said the custodian poured the solution down the drain of a slop sink and left the building when she realized what happened.
---------------------------------------------
AMMONIA LEAK THAT CAUSED I-90 CLOSURE CAUSED BY FAULTY REFRIGERATION SYSTEM
Tags: us_WA, industrial, release, injury, ammonia
SPOKANE, Wash. --- Fire officials confirmed Thursday an ammonia leak from a commercial refrigeration system forced officials to temporarily close Interstate 90 on Wednesday night.
The leak shut down parts of the freeway for a few hours after an ammonia cloud was spotted near Geiger.
Officials said this was the second chemical leak at Johanna Beverage in the last week. A leak on Saturday sent one person to the hospital and forced the building to evacuate.
Officials from Fire District 10 said the first leak on Saturday released between 700 to 1000 lbs. of anhydrous ammonia. The second leak on Wednesday released between 300 and 600 lbs. of the chemical.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT TEAM NEUTRALISES ACID SPILL AT KL SCHOOL
Tags: Malaysia, laboratory, release, response, nitric_acid
PETALING JAYA: A Hazmat team was deployed after a chemical leak occurred in a school in Kuala Lumpur Thursday.
According to a Fire and Rescue Department spokesman, the department was notified of the incident at about 1.45pm.
Personnel from the Taman Tun Dr Ismail station and a Hazmat team from the KLCC station were rushed to the school.
The firemen found that a container holding nitric acid had cracked, which led to the spillage of 2.5 litres of the highly corrosive liquid.
One floor of the school was temporarily evacuated while the Hazmat team neutralised the scene with sand.
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