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From: DCHAS Secretary <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (17 articles)
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2016 07:26:49 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: CA9EDBFF-1524-4535-BA22-82FEDBD0041B**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, October 10, 2016 at 7:26:36 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 (17 articles)
LEAD POLLUTION APPROACHES NATURAL BACKGROUND LEVELS
Tags: Canada, public, discovery, response, other_chemical
REPORTS: CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION IN CLASSROOMS THREATENS CHILDREN
Tags: us_MA, education, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
GLASGOW STORE EMPLOYEE SPRAYED WITH CHEMICAL IN ROBBERY
Tags: us_DE, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
OIL REFINERY EXPLODES IN NANJING, EASTERN CHINA
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, response, petroleum
HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO POSSIBLE AMMONIA LEAK AT SLC MEATPACKING FACILITY
Tags: us_UT, industrial, release, response, ammonia
GAS LEAK CALLS UP IN CITY AS EXCAVATING INCREASES
Tags: us_NE, public, discovery, environmental, natural_gas
DISCOVERING SAFETY: WHY PARTICIPATION DOES NOT EQUAL ENGAGEMENT -- OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY
Tags: public, discovery, response
NO RADIOACTIVE LEAKAGE AT DELHI AIRPORT; FLIGHT OPERATIONS NORMAL
Tags: India, transportation, release, response, radiation
SELLING SHAMPOO, EYE CREAM AND A CHEMICAL CRACKDOWN
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, environmental, cleaners
BOMB SQUAD CONTACTED FOR CHEMICAL WEAPON DISPOSAL
Tags: us_WI, public, discovery, response, other_chemical
UPDATE: OLD ROUTE 19 REOPENS AFTER FUEL SPILL
Tags: us_WV, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical
STRESS TEST REPORTEDLY PROVES GALAXY NOTE 7 COULD CATCH FIRE EASILY; REPORT TELLS CONSUMERS NOT TO BUY SAMSUNG PHABLET
Tags: Singapore, laboratory, discovery, environmental, batteries
SETTLEMENT BETWEEN UH, STATE LEADS TO REDUCED PENALTIES, FINES FOR LAB EXPLOSION
Tags: us_HI, laboratory, follow-up, injury
TRUCKING COMPANY INVOLVED IN EXPLOSION ORDERED OFF THE ROAD
Tags: us_GA, transportation, follow-up, response
COMMUNICATION IS KEY TO CHEMICAL SAFETY: CEFIC, ECHA AND DUCC JOIN FORCES
Tags: Belgium, public, discovery, response
HESSTON, KANSAS PLANT EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL SENDS 6 TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_KS, industrial, release, injury, other_chemical
CHEMICAL FUMES SEND A COCA-COLA PLANT EMPLOYEE TO THE HOSPITAL
Tags: us_TN, industrial, explosion, injury, chlorine_dioxide
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LEAD POLLUTION APPROACHES NATURAL BACKGROUND LEVELS
Tags: Canada, public, discovery, response, other_chemical
Humans have a 3,500-year history of emitting neurotoxic lead into the atmosphere from mining, using leaded gasoline, and other activities. But efforts in the past several decades to reduce lead emissions have worked well, confirms a study of peat bogs in northern Alberta (Geophys. Res. Lett. 2016, DOI: 10.1002/2016gl070952). A team led by William Shotyk of the University of Alberta extracted peat cores from six sites to assess lead deposited from the atmosphere. The team tested samples from various core depths for lead and also for thorium, which is an indicator of general mineral abundance, and dated the samples using 14C and 210Pb methods. Depending on location, the researchers found, lead amounts peaked from 1960 to 1995 as the use of leaded gasoline in on-road vehicles was eliminated in the U.S. and Canada and other lead controls were implemented. Strikingly, the surface layers of the Alberta cores showed lead amounts comparable to samples taken from a Swiss bog and date!
d to 6,000 to 9,000 years ago, which can be considered natural background levels. ‰??The lack of contemporary lead contamination in the Alberta bogs is testimony to successful international efforts of the past decades to reduce anthropogenic emissions,‰?? the researchers say.
---------------------------------------------
REPORTS: CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION IN CLASSROOMS THREATENS CHILDREN
Tags: us_MA, education, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
Millions of American school children are at risk of chemical contamination in their classrooms, according to new reports by the office of Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit research organization.
An estimated 14 million children‰??about 30 percent of K-12 students‰??are exposed to toxic levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, found in aging school building materials, concluded the pair of reports, which analyzed data from the Environmental Protection Agency and research by scientists at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
‰??The alarm bells going off in our schools should be for the potential risk that toxic PCBs pose to our students and teachers,‰?? Sen. Markey said in a statement. ‰??We need to know the full extent of this toxic threat in our classrooms so that we can test for PCBs, remediate it and inform families that their students may be at risk of exposure to these dangerous chemicals.‰??
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GLASGOW STORE EMPLOYEE SPRAYED WITH CHEMICAL IN ROBBERY
Tags: us_DE, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
Delaware State Police are investigating a robbery at a Newark-area cigarette store Saturday night.
Police said a man robbed the Glasgow Tobacco Outlet at 2435 Pulaski Highway shortly before 7:30 p.m.
He sprayed the store's clerk with an unknown chemical before demanding cash from the register, police said.
He took money and cigarettes before running from the scene, officers said.
The employee was taken to Christiana Hospital to be treated for exposure to the chemical spray.
---------------------------------------------
OIL REFINERY EXPLODES IN NANJING, EASTERN CHINA
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, response, petroleum
A powerful blast has ripped through an oil refinery in Nanjing in eastern China, but the fire has reportedly been brought under control, with no casualties, according to local media.
CCTV posted photos of the Jinlingshihua Nanjing Refinery in smoke on Twitter. Xinhua cited the local fire department as saying that the blast may have been caused by production equipment catching fire on Sunday afternoon.
The explosion occurred at 1:51 pm local time and quickly produced thick black plumes of smoke, which were visible for miles billowing from the refinery.
Authorities did not report any hazardous gasses being expelled into the atmosphere, however, according to a statement by Nanjing‰??s environmental ministry.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO POSSIBLE AMMONIA LEAK AT SLC MEATPACKING FACILITY
Tags: us_UT, industrial, release, response, ammonia
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Oct. 9, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) ‰?? Drivers were asked to avoid the area of 500 S. 700 East in Salt Lake City Sunday as crews responded to a possible ammonia leak at a meatpacking facility.
Salt Lake City Fire Department Captain Davin Halvorsen said that at approximately 11:20 a.m., crews received reports of an odor that smelled like anhydrous ammonia at the meatpacking business. Most meatpacking, poultry and food processing plants use thousands of pounds of anhydrous ammonia in their refrigeration systems.
‰??SLFD has a history with this address and we do know they use anhydrous ammonia in the refrigeration process and so we issued a hazardous materials response due to those reports of odors,‰?? Halvorsen said.
‰??HazMat teams assisted by local fire companies did indicate that there was a strong odor of anhydrous ammonia in the area. They established isolation zones, and we began the initial stages of a hazardous materials response. We have active atmospheric monitoring underway and we are not anticipating any additional evacuations or isolations at this time.
---------------------------------------------
GAS LEAK CALLS UP IN CITY AS EXCAVATING INCREASES
Tags: us_NE, public, discovery, environmental, natural_gas
Lincoln's hazardous materials crews have responded to more natural gas leaks and flammable gas calls this year than in all of last year, city data shows.
But public safety officials aren't exactly sure why.
"I think it‰??s probably because we‰??ve got an awful lot of (construction) activity going on in Lincoln," Lincoln Public Safety Director Tom Casady said.
Excavations in the city surged by 20 percent over last year, to more than 40,500 in 2016, according to Black Hills Energy officials.
---------------------------------------------
DISCOVERING SAFETY: WHY PARTICIPATION DOES NOT EQUAL ENGAGEMENT -- OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY
Tags: public, discovery, response
Humans are explorers by nature. There's something that comes alive when we discover something new, even if that‰??s only for ourselves. You don't have to be the first human to find new land or unearth a previously unknown species. It may just mean discovering something for yourself‰??being the first among a circle of friends or family to try out an excellent hole-in-the-wall restaurant, come across an obscure but riveting TV show, or locate a gem camping spot.
Think about a time the ripple of thrill in discovery energized you. It can awake us from our daily repetitive patterns of work and communications and motivate us to share what we‰??ve found with others to excite them with new possibilities. On the other side, "typical" Safety goes another direction, rarely enlisting the energy of discovery. In fact, Safety is typically based on prescribing, "This is what you should think. Here's what you have to remember. This is exactly what you must do. Or else _____" (fill in the blank with: a. death, b. dire physical consequence, c. terrible repercussions on your family, d. getting in trouble/disciplined/fired).
This approach‰??seemingly necessary in the eyes of many‰??basically goes against that part of human nature that is sparked by "Aha" moments. Solely broadcasting "shoulds" and "have-tos" quashes energy and internal motivation.
Now, of course there have to be firm, bottom-line Safety procedures to prevent limb- or lung- or life-threatening events. Just keep these to the necessary minimum. Don‰??t make all communications, policies, and procedures so rigidly dictated that there isn't room or time for people to try out and find their own best methods for themselves. Wherever possible, let them discover and select from among several safe alternatives.
---------------------------------------------
NO RADIOACTIVE LEAKAGE AT DELHI AIRPORT; FLIGHT OPERATIONS NORMAL
Tags: India, transportation, release, response, radiation
A suspected radioactive leak occurred on Sunday from a medical shipment at cargo terminal of Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, following which authorities cordoned off the area. The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) rushed its team to the spot and later said that the leak had been minimal and from cancer medication.
"A call was received from the airport around 10.45 AM regarding suspected radioactive leak from medical equipment," said Atul Garg, Chief Fire Officer. He said the equipment had come from an Air France plane and was kept at the cargo terminal.
NDTV reported that officials of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board tested the contents of the leak and confirmed that it was a "low-intensity radioactive substance used in nuclear medicine."
---------------------------------------------
SELLING SHAMPOO, EYE CREAM AND A CHEMICAL CRACKDOWN
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, environmental, cleaners
The last time Congress thoroughly overhauled the regulation of personal care products like cosmetics and shampoo, World War II had not yet begun.
Nearly 80 years later, personal care is a multibillion-dollar business, and many of the ingredients used in soaps and face creams are complex ‰?? and potentially dangerous ‰?? chemical compounds. But the laws on the books have not kept up with the times: If a shampoo makes your hair fall out, no government agency can easily compel a recall.
That could change soon. Legislation that would introduce a far more serious degree of regulatory oversight to the personal care products industry is proceeding in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Consumer safety groups are pushing for stricter laws. And the call for more stringent oversight of the industry is coming from a coalition of companies that includes Beautycounter, a plucky start-up that is pitching natural face creams as well as regulation.
Beautycounter is the brainchild of Gregg Renfrew, a retail executive who has embraced the cause of cleaner cosmetics. In 2006, after a career working with women including Martha Stewart and Susie Hilfiger, Ms. Renfrew watched ‰??An Inconvenient Truth,‰?? the Al Gore documentary on global warming. ‰??It was an incredible wake-up call for me,‰?? she said.
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Her newfound environmental consciousness soon extended beyond the gas pump. Before long she was trying to rid her home of potentially harmful toxins wherever they might lurk. She tossed her nonstick frying pans and bought stainless steel replacements; threw out plastic containers, preferring glass; and started using natural cleaning products.
---------------------------------------------
BOMB SQUAD CONTACTED FOR CHEMICAL WEAPON DISPOSAL
Tags: us_WI, public, discovery, response, other_chemical
On the afternoon of Monday, Sept. 26, a citizen arrived at the Merrill Police Department with a glass vial containing a clear liquid substance. The citizen indicated having found it on the back of a door of an old safe and asked for officer‰??s assistance in identifying the substance.
When the substance was eventually identified, the result proved quite the surprise to officers as well as the concerned citizen.
‰??I looked it up on the internet and located an article stating it was probably Chloropricin,‰?? stated Lieutenant Greg Hartwig, the on-duty supervisor during Monday‰??s day shift. ‰??Chloropricin was used as a chemical weapon in World War One. It was also placed in glass vials in the 1920s era and then placed on the backs of safe doors as a deterrent to persons attempting to break into the safe.‰??
The substance was later turned over to the Marathon County Bomb Squad for disposal.
---------------------------------------------
UPDATE: OLD ROUTE 19 REOPENS AFTER FUEL SPILL
Tags: us_WV, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical
NICHOLAS COUNTY, W. Va. (WSAZ) -- Old Route 19 is completely shut down after a truck spilled fuel all over the roadway.
Dispatchers say it happened in the Mount Nebo area, just south of Summersville.
They say the spill was not caused by a wreck, but that fuel just fell out of the box truck.
Dispatchers also say businesses in the surrounding area were evacuated per protocol in any hazmat situation involving a chemical. No homes were evacuated.
Nicholas County 911 says it could still be a while before the spill is cleaned up and the road is re-opened. There's no timetable on when that will be completed.
---------------------------------------------
STRESS TEST REPORTEDLY PROVES GALAXY NOTE 7 COULD CATCH FIRE EASILY; REPORT TELLS CONSUMERS NOT TO BUY SAMSUNG PHABLET
Tags: Singapore, laboratory, discovery, environmental, batteries
Samsung‰??s Galaxy Note 7 has been making headlines ever since its release in August but not for all the right reasons. The flagship device from Apple‰??s biggest rival is unfortunately making some noise in the industry due to its non-removable battery that is prone to overheating and even catching fire.
To show just how the Note 7‰??s battery is pretty risky, a Singaporean battery lab recently subjected the Samsung phablet to a stress test. The result was expected, since batteries do overheat when pushed to the limit. What‰??s striking here is how quickly the phone burst into flames.
According to PhoneArena, it did not take long for the Note 7 to overheat and eventually catch fire when pressure was applied to it. However, the tech site added that there is sufficient time to dispose of the handset from the time it starts to release smoke and the time it actually gets engulfed in flames.
PhoneArena did not provide the specifics especially the length of time for the Note 7 to overheat and burst into flames, but it did warn readers to not consider buying a Galaxy Note 7 for the time being.
---------------------------------------------
SETTLEMENT BETWEEN UH, STATE LEADS TO REDUCED PENALTIES, FINES FOR LAB EXPLOSION
Tags: us_HI, laboratory, follow-up, injury
The University of Hawaii has reached an agreement with the state following a laboratory explosion in Manoa that caused a researcher to lose her arm.
Last month, the Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Division (HIOSH) announced that the university faced fines of $115,500 for the March 16 incident.
It issued one citation and 15 penalties, with the maximum fined for each penalty.
HIOSH spokesman Bill Kunstman said it was because each of the violations could have led to serious injury or death.
The two parties reached an agreement, the university confirmed Friday, that lowers those numbers.
The penalties in the citation were reduced from 15 to nine, and the total fine was reduced from $115,500 to $69,300, or about 40 percent.
---------------------------------------------
TRUCKING COMPANY INVOLVED IN EXPLOSION ORDERED OFF THE ROAD
Tags: us_GA, transportation, follow-up, response
A trucking company that was recently involved in an explosion while hauling automobile air bag inflators was ordered to take its vehicles off the road Friday by federal regulators who said they found a long list of serious safety violations.
Industrial Transit Inc. of LaGrange, Georgia, must immediately halt all operations because the company poses "an imminent hazard to public safety," the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said.
One of the company's trucks was hauling inflators made by Takata Corp. in August when it crashed, caught fire, exploded and destroyed a house near the small Texas border town of Quemado. A woman in the house was killed, four others were injured and several other houses damaged. The truck was speeding while approaching a curve when the crash occurred, the agency said.
The small trucking company recently used drivers without commercial licenses, did not perform required drug and alcohol tests, and didn't follow the requirements of its license to haul hazardous materials, among other violations, the safety administration said in its out-of-service order.
---------------------------------------------
COMMUNICATION IS KEY TO CHEMICAL SAFETY: CEFIC, ECHA AND DUCC JOIN FORCES
Tags: Belgium, public, discovery, response
Florence, 6 October 2016 ‰?? The EU chemical industry today took an important step towards enhancing communication around chemical safety by making a joint statement together with Geert Dancet, EU Chemical Agency (ECHA) as well as Janice Robinson, Chair, Downstream Users of Chemicals Coordination Group (DUCC). The statement covers the combined efforts of Cefic, ECHA and DUCC to improve communications along the supply chain for the use of chemical products in Europe. This will strengthen the application of REACH especially as the final registration deadline comes into sight.
Click here to read the statement
Enhancing supply chain communications through tools such as sector use maps is crucial to the efforts of authorities, industry and other stakeholders. Sector use maps are templates where sectors can share how they are using different chemicals. Registrants can use this information when preparing dossiers to register substances.
For some time, sector use maps have been recognised as an important input for ensuring high quality registration dossiers. Their routine use has, however, not been institutionalised. This is something the above stakeholders wish to change and use maps will be increasingly important as more and smaller chemical companies become involved in REACH for the final 2018 registration deadline involving smaller volumes of chemicals and potentially, more varied uses.
---------------------------------------------
HESSTON, KANSAS PLANT EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL SENDS 6 TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_KS, industrial, release, injury, other_chemical
HESSTON ‰?? A chemical spilled at a plant in south-central Kansas, sending about a half dozen people to the hospital.
The Hutchinson News reports (http://j.mp/2dyg09W">http://j.mp/2dyg09W ) that the spill occurred Thursday morning at the GVL Poly Plant in Hesston.
Gary Denny, director of emergency management for Harvey County, says a building at the plant was evacuated after a breach of a container with a chemical used in manufacturing coolers. He says the chemical ‰?? polymethylene polyphenyl isocyanate ‰?? can be hazardous if it‰??s inhaled. He says it‰??s unclear how much escaped.
Denny says three people were taken to the hospital by ambulance, and three people went to the hospital on their own. The hospital says one person was admitted for observation, and the others were treated and released.
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CHEMICAL FUMES SEND A COCA-COLA PLANT EMPLOYEE TO THE HOSPITAL
Tags: us_TN, industrial, explosion, injury, chlorine_dioxide
Chattanooga, Tenn. (WDEF) ‰?? A chemical spill at the Coca-Cola plant on Amnicola Highway sent one man to the hospital with serious injuries this morning.
A quick response by Hazmat and Firefighters contained the spill, which presented no danger to nearby businesses.
Chattanooga first responders wasted no time‰?|or manpower when the call went out around 10:40 that there had been an explosion at the Coca-Cola bottling plant on Amnicola highway. A cloud of chemical vapor hovered over a parking area‰?|and 30 employees who were in the plant were quickly evacuated.
Bruce Garner with the Chattanooga Fire Department says, ‰??Some workers were mixing chemicals involving chlorine dioxide. Something happened during that process, and the material spewed out from the container onto one of the employees who was injured in the process.‰??
That employee was rushed to the hospital by EMS within minutes of the incident.
‰??That one employee here was contaminated by that product..he was injured and he was transported by emergency to Erlanger Medical Center,‰?? says Garner
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