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From: DCHAS Secretary <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (15 articles)
Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2016 07:50:03 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: F212C373-D5AE-4B80-927C-C3E725CB789E**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, October 26, 2016 at 7:49:49 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 (15 articles)
TWO PLANT WORKERS TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER BEING EXPOSED TO CHEMICAL
Tags: us_KS, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical, waste
BACKYARD BATTERY RECYCLING IS BIGGEST CHEMICAL POLLUTER FOR POORER NATIONS
Tags: Switzerland, public, discovery, environmental, batteries
QUEBEC SCHOOL BOARD MUST PAY BOY WHO HAD CHEMICAL SUBSTANCE POURED OVER HIS HEAD
Tags: Canada, laboratory, follow-up, injury, corrosives, dust, sodium_hydroxide
CHINA BLAST SUSPECTS 'CONFESS' AS 14 KILLED: STATE MEDIA
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, death, explosives
TRACTOR-TRAILER CARRYING AMMONIUM NITRATE CATCHES FIRE ON ARKANSAS HIGHWAY
Tags: us_AR, transportation, fire, response, ag_chems, ammonium_nitrate
GERMAN CITY TELLS RESIDENTS: STAY INDOORS AFTER AMMONIA LEAK
Tags: Germany, public, release, response, ammonia
AIRLINES ADDING 'FIRE SUPPRESSION BAGS' FOLLOWING CELL PHONE EXPLOSIONS
Tags: us_AK, transportation, follow-up, environmental, batteries, fire_extinguisher
CREWS CLEAN UP CHEMICAL SPILL AFTER TRAIN DERAILMENT NEAR SUPERIOR
Tags: us_MN, transportation, release, response, solvent
ONE PERSON INJURED IN HAZMAT SITUATION AT WEXFORD HOME
Tags: us_PA, public, release, injury, meth_lab
CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD SAYS MULTIPLE ERRORS LED TO FATAL ACCIDENT
Tags: us_LA, industrial, follow-up, death, petroleum, propane
TANKER WITH SUSPECTED CHEMICAL EFFLUENTS CAUGHT
Tags: India, transportation, discovery, response, waste
CHINA‰??S LATEST DEADLY INDUSTRIAL EXPLOSION SPOTLIGHTS DIRE WORKPLACE SAFETY
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, death, explosives
TEMECULA EATERY TEMPORARILY EVACUATED FOLLOWING HAZMAT SITUATION
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, carbon_dioxide, carbon_monoxide, nitrogen
TANKER LORRY SKIDS, FLIPS ON ITS SIDE ON NSE, SPILLS TOXIC HYDROCHLORIC ACID
Tags: Malaysia, transportation, release, response, hydrochloric_acid
1 REMAINS HOSPITALIZED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL IN KANSAS
Tags: us_KS, public, follow-up, injury, unknown_chemical
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TWO PLANT WORKERS TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER BEING EXPOSED TO CHEMICAL
Tags: us_KS, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical, waste
Two workers are headed to the hospital after being exposed to a chemical at the Chemours Plant.
FOX13 learned the Shelby County Fire Department got a call just before 9 Tuesday night to the plant in the 2500 block of Fite Road.
Two workers were in precautionary gear transferring a chemical from one tank to another when they smelled the chemical and started feeling odd.
Fire officials were not able to tell FOX13 what chemical it was.
The workers were taken to Methodist North to be checked out.
Officials said there is no threat to the surrounding area.
---------------------------------------------
BACKYARD BATTERY RECYCLING IS BIGGEST CHEMICAL POLLUTER FOR POORER NATIONS
Tags: Switzerland, public, discovery, environmental, batteries
The backyard recycling of lead-acid car batteries is the number one source of chemical pollution in the world‰??s poorer nations and leads to millions of years of healthy life being lost, according to a new report.
The World‰??s Worst Pollution Problems, published by NGOs Pure Earth and Green Cross Switzerland on Tuesday, reveals the top 10 most polluting industries in low and middle-income countries.
Mining, leather tanning, rubbish dumps and the dye industry are among the most polluting activities harming health and causing early deaths. The NGOs estimate 200 million people are at risk in the 50 nations they analysed.
Old lead acid batteries are increasingly reused as some nations lack lead deposits and the rising number of cars is driving an upsurge in demand. However, in poorer nations the batteries are often opened with axes or hammers and the melting of the recovered lead takes places in homes.
As a result, lead is spread throughout homes and communities and the dumping of battery remnants pollutes local soil and water supplies. Children are particularly vulnerable to the lead pollution, which can profoundly affect their development. South-east Asia is a hotspot for informal lead-acid battery recycling, but it also occurs in Africa and Central and South America.
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QUEBEC SCHOOL BOARD MUST PAY BOY WHO HAD CHEMICAL SUBSTANCE POURED OVER HIS HEAD
Tags: Canada, laboratory, follow-up, injury, corrosives, dust, sodium_hydroxide
LAVAL, Que. - A Montreal-area school board has been ordered to pay $15,000 to a student who had a corrosive substance poured over his head in a chemistry class.
The boy was 15 years old in February 2015 when a friend of his sprinkled some sodium hydroxide into his hair as a joke.
The compound can be found in products used to clear drains.
While the boy did not immediately feel anything, he later felt a burning sensation and decided to ease the pain with ice and snowflakes.
That exacerbated the situation because sodium hydroxide becomes corrosive when mixed with water.
The boy was treated in hospital every day for about six weeks and had to undergo plastic surgery. The judge's ruling said the chemical product reached his brain.
The teenager who put the powder on his friend's head testified he did not know his gesture was dangerous. He said he saw their teacher touch the substance and tell the class it felt funny.
The victim's parents sued the school where the incident occurred and the Commission scolaire de Laval school board.
Quebec court Judge Richard Landry ruled the safety guidelines concerning the use of sodium hydroxide were not as clear cut as suggested by the teacher.
---------------------------------------------
CHINA BLAST SUSPECTS 'CONFESS' AS 14 KILLED: STATE MEDIA
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, death, explosives
The toll from a powerful explosion in China rose to 14 dead and 147 injured Tuesday, state media said, as three suspects were arrested and admitted to illegally storing explosives.
Monday's blast in Xinmin, in the northern province of Shaanxi, tore through five prefabricated buildings, destroying or damaging 58 others, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Authorities on Tuesday censored discussion of the incident online.
An initial investigation found the incident was caused by illegally stored explosives, state broadcaster CCTV said on its website late Tuesday, adding that three people had been arrested.
"During the investigation, the suspects confessed to illegally producing and storing explosives," it said.
Pictures showed widespread damage, with windows blown out of buildings, a crater in the street, and bloodied victims lying on the ground.
Rescue efforts had concluded by Tuesday morning, and more than 100 of the injured were still hospitalised, Xinhua said, citing local authorities.
---------------------------------------------
TRACTOR-TRAILER CARRYING AMMONIUM NITRATE CATCHES FIRE ON ARKANSAS HIGHWAY
Tags: us_AR, transportation, fire, response, ag_chems, ammonium_nitrate
No injuries were reported after a tractor-trailer carrying 44,000 gallons of ammonium nitrate caught fire Tuesday afternoon on U.S. Highway 67 near Reyno, said a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.
Whitney Green said none of the chemical escaped the truck and that only the truck‰??s tires, rims and brake pads caught fire. The emergency management department‰??s local coordinator reported the fire about 3:30 p.m., she said.
Firefighters from the Biggers-Reyno and Pocahontas departments helped extinguish the flames, Green said.
Brad Smithee, an official with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, said traffic had been blocked off a substantial distance away from the fire and that it was being diverted onto a county road west of the highway.
Ammonium nitrate is a component in some plant fertilizers. It‰??s normally a stable chemical, but when it‰??s exposed to fire, it can cause additional, uncontrollable fires or explosions, according to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board.
---------------------------------------------
GERMAN CITY TELLS RESIDENTS: STAY INDOORS AFTER AMMONIA LEAK
Tags: Germany, public, release, response, ammonia
BERLIN (AP) ‰?? Authorities in the southwest German city of Ludwigshafen are telling residents to stay indoors after an ammonia leak.
Officials warned people living within a kilometer (half a mile) of an ice rink Tuesday to keep their doors and windows shut and avoid going outside.
A notice on the city's website said public buses and trains were being diverted. It urged people who experience respiratory problems to seek medical help.
Ammonia is commonly used in liquid form in the refrigeration system of ice rinks. The strong-smelling chemical becomes a gas when released and can cause lung damage if people are exposed to high concentrations for extended periods.
The extent and cause of the leak weren't immediately clear.
Ludwigshafen was also the site of a recent explosion at a BASF chemical complex.
---------------------------------------------
AIRLINES ADDING 'FIRE SUPPRESSION BAGS' FOLLOWING CELL PHONE EXPLOSIONS
Tags: us_AK, transportation, follow-up, environmental, batteries, fire_extinguisher
(NEWSCHANNEL 3) -- Following the discovery that some galaxy note 7 cell phones explode, several airlines are taking precautions to make sure defects like this won't cause them any problems.
Virgin and Alaskan Airlines now require fire suppression bags on all of their flights.
The bags are made up of several heat resistant materials that can withstand temperatures up to 3,200 degrees.
Alaskan Airlines first started requiring the bags on their flights last year after a credit card reader overheated and started a fire.
But after the cell phone explosions, airlines as large as Delta are even considering having the fire suppression bags on all of their flights.
Flight attendants are trained to first douse the flaming device with a fire extinguisher, then put it in to the containment bag and get it far away from passengers so the pilot has time to safely land the flight.
"Once a battery starts to implode on itself, it continues until all of the chemical has run out, and so it does take a lot of liquid in order to make sure that we try to keep the heat, reduce the heat, they burn very hot, they burn very fast, and it can be for quite a long period of time,‰?? said VP of in-flight services for Alaskan Airlines, Andy Schneider.
The Federal Aviation Administration does have concerns about the fire suppression bags, warning in a 2009 safety alert that transferring a burning appliance into a burn bag may be extremely hazardous.
---------------------------------------------
CREWS CLEAN UP CHEMICAL SPILL AFTER TRAIN DERAILMENT NEAR SUPERIOR
Tags: us_MN, transportation, release, response, solvent
Hazardous materials workers from three major railroad companies secured the scene of a train derailment and resulting spill of a combustible chemical south of Superior on Tuesday morning.
‰??We have contained the single leaking rail car, which was hauling octene, a liquid solvent used in plastic production,‰?? Union Pacific spokeswoman Calli Hite said in a statement to the News Tribune early Tuesday afternoon. Union Pacific owns and operates the train that derailed.
No injuries were reported as the result of the incident that started late Monday adjacent to Greenwood Cemetery, a few miles south of Superior on State Highway 35. Authorities closed a portion of Highway 35 while local fire departments responded to the four-car derailment and subsequent octene spill.
A coupler on one of the cars punctured a derailed tanker, causing the spill, said Town of Superior Volunteer Fire Department Chief Darryl Fiegle.
---------------------------------------------
ONE PERSON INJURED IN HAZMAT SITUATION AT WEXFORD HOME
Tags: us_PA, public, release, injury, meth_lab
One person was taken to the hospital following an incident at a home in Wexford.
Hazmat was called to Cresswyck Court just after 2 p.m. Friday.
Channel 11‰??s Damany Lewis learned inside the home were the ingredients and precursors of a meth lab. It appeared to be in the beginning stages of a meth lab, Lewis reported.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD SAYS MULTIPLE ERRORS LED TO FATAL ACCIDENT
Tags: us_LA, industrial, follow-up, death, petroleum, propane
Errors in process management and equipment led to a 2013 fatal explosion at the Williams Olefins Plant in Geismar, La., an investigation by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board concludes.
Two workers died, and 167 other workers reported injuries after hydrocarbons leaked from a plant operation, formed a vapor cloud, and ignited.
The facility produces ethylene and propylene that are used by the petrochemical industry, said CSB Chair Vanessa Allen Sutherland, who unveiled the board‰??s conclusions last week in Louisiana.
A ‰??reboiler‰??‰??a heat exchanger that supplies heat to a distillation column‰??catastrophically ruptured and caused the accident, CSB says in its report on the incident. The reboiler that failed was one of two in the system that provided heat to the propylene fractionator‰??a distillation column that separates propylene and propane.
The second reboiler was a backup and had been offline for 16 months. Plant officials assumed the backup reboiler was clean and available for use. When the operating reboiler appeared to have fouled, plant operators began to shift operations to the idle reboiler.
The plant operators did not know that the standby reboiler contained hydrocarbons and its pressure relief system was not in proper order, CSB found.
---------------------------------------------
TANKER WITH SUSPECTED CHEMICAL EFFLUENTS CAUGHT
Tags: India, transportation, discovery, response, waste
A tanker was seized by the task force team of the Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) while allegedly trying to transport chemical effluents. The officials intercepted the vehicle, which was supposed to carry septic tank waste, at Jeedimetla as part of the routine checks. Upon closer inspection, the officials found that instead of a strong stench emanating from the container, there were signs of chemical fumes. The vehicle was immediately confiscated.
According to the senior officials of the TSPCB, the driver revealed that the vehicle was plying from Hyderabad Chemical Industry situated in Jeedimetla. The driver said that he was asked to transport the chemical waste and dump it in the Musi nala. The officials have taken samples of the liquid found in the tanker for further investigations.
‰??For the first time, we have come across such an incident where a private tanker was transporting industrial effluents under the guise of disposing septic waste. Some of the industries are trying to dump the effluents at a lower cost by resorting to such methods. If the same amount of effluents had to be transported and treated at an Effluent Treatment Plant, it would have costed them 10 times more than hiring a private tanker and dumping the chemical waste in a nala or a lake,‰?? said a senior scientist of the Board.
---------------------------------------------
CHINA‰??S LATEST DEADLY INDUSTRIAL EXPLOSION SPOTLIGHTS DIRE WORKPLACE SAFETY
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, death, explosives
A suspected industrial explosion tore through a small town in northwestern China on Monday, leaving at least 14 people dead and almost 150 injured, while cleaving a crater several feet deep in the street and shattering the windows of a nearby hospital and kindergarten.
The blast rocked Xinmin township of Fugu county, Shaanxi province, at around 2 p.m. local time, reports state news wire Xinhua. Some of the wounded were seen fleeing the scene covered in blood, while six people were pulled from rubble in the explosion‰??s immediate aftermath, reports local news site Huashan News.
Investigators believe the likely cause of the blast was improperly stored chemicals in a steel hut used by a local construction crew. Police are questioning those responsible, reports local media.
‰??There are many coal mines around us and many people think some coal-mine boss stored the explosives in the building, which caused the tragedy,‰?? Dr. Wang Xueming, who has worked at a health clinic in Xinming for 20 years, tells TIME.
Deadly industrial accidents are all too common in China, as the nation has embraced a process of rapid industrialization that is credited for hauling more than 600 million people out of poverty by prioritizing economic growth over environmental or health and safety concerns.
However, the government says it is addressing the problem as part of the next stage of national development. In the first half of this year, there were 13,723 work-related deaths in China ‰?? 75 every day ‰?? yet this still represents an 8.1% drop from the previous year, according to the State Administration for Work Safety. (By comparison, 4,821 American workers were killed on the job in 2014.)
---------------------------------------------
TEMECULA EATERY TEMPORARILY EVACUATED FOLLOWING HAZMAT SITUATION
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, carbon_dioxide, carbon_monoxide, nitrogen
TEMECULA, CA ‰?? A Temecula restaurant was temporarily evacuated and shuttered over the weekend when a carbon monoxide leak was discovered, fire officials report.
It all started around 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the Chili's Restaurant in the 27000 block of Ynez Road, according to April Newman of the Riverside County Fire Department.
"Firefighters arrived on scene of a commercial building with no smoke or fire showing," Newman reported. "Upon further investigation firefighters located a malfunctioning carbon monoxide tank and isolated the leak."
She said it was a "nitrogen carbon dioxide" tank, which was "creating a hazard inside of the restaurant."
The building was subsequently evacuated and the restaurant was shut down while the Environmental Health department was called to the scene.
---------------------------------------------
TANKER LORRY SKIDS, FLIPS ON ITS SIDE ON NSE, SPILLS TOXIC HYDROCHLORIC ACID
Tags: Malaysia, transportation, release, response, hydrochloric_acid
TAPAH: A tanker lorry laden with hydrochloric acid skidded and flipped on its side at Km324 of the North-South Expressway near here last night, and leaked some of the highly toxic chemical onto the road.
According to Perak Fire and Rescue Department director Datuk Yahya Madis, the tanker lorry carrying 25,000 litres of hydrochloric acid flipped over and ruptured at about 11.15pm.
"The (rupture) caused the acid to spill out," Yahya said, adding that the department received a distress call at about 11.31pm and a team was despatched to the scene.
He said clean-up work was carried out by the Pasir Puteh fire station‰??s Hazardous Material (Hazmat) team and firemen from the Tapah, Gopeng and Simpang Pulai fire stations.
---------------------------------------------
1 REMAINS HOSPITALIZED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL IN KANSAS
Tags: us_KS, public, follow-up, injury, unknown_chemical
ATCHISON ‰?? One person remains hospitalized a few days after a chemical spill sent a noxious chemical cloud over a northeast Kansas town.
The spill occurred Friday morning after two chemicals were inadvertently combined at the MGP Ingredients plant in Atchison. The chemical release created a chemical cloud over sections of Atchison and sparked evacuations.
Officials said dozens of people sought medical treatment Friday, largely for respiratory problems. Most had been treated and released by later Friday.
A spokeswoman for Atchison Hospital said Sunday that one person remains hospitalized in stable condition.
The Kansas City Star reports (http://j.mp/2eX4Pei">http://j.mp/2eX4Pei) that the company said in a statement Saturday that MGP is working with regulatory agencies to ‰??fully understand the cause and mitigate the chance of a similar incident occurring in the future.‰??
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