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From: DCHAS Secretary <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (8 articles)
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2016 08:35:27 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: 77421A20-EA9F-41A8-B64A-F43D0B9F346A**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Note that, for unknown reasons, I have not received any Google alerts since last Wednesday, so the source of headlines is based on manual searches rather than the traditional source.
- Ralph
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, November 28, 2016 at 8:35:14 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 (8 articles)
CEMENT COULD BE A HELPFUL CARBON SINK
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, calcium_carbonate, carbon_dioxide
ASBESTOS STILL A GLOBAL MENACE
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental, asbestos, illegal
INITIAL REPORT ABOUT SPACEX SEPTEMBER ROCKET EXPLOSION IMMINENT
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, response, other_chemical
BARCLAYS CLOSED EXECUTIVE FLOOR IN LONDON AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, response, chlorine
SCIENTISTS CHECK GATOR MEAT FOR SIGNS OF POLLUTION
Tags: us_SC, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
AIROSOL CHEMICAL PLANT EXPLOSION MAY CONTAMINATE OK WATER
Tags: us_OK, industrial, follow-up, environmental, runoff
SITE OF CHEMICAL PLANT EXPLOSION HAD PREVIOUS EPA VIOLATIONS / LJWORLD.COM
Tags: us_KS, industrial, follow-up, environmental, unknown_chemical, illegal
REFRIGERANT LEAK PROMPTS HAZMAT RESPONSE AT ISLAND GROCERY DEPOT IN KAHULUI
Tags: us_HI, industrial, release, response, freon, hvac_chemicals
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CEMENT COULD BE A HELPFUL CARBON SINK
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, calcium_carbonate, carbon_dioxide
Making cement requires a lot of heat and releases large amounts of carbon dioxide. The heat helps transform limestone (calcium carbonate) into clinker, which is largely calcium oxide. This process, called calcination, is responsible for about 5% of global human-based CO2 emissions.
But the cement itself may help offset some of those climate-changing emissions, according to a new study. A team of researchers estimate that 43% of the CO2 released by cement calcination between 1930 and 2013 was reabsorbed by the cement created during that period (Nat. Geosci. 2016, DOI: 10.1038/ngeo2840).
Removing CO2 from the atmosphere, not just emitting less of it, is a significant part of what many climate scientists think we must do to avoid major consequences from climate change. ‰??It‰??s not a small amount of CO2 that needs to be removed from the atmosphere,‰?? says Phil Renforth, who studies carbon sequestration at Cardiff University. ‰??But what is interesting about this study is that part of that requirement of removing CO2 from the atmosphere may already be happening by the unintended carbonation of cement. The challenge is designing and accounting for this in the life cycle of cement.‰??
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ASBESTOS STILL A GLOBAL MENACE
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental, asbestos, illegal
As a 7-year-old child in suburban Sydney, Australia, Serafina Salucci recalls playing with white wall sheeting material leftover from her dad‰??s renovation of the family‰??s garage. She used it like chalk to draw on the driveway, and threw chunks of it back and forth with her brothers. Little did anyone know at the time that the sheeting contained carcinogenic asbestos fibers that would later be blamed for giving Salucci mesothelioma, an incurable cancer attacking the lining of her lungs.
Salucci was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2007, 30 years after her likely exposure to asbestos. She has outlived her doctor‰??s prognosis and now spends her time raising awareness about the disease and the threat of asbestos in older buildings like houses, hospitals, and schools. If asbestos fibers become airborne, there‰??s a risk of exposure, she says. ‰??We must safely get rid of it.‰??
In brief
More than 50 countries around the world have banned the use of asbestos, a known human carcinogen linked to lung cancer, mesothelioma, and other diseases. But two Western industrialized countries‰??the U.S. and Canada‰??have not taken such steps. Anti-asbestos activists are ramping up pressure on regulators in the U.S. and elsewhere to stop the production and use of the fibrous material. Meanwhile, scientists would like to better understand the basic science of the substance in order to deal with remediation at hazardous sites and to treat those who are susceptible to asbestos-related diseases. An NIH-funded research center at the University of Pennsylvania is leading the charge (see page 32).
Salucci joined hundreds of other people seeking to eradicate asbestos exposure around the world at an Australian government conference earlier this month. Production and use of asbestos was banned in Australia in 2003, but approximately one-third of all homes in the country contain the substance. Australia had the highest per capita rate of asbestos use in the world from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Salucci, now 47, is one of hundreds of Australians diagnosed with mesothelioma every year. Like many other kids that grew up during the 1960s and 1970s, she never worked around asbestos nor did any home renovations herself. She was exposed to asbestos while playing as a child.
While Australia, like many other countries, faces huge challenges related to its former use of asbestos, more than 100 countries face even greater problems because they have yet to ban the fibrous material. The U.S., Canada, and many countries in the Asia-Pacific region, for instance, still allow some use of asbestos, despite the substance‰??s known adverse health effects.
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INITIAL REPORT ABOUT SPACEX SEPTEMBER ROCKET EXPLOSION IMMINENT
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, response, other_chemical
Elon Musk‰??s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is expected to give federal authorities by early next month a preliminary investigative report pinpointing fueling procedures as the most likely cause of a September unmanned rocket explosion.
The report, according to people familiar with the matter, is part of the closely held company‰??s effort to resume launching before the end of 2016, following a fireball that destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket and a commercial satellite during routine ground tests nearly three months ago.
SpaceX, as the Southern California company is called, heads the probe with assistance from various government agencies. But the anticipated tight timeline only gives SpaceX roughly three weeks to finish the final report, persuade government officials to sign off on its major findings and then obtain approval for operational changes intended to prevent a repeat of the catastrophic accident.
Investigators believe a complex interaction between supercooled fuel and carbon composite material wrapped around the outside of helium containers resulted in a breach in one of those pressurized bottles. Engineers have sought to re-create the exact combination of variables‰??including pressure, temperature and fill rate‰??suspected of causing the rupture.
The investigation also has scrutinized both design and quality-control issues, according to people familiar with the details, but there appears to be a consensus that problematic operational factors were the primary culprits.
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BARCLAYS CLOSED EXECUTIVE FLOOR IN LONDON AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, response, chlorine
Barclays Plc temporarily closed the top floors in its London headquarters, including the offices of Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley, after discovering a chemical contamination late Thursday, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg News.
About 400 people were evacuated from the British lender‰??s Canary Wharf skyscraper after a mixture of cleaning products caused a chemical reaction and produced chlorine gas, the London Fire Brigade said in a statement on its website, without naming the bank. The accidental chemical spill isn‰??t being treated as suspicious, Metropolitan Police said in a separate statement.
The chemical contamination was found on the 32nd floor, according to the bank‰??s memo. Meeting rooms on the 30th floor and the executive suite one level up were closed on Friday morning as a precautionary measure but have since reopened, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Staley was out of the country at the time and the building is now back to normal operations, said the person, who asked not to be identified because they weren‰??t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
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SCIENTISTS CHECK GATOR MEAT FOR SIGNS OF POLLUTION
Tags: us_SC, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
COLUMBIA, SC
Scientists who recently found soaring chemical levels in the blood of South Carolina alligators are trying to determine whether gator meat that hunters consume contains the same potentially harmful contaminants.
Researchers with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Department of Commerce are analyzing alligator flesh to see whether the meat is tainted by perfluoroalkyl acids, a group of chemicals of increasing health concern.
These acids once were used as ingredients in water repellant surfaces, frying pan coatings, plastics and other products, but they are being phased out as researchers learn more about the potential toxic effects on people.
‰??One of the reasons to do this study is to look at ‰??Is this actually in the meat people would eat?‰?? ‰??‰?? said Jessica Reiner, a Commerce Department scientist in Charleston.
‰??We want to make sure hunters can hunt, eat the meat and be well-informed.‰??
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AIROSOL CHEMICAL PLANT EXPLOSION MAY CONTAMINATE OK WATER
Tags: us_OK, industrial, follow-up, environmental, runoff
NOWATA, OK (KSWO)- Parts of Oklahoma are now being affected by the Aersol Plant explosion in Kansas.
Residents of northeastern Oklahoma had their water service turned off because of possible contamination. Both Kansas and Oklahoma authorities are examining the water quality to see what chemicals may be contaminating the water. They are worried about runoff from the chemicals in the plant and the chemicals used to put out the fire.
Airosol, Inc., a chemical plant in Neodesha, Kansas, is still smoldering, but fire officials say the fire is fully contained.
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SITE OF CHEMICAL PLANT EXPLOSION HAD PREVIOUS EPA VIOLATIONS / LJWORLD.COM
Tags: us_KS, industrial, follow-up, environmental, unknown_chemical, illegal
TOPEKA ‰?? A chemical plant in Neodesha that was the site of a dangerous explosion Wednesday had a history of violating federal environmental rules and paid a $10,000 fine in 2009 for using a banned substance in one of its products.
But a check of records from other federal agencies shows that Airosol Company Inc., which owns and operates the plant, had a clean record with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which inspected the facility twice in the last five years and found no workplace safety violations.
State and federal officials said Friday they are still investigating the cause of Wednesday's blast and its potential environmental impact.
The explosion forced a number of local water suppliers in Coffeyville, Independence and Neodesha to temporarily shut off water intake from the Fall River and Verdigris River because of contamination that resulted from the blast.
Kansas Department of Health and Environment spokesman Ashton Rucker said officials have identified some number of chemicals that were released into a nearby drainage ditch when firefighters responding to the blast sprayed water to put out the fire.
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REFRIGERANT LEAK PROMPTS HAZMAT RESPONSE AT ISLAND GROCERY DEPOT IN KAHULUI
Tags: us_HI, industrial, release, response, freon, hvac_chemicals
Kahului firefighters responded to a hazardous materials leak at Island Grocery Depot on Amala Place in Kahului at 9:40 p.m. Saturday Nov. 26, 2016.
Firefighters initially were called out to a fire alarm activation, but after meeting with a representative from the business, crews learned that an employee discovered some sort of foggy cloud or smoke within the building. The business was closed at the time and no one was inside the building.
A hazardous materials team was brought in to investigate. Using protective gear and Self Contained Breathing Apparatuses or SCBA, three firefighters entered the building and located a gas leak coming from the refrigeration equipment over the chiller boxes. Hazmat technicians were able to stop the leak with the guidance of a service technician who was outside watching their movements through a camera monitor.
The leaking product was identified as Freon 44A, a type of refrigerant. Maui Fire Services Chief Edward Taomoto said the gas cloud formed by the leaking product caused the fire alarm system to activate.
After firefighters closed off valves and capped the leak, the building‰??s doors were opened and crews used large fans to ventilate the building for about an hour until it was safe to enter without special protective gear.
A service technician made temporary repairs so the chiller units could still be used until more permanent repairs could be done later.
A battalion chief, fire engine and a hazardous materials crew from Kahului responded to the incident.
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