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From: DCHAS Secretary <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (15 articles)
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2017 08:07:49 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: 5C59EE02-7E39-4FA8-AD02-6088B94B58D8**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, January 16, 2017 at 8:07:29 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)
ACTIONABLE LEVEL FOR PFOA IN DRINKING WATER LOWERED
Tags: us_WV, industrial, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
CHINA JAILS MANAGERS FOR POLLUTION
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, environmental, dye, illegal, sulfuric_acid, waste
IN IRAQ'S MOSUL, UNIVERSITY BECAME DEN OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS, IS COMMAND CENTRE
Tags: Iraq, laboratory, discovery, environmental, bomb, explosives
OCEAN STATE POWER'S OIL BURNING BOOSTS RHODE ISLAND'S CHEMICAL EMISSIONS ' ECORI NEWS
Tags: us_RI, public, discovery, environmental, methane, natural_gas
DATA SHOW HUGE DROP IN CHEMICAL RELEASES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
Tags: us_NH, public, discovery, environmental, acids, hydrochloric_acid, zinc
FIRST RESPONDERS IN HOSPITAL AFTER OREGON SUICIDE ATTEMPT CAUSES HAZMAT RESPONSE ' SAT PRESS RELEASES
Tags: us_OR, public, release, injury, carbon_dioxide, suicide
LEBANON FIRE DISTRICT, HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO FUEL SPILL
Tags: us_OR, transportation, release, response, gasoline
U.K. UNIVERSITY STUDENT DIES AFTER EXPOSURE TO UNKNOWN CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES
Tags: United_Kingdom, education, discovery, death, unknown_chemical, flammables
(VIDEO, PHOTOS) HOME BURNS TO THE GROUND IN MANILA FOLLOWING AFTERNOON EXPLOSION; AT LEAST TWO PEOPLE INJURED
Tags: us_CA, public, explosion, injury, butane, clandestine_lab
EPA MAKES SLEW OF DECISIONS ON PESTICIDES
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, ag_chems, pesticides
AGENCIES INVESTIGATING WESTERN REFINING INCIDENTS
Tags: us_TX, industrial, release, response, sulfur_dioxide
TANKER OPERATOR FIVE KILLED IN GADANI BEACH LPG CARRIER FIRE
Tags: Pakistan, transportation, fire, death, butane, propane, waste
MEXICO STATE OIL COMPANY: WORKER KILLED IN REFINERY ACCIDENT
Tags: Mexico, industrial, release, death, diesel, hydrogen_sulfide
WHAT'S HAPPENING WHEN A LITHIUM-ION BATTERY EXPLODES?
Tags: us_TN, public, discovery, response, batteries, flammables
SUPERMARKET IN WARKWORTH EVACUATED AND ONE INJURED AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: New_Zealand, public, fire, injury, chlorine
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ACTIONABLE LEVEL FOR PFOA IN DRINKING WATER LOWERED
Tags: us_WV, industrial, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
DuPont and its spin-off Chemours must further limit the perfluorinated chemical exposure of residents near a chemical manufacturing plant in Parkersburg, W.Va., under a revised deal with EPA. The facility formerly used perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) for decades. Through a recent update to a 2009 consent order with EPA, the companies must supply an alternate source of drinking water for residents when PFOA is measured at 70 parts per trillion in their piped-in drinking water. This lowers a threshold for such action that was set in 2009 of 400 ppt PFOA in drinking water and follows the agency's 2016 lifetime health advisory limit for the chemical. The updated drinking water order comes amid ongoing litigation between the companies and residents of Parkersburg. The plaintiffs, with claims that tainted water has harmed their health, have brought 3,500 lawsuits against the chemical manufacturers. PFOA was once used in the manufacture of nonstick materials. Though U.S. manufactur!
e of PFOA has stopped, the perfluorinated chemical is environmentally persistent and has been linked to disease in people.
---------------------------------------------
CHINA JAILS MANAGERS FOR POLLUTION
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, environmental, dye, illegal, sulfuric_acid, waste
A court in China has fined the dye producer DyStar $3 million for environmental crimes and sent some of the company's managers to jail. The case helps explain why China's rivers still suffer from severe pollution despite the country's strict regulations. According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, 28% of rivers and lakes in China were 'unfit for human contact' in 2015.
In May 2014, public security officials from the city of Yangzhou boarded a ship owned by a local merchant, Weidong Ding, as part of an inquiry into illegal industrial waste dumping in the area's rivers. Once aboard, according to an account posted on a city court website, investigators became suspicious of the ship's smell. They took the captain into custody after discovering tons of hazardous industrial waste on-board.
The captain led investigators to Jun Wang, a manager at Dystar's plant in Nanjing. From 2010 to 2014, Wang had conspired with a local truck fleet owner, Zhanrong Wang, to dispose of DyStar's waste sulfuric acid at a price of $84 per metric ton. Their scheme also involved one of the company's floor managers, Jinjun Huang, and the plant manager, surnamed Li.
Whenever DyStar's tanks of spent sulfuric acid became full, Wang's trucks would come to transport the material to Ding's ships. After dark, the ships would then dump the waste in the Taidong River and the New Tongyang Canal. Over four years, DyStar disposed of nearly 3,000 metric tons of its hazardous waste in this manner.
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IN IRAQ'S MOSUL, UNIVERSITY BECAME DEN OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS, IS COMMAND CENTRE
Tags: Iraq, laboratory, discovery, environmental, bomb, explosives
Some buildings at the University of Mosul are charred by fires, others rigged with explosives, and bullets still periodically fly past a campus scarred by the battle for the city.
The sound of a jet, the whoosh of a descending missile and the explosion as it hits home mark an air strike nearby that sends a stream of black smoke rising toward the grey clouds blanketing the sky over Mosul.
The university -- like others located in or near cities that were seized by the Islamic State group in 2014 -- has become a casualty of the war to push the jihadists back.
Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) has retaken the university from IS, officers said, but the danger posed by the jihadists here is far from over.
There are 'booby-trapped buildings in addition to chemical materials inside the university,' Captain Saif Ali told AFP on the eastern side of the campus.
The chemicals may have been part of IS's rudimentary chemical weapons programme, which it has used to attack Iraqi forces, but which ultimately poses far less danger than the jihadists' bombs or bullets.
---------------------------------------------
OCEAN STATE POWER'S OIL BURNING BOOSTS RHODE ISLAND'S CHEMICAL EMISSIONS ' ECORI NEWS
Tags: us_RI, public, discovery, environmental, methane, natural_gas
Rhode Island was the only state in southern New England to see its emissions increase in 2015. Pollution went up primarily because the Ocean State Power facility in Burrilliville used oil fuel that year, according to state and federal records.
The fossil-fuel power plant mainly burns natural gas, but for a portion of 2015 the 560-megawatt power plant switched to oil. As soon as an energy facility burns oil, it must report all of its emissions for the year. Thus, ammonia, a main component in pollution-reduction systems, shot to the top of the list of pollutants for the year.
However, most of Rhode Island's ammonia emissions go unreported because power plants such as the 450-megawatt Manchester Street Power Station in Providence and the 583-megawatt State Energy Center in Johnston only burned natural gas. Those facilities also use ammonia in their air-pollution cleaning systems, but since they didn't burn oil in 2015 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) didn't require them to report ammonia emissions.
---------------------------------------------
DATA SHOW HUGE DROP IN CHEMICAL RELEASES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
Tags: us_NH, public, discovery, environmental, acids, hydrochloric_acid, zinc
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - The Environmental Protection Agency says its most recent data show reported chemical releases dropped 91 percent in New Hampshire from 2005 to 2015.
Reporting facilities in the state reduced their releases from nearly 5.3 million pounds to under a half-million pounds during the 10-year span, according to data from the federal agency
Among the top chemicals released into the environment in New Hampshire in 2014 were sulfuric and hydrochloric acids, and zinc and barium compounds, the EPA said. The top facilities that reported the largest quantity of environmental releases in the state for 2015 were the Merrimack Station in Bow; the Schiller Station in Portsmouth; and Hutchinson Sealing Systems Inc., in Newfields.
'The trends that show steady declines of chemicals being released into New England's air, water and land show without any doubt that we can have a strong and growing economy while enjoying a clean, healthy and protected environment,' said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA's New England office.
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FIRST RESPONDERS IN HOSPITAL AFTER OREGON SUICIDE ATTEMPT CAUSES HAZMAT RESPONSE ' SAT PRESS RELEASES
Tags: us_OR, public, release, injury, carbon_dioxide, suicide
A man and two emergency responders were admitted to a hospital Tuesday after the man tried to commit suicide by creating a dangerous gas in a Longview apartment, an official said. Officials evacuated the apartment building and shut down its electricity, fearing the potential of combustion, Longview Fire Chief Phil Jurmu said in a news release.
A police officer and a firefighter were admitted to the hospital after a hazmat response to a suicide attempt in which a man mixed chemicals in an attempt to create carbon dioxide.
---------------------------------------------
LEBANON FIRE DISTRICT, HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO FUEL SPILL
Tags: us_OR, transportation, release, response, gasoline
LEBANON, OR (KPTV) -
Crews from the Lebanon Fire District responded to a fuel spill involving a gasoline tanker at the Park Street Chevron station Sunday morning.
According to the fire district, the tanker was filling holding tanks around 8 a.m. when the incident occurred. The cause is believed to have stemmed from a malfunctioning valve or vapor return mechanism.
Firefighters discovered around 30 gallons of gasoline had been spilled, and crews began using booms and absorbent to contain the spill and prevent it from entering the sewer system.
The regional HazMat team from the State Fire Marshal's Office was activated and responded along with crews from the Albany Fire Department to assist in the cleanup. Crews clear the scene around 10:20 a.m.
---------------------------------------------
U.K. UNIVERSITY STUDENT DIES AFTER EXPOSURE TO UNKNOWN CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES
Tags: United_Kingdom, education, discovery, death, unknown_chemical, flammables
A student at Bournemouth University died after a "chemical incident" in residence halls. There were also concerns of a risk of explosion in the area.
Huffington Post U.K. reported that Dorset Police responded to a report of the death of a woman who looked to be in her 30s. Officials went to an address in the Bournemouth University Student Village in Poole. Residents were evacuated from the area after it was said that the home contained "unknown chemical substances." Police were said to have issued a warning about the potential for an explosion.
Bournemouth University student, Josh Wilde, 18, told The Daily Star that a policewoman warned them that there may be a chemical explosion. Another official also reportedly said that something flammable was leaking.
The school has confirmed the death of one of its students. Bournemouth University announced that the next of kin has been informed and that it is providing support for affected students. It also clarified that the incident has been isolated and that it will pose no risk to staff and students on campus.
---------------------------------------------
(VIDEO, PHOTOS) HOME BURNS TO THE GROUND IN MANILA FOLLOWING AFTERNOON EXPLOSION; AT LEAST TWO PEOPLE INJURED
Tags: us_CA, public, explosion, injury, butane, clandestine_lab
A home erupted in flames this evening on Manila's Young Lane, near Ma-le'l Dunes, after explosions were heard inside the structure.
According to the Outpost's John Ferrara, who is at the scene, the house has burned down to its foundation. Firefighters seem to be mopping up at the moment.
The Humboldt County Sheriff's Office responded to the incident, along with trucks from the Arcata Fire District, CalFire and Blue Lake Fire, and possibly others.
According to scanner traffic, two burn victims transported themselves to Mad River Community Hospital. Investigators are en route to interview them, if they are able.
One first responder on the scene reported to dispatchers that butane cannisters at the scene of the fire, the usual sign of an illicit hash oil extraction laboratory.
A fire chief should be speaking to media at the scene of the fire shortly. We'll update when we know more.
---------------------------------------------
EPA MAKES SLEW OF DECISIONS ON PESTICIDES
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, ag_chems, pesticides
With just a few days remaining of the Obama Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency's office that oversees pesticides has gone into overdrive. The office is churning out rules and policies that have long been in the works, including three on Jan. 12.
In one of those actions, EPA moved to expand the use of Dow AgroScience's herbicide Enlist Duo, a combination of glyphosate and 2,4-D. The controversial mixture can now be sprayed on cotton that has been genetically modified to tolerate the chemicals, as well as on corn and soybeans in 34 U.S. states.
In a separate move, the agency released draft assessments of four neonicotinoid pesticides, finding potential risks to bees and other pollinators for a few spray applications. The agency also released voluntary guidelines for labeling pesticides to protect pollinators, easing restrictions for some applications at the request of pesticide makers.
Environmental groups are infuriated by EPA's decision to expand the use of Enlist Duo, as well as by the agency's move to ease restrictions on some uses of neonicotinoids.
EPA first approved Enlist Duo for use on corn and soybeans in a handful of states in 2014, but the agency then discovered information in a patent application that suggested synergistic effects between the two ingredients. EPA subsequently asked a federal court to overturn the approval.
In November 2016, after receiving additional data from Dow, EPA said that it agrees with the company that the two chemicals do not amplify each other's toxicity.
Earlier this month, the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group, submitted a Freedom of Information Act request seeking data from four unpublished studies by Dow that EPA relied on in making its decision.
---------------------------------------------
AGENCIES INVESTIGATING WESTERN REFINING INCIDENTS
Tags: us_TX, industrial, release, response, sulfur_dioxide
EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14) ' Several incidents reported at Western Refining, including this week's fire and chemical leak are being investigated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
People in the area of the refinery in Lower Valley reported large plumes of yellow smoke coming from Western Refining on Wednesday. KFOX14 has learned that the yellow smoke and a strange smell coming from Western Refining was an estimated 2,057 pounds of sulfur dioxide that had leaked into the air, according to a report filed by the TCEQ.
A valve malfunction caused a leak from one of the structures at the refinery, the report stated. TCEQ released the following statement to KFOX14
---------------------------------------------
TANKER OPERATOR FIVE KILLED IN GADANI BEACH LPG CARRIER FIRE
Tags: Pakistan, transportation, fire, death, butane, propane, waste
Five shipbreaking workers were killed and one injured in another fire that occurred in a Gadani Beach recycling yard this week.
This fire broke out on board of the beached LPG carrier 'Gaz Fountain'.
The vessel's last beneficial owner was the Greek shipping company Naftomar. Her name was changed to 'Rain' and the Panama flag swapped for the Comoros flag just before her last voyage ' a clear indicator of the use of a cash buyer, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform claimed.
Shipping newspaper TradeWinds asked cash buyer Wirana for a comment in December, when a first fire had occurred on the same ship. Wirana, one of the world's largest firms specialised in end-of-life deals, lists Naftomar as a client, the Platform said.
The accident occurred at yard No 60, owned by Rizwan Diwan Farooq, the former president of the Pakistan Ship Breakers' Association. According to local newspaper The Dawn, Farooq was detained after having fled the yard. The newspaper reported that the fire broke out due to a 'chemical foam' present in the ship.
---------------------------------------------
MEXICO STATE OIL COMPANY: WORKER KILLED IN REFINERY ACCIDENT
Tags: Mexico, industrial, release, death, diesel, hydrogen_sulfide
MEXICO CITY (AP) ' Mexico's state oil company says a worker has been killed in a chemical accident at a diesel refinery in the northern part of the country.
Petroleos Mexicanos says in a statement that the employee came in contact with a release of toxic hydrogen sulfide while doing maintenance work.
Two others were injured and were in stable condition Thursday.
The plant is located in Ciudad Madero, in the Gulf coast state of Tamaulipas.
---------------------------------------------
WHAT'S HAPPENING WHEN A LITHIUM-ION BATTERY EXPLODES?
Tags: us_TN, public, discovery, response, batteries, flammables
A lithium-ion battery can start to break down if it gets too warm, if it's handled roughly or even if it's charged up too often. Gas can collect in the battery, which can make it swell. When the gas vents, the electrodes inside the battery can deform and short-circuit.
These short-circuits are what caused the battery fires on Boeing's Dreamliner planes in 2013. And Samsung says that's what caused its Note 7 batteries to overheat. Short-circuits can concentrate a lot of a battery's energy in one spot, increasing its temperature to more than 1,900 degrees Fahrenheit.
So what do we do to make these batteries safer? Lithium is nasty stuff when it catches fire. Firefighters soaked the burning Dreamliner batteries in chemical fire suppressant, and they still didn't go all the way out.
Solid-state batteries would eliminate flammable liquids ' but first, we have to figure out how to charge them quickly enough to be useful. In the meantime, some chemical engineers call for designing power cells with better reinforcement so they don't collapse or melt as easily.
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SUPERMARKET IN WARKWORTH EVACUATED AND ONE INJURED AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: New_Zealand, public, fire, injury, chlorine
One person has been injured in a chemical fire, which caused staff to be evacuated from a Countdown supermarket at Warkworth north of Auckland this morning.
A Fire Service spokesman said a rubbish bin was on fire outside the supermarket, which is believed to have been caused by tubs of a chlorine product splitting open at about 5.30am.
He said St John are at the scene after a staff member complained about "sore eyes and a burning face".
Fire crews have managed to put the fire out.
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