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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, January 25, 2017 at 7:41:16 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 (10 articles)
SAMSUNG: FLAWS LED TO NOTE 7 FIRES
Tags: Republic_of_Korea, industrial, follow-up, response, batteries, flammables
FIRE IN CHEMICAL FACTORY: 3 WORKERS CHARRED TO DEATH IN UDAIPUR
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, death, solvent
HAZMAT CERTIFICATION BILL HITS FLORIDA HOUSE
Tags: us_FL, public, discovery, response
INTERNATIONAL PAPER EXPLOSION: WHAT WE KNOW
Tags: us_FL, industrial, explosion, response, unknown_chemical
HAZMAT UNITS CALLED IN TO CANISTER WASHED UP AT HAY POINT
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, response, phosphine
SYNTHETIC CHEMICALS: IGNORED AGENTS OF GLOBAL CHANGE
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, ag_chems, carbon_dioxide, drugs, pesticides, pharmaceutical
WAFF-TV: NEWS, WEATHER AND SPORTS FOR HUNTSVILLE, AL
Tags: us_AL, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical
BUSINESSES EVACUATED AS OFFICIALS INVESTIGATED CHEMICAL REACTION
Tags: us_SC, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical
ACS ADDS POLICY STATEMENT ON SAFETY
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
PEERING INTO CHINA'S THICK HAZE OF AIR POLLUTION
Tags: China, public, discovery, environmental, toxics
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SAMSUNG: FLAWS LED TO NOTE 7 FIRES
Tags: Republic_of_Korea, industrial, follow-up, response, batteries, flammables
Samsung's investigation into the batteries of its Galaxy Note 7 phones has uncovered several manufacturing defects that likely contributed to the rash of phone fires customers experienced after the phone's launch last year.
Billions of batteries are used every day without incident, but when batteries do catch fire, common causes include a short circuit across the battery separator, a porous polyethylene film which is supposed to prevent battery electrodes from touching. Batteries can also overcharge or experience a chemical breakdown of their flammable carbonate-based electrolytes.
At a press conference on Monday at its Seoul headquarters, Samsung disclosed results of analysis by two independent investigators: the testing firm Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and the engineering consulting firm Exponent. The firms tested batteries made by two batteries suppliers, dubbed in their presentations as 'Company A' and Company B'. The suppliers are believed to be Samsung SDI and Amperex Technology.
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FIRE IN CHEMICAL FACTORY: 3 WORKERS CHARRED TO DEATH IN UDAIPUR
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, death, solvent
Three workers were charred to death and seven others received burns after a chemical factory caught fire in Udaipur's Sukher industrial area on Monday evening.
Fire could be extinguished by midnight. Two charred bodies were found on Monday night and another on Tuesday morning, Udaipur Additional SP Sudhir Joshi said.
Of the seven injured two are serious; all of them were admitted to local MB government hospital there.
Deepak Chemical Factory producing chemicals and solvents used for marble treatment caught fire around 3 pm, and the fire tenders were called.
There were a series of blasts in the chemical containers leading to high flames. The entire factory was gutted.
Officials from four police stations mounted the rescue operation; Collector Rohit Gupta supervised the rescue teams.
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HAZMAT CERTIFICATION BILL HITS FLORIDA HOUSE
Tags: us_FL, public, discovery, response
A bill filed in the Florida House on Tuesday would codify requirements for use of professional abbreviations by those handling dangerous goods and hazardous materials.
Additionally, it would impose stricter penalties for those misrepresenting their credentials, via the Florida Deceptive & Unfair Trade Practices Act.
House Bill 415, filed by Jacksonville Republican Clay Yarborough, stipulates that anyone billed as a 'certified dangerous goods professional,' 'certified hazardous materials manager,' or 'certified hazardous materials practitioner,' or using the abbreviations thereof, must accurately disclose his or her credentials.
And those credentials, asserts the Yarborough bill, must be officially from the 'Institute of Hazardous Materials Management or another institution that issues such certificates.'
The bill, in addition to ensuring that those handling hazardous and dangerous goods are actually credentialed and certified to do so, also protects veterans, Rep. Yarborough said.
'Increasingly, the holders of these certifications are Veterans returning from the Middle East. We should ensure there is accountability if an individual misrepresents that they hold these certifications. As the certifications become more known and popular, there have been instances of individuals falsely asserting they hold the certifications. This legislation has been passed in 19 other states,' Yarborough noted.
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INTERNATIONAL PAPER EXPLOSION: WHAT WE KNOW
Tags: us_FL, industrial, explosion, response, unknown_chemical
Statement from International Paper:
"(On Sunday night, International Paper in Cantonment) experienced a manufacturing process failure that released a mixture of wood fiber, water and pulping liquor into the surrounding area. If you or your pets have had contact with the materials, please wash the affected area for 15 minutes with soap and water. If you are experiencing skin irritation or respiratory issues, please see your doctor. Avoid contact with your eyes and mouth.
For those nearby the facility, we are working with response agencies from the county and state and will have additional information as it becomes available.
If the materials have come into contact with your vehicle, please thoroughly wash your vehicle and avoid contact with the material."
A representative with International Paper said they are still investigating the cause of the blast.
UPDATE 9:15 a.m.:
Crews are on the scene cleaning up after Sunday night's explosion at International Paper in Cantonment. Still no word on the cause of the blast.
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HAZMAT UNITS CALLED IN TO CANISTER WASHED UP AT HAY POINT
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, response, phosphine
A TOXIC substance inside a canister has once again washed up on a Queensland beach, this time at Hay Point, years after the first one was spotted.
These canisters have had aluminium phosphide in them, which is exposed to air or moisture create a toxic gas called phosphine gas.
These have been washing up on Queensland beaches since 2013, with one landing in Airlie Beach in January 2013, and Gladstone in January 2015.
This silver canister was found by Peter Dallas on Monday morning when he and his wife were picking up rubbish at the high tide mark at Hay Point.
He hid the canister behind a tree so children wouldn't find it and called the Daily Mercury to find out what it was after remembering a story in the paper years ago about a similar object.
Mr Dallas organised a rendezvous with police at Hay Point to show them where he hid the canister.
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SYNTHETIC CHEMICALS: IGNORED AGENTS OF GLOBAL CHANGE
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, ag_chems, carbon_dioxide, drugs, pesticides, pharmaceutical
Despite a steady rise in the manufacture and release of synthetic chemicals, research on the ecological effects of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and industrial chemicals is severely lacking. This blind spot undermines efforts to address global change and achieve sustainability goals. So reports a new study in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
Emma J. Rosi, a freshwater ecologist at the Cary Institute and a co-author on the paper, explains, "To date, global change assessments have ignored synthetic chemical pollution. Yet these chemicals are increasing at a rate that is on par, or more rapid, than other agents of global change, such as CO2 emissions or nutrient pollution."
The study's team assessed global trends in synthetic chemical pollution since the 1970s and compared results to other drivers of global change. Then they surveyed leading ecological journals, U.S. ecological meeting presentations, and National Science Foundation grants for research on synthetic chemicals. Less than 1% of the journal articles, 1.3% of the presentations, and 0.01% of the NSF grants explored the environmental effects or fate of these chemicals.
Author Emily S. Bernhardt, professor of biogeochemistry at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment, comments, "Research on the ecological impacts of synthetic chemical pollution has been static since the 1970s. But our portfolio of these manufactured chemicals keeps growing - with more than 80,000 now in use commercially. This knowledge gap is becoming a chasm, with real consequences for ecological health."
---------------------------------------------
WAFF-TV: NEWS, WEATHER AND SPORTS FOR HUNTSVILLE, AL
Tags: us_AL, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical
HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) -
The University of Alabama at Huntsville spokesman Ray Gardner said a student improperly mixed two chemicals Monday morning in the North Campus Residence Hall just before 7 o'clock.
Gardner said the incident was isolated to the student's bedroom in the residence hall and that the student was hospitalized. The student was later reported to be in stable condition.
---------------------------------------------
BUSINESSES EVACUATED AS OFFICIALS INVESTIGATED CHEMICAL REACTION
Tags: us_SC, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical
LEXINGTON, SC (WIS) -
The Lexington Police Department and the Lexington Fire Department responded to what they're calling a chemical reaction off Highway 378 Monday morning.
Officers and firefighters responded to the scene on Highway 378 and Ginny Lane just before 8:30 a.m. Monday. Police officials say a panel truck was leaking some type of chemical in the area.
The roadways are open, but businesses in the area were evacuated as a precaution. The evacuation was brief and people have been allowed back into the area.
Lexington County Public Information Officer Harrison Cahill says a chemical reaction occurred inside a panel truck.
"We exhausted the truck to, in a sense, let that chemical breathe and cool down," he said. "The hazard has been mitigated at this point...there is no threat to the public and there never was any threat to the public.
---------------------------------------------
ACS ADDS POLICY STATEMENT ON SAFETY
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
The American Chemical Society has adopted a new public policy statement on safety in the chemical enterprise. 'There has been a lot of urging by the chemistry community for ACS to be more up-front about advocacy for safety,' says John E. Adams, chair of the ACS Committee on Public Affairs & Public Relations (PA&PR), which reviews and approves ACS's policy statements. 'This is a reinforcement of our commitment to safety.'
ACS currently has 27 policy statements, which form the basis for ACS's advocacy efforts, says Adams. The statements are grouped into four broad categories aimed at fostering innovation through research and technology, strengthening science education and the scientific workforce, advancing science through openness, and promoting science and sustainability in public policy. All statements are available on the ACS website at www.acs.org/policy.
'We try to focus on those things where we think we can have the biggest impact and where we feel that we can be an authoritative source of information,' Adams says.
Policy statements are drafted by ACS committees and divisions with input from ACS members and then presented to the Committee on Public Affairs & Public Relations for review. PA&PR can also renew, revise, or retire a statement. Each statement is active for three years before it's up for review by the ACS Board of Directors.
The new statement on safety in the chemical enterprise, drafted by the society's Committee on Chemical Safety and the Division on Chemical Health & Safety, supports the use of risk-based criteria in creating safety regulations and policies. It also supports government implementation of regulatory policies that foster innovation within a safer chemical environment.
In addition to adopting the new statement on safety, ACS extended for three years its statements on science education and on employment nondiscrimination, and it updated its statements on forensic science and peer review.
---------------------------------------------
PEERING INTO CHINA'S THICK HAZE OF AIR POLLUTION
Tags: China, public, discovery, environmental, toxics
As 2016 gave way to 2017, residents of Beijing, Tianjin, and many other northern Chinese cities suffered through the longest stretch of stifling air pollution ever recorded in the country. They choked through eight continuous days of thick, light-blocking haze, starting Dec. 30, 2016. This stretch of bad air began only a week after people in 70 northern Chinese cities were enveloped by similar days of haze composed of high concentrations of particles less than 2.5 ë1Ú4m in diameter (PM2.5).
Also known as ultrafine particulates, PM2.5 consists of solids and liquids. Its sources include carbon black from incomplete combustion as well as sulfates and nitrates. Levels of such ultrafine particles surpassed 500 ë1Ú4g per cubic meter of air in both of the recent incidents in China.
That level is twice the daily concentration of 250 ë1Ú4g/m3 that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers hazardous to human health. In contrast, few U.S. cities recorded an air quality index of above 50, which can be translated to a PM2.5 concentration of 12 ug/m3, during the recent days that northern China's air was filled with haze, according to EPA data.
The recent bouts of toxic smog sent tens of thousands of residents fleeing Beijing and other northern Chinese cities for cleaner air abroad or in southern China. Angry protests and bitter jokes flooded WeChat and Weibo, China's most popular social media. The complaints about the government's failure to deal with dangerous air pollution, however, fail to take into account the complicated haze situation and the largely unknown mechanisms that create the pollution.
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