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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, February 6, 2017 at 7:26:38 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 (20 articles)
CHEMICAL OCULAR INJURIES AMONG CHILDREN LINKED TO LAUNDRY DETERGENT PODS
Tags: public, discovery, injury, cleaners
PERSPECTIVES: CHAMPIONING CHEMISTRY
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
CHEMICAL SPILL AT POWER PLANT ON UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS CAMPUS
Tags: us_IL, industrial, release, response, magnesium
RICHMOND COUNTY DEPUTY DIES AFTER INHALING LIQUID NITROGEN
Tags: us_GA, public, release, death, liquid_nitrogen
FIRE DAMAGES BUILDING AT TULSA'S PORT OF CATOOSA
Tags: us_OK, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
MAJOR ALERT IN CAMBRIDGE AS STUDENTS ACCIDENTALLY CREATE "CHEMICAL HARMFUL TO HUMAN HEALTH" DURING ART EXPERIMENT
Tags: United_Kingdom, education, discovery, injury, unknown_chemical
OVERTURNED TANKER TRUCK SPILLS CREAMER INTO CREEK
Tags: us_NC, transportation, release, injury, other_chemical
LORTON INCINERATOR FIRE CAUSE REGIONAL CONCERN
Tags: us_VA, industrial, fire, response, waste
EXPLOSION AT ROUND ROCK BUSINESS SERIOUSLY INJURES EMPLOYEE
Tags: us_TX, industrial, explosion, injury, explosives, fireworks
CHUCK NORRIS LASHES 'CHEMICAL IMBALANCE' OF U.S. REGULATIONS
Tags: public, follow-up, environmental
BRISTOL UNI 'CHEMICAL INCIDENT': BOMB SQUAD CALLED TO REMOVE 'EXPLOSIVE SUBSTANCE' ACCIDENTALLY CREATED IN LAB
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, discovery, response, explosives
CHEMICAL SPILL AT UA CIVIL ENGINEERING BUILDING
Tags: us_AZ, laboratory, release, response, waste
SCIENCE IS FALLING WOEFULLY BEHIND IN TESTING NEW CHEMICALS
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental, ag_chems, carbon_dioxide, drugs, nitrogen, pesticides, pharmaceutical
PFLUGERVILLE SHELTER IN PLACE OVER AFTER CHEMICAL SMELL
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, response, chlorine
CHEMICAL SPILL FORCES CLOSURE OF CO DOWN LEISURE CENTRE
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
CONGRESS CONSIDERS REVOKING INDUSTRIAL CHEMICAL SAFETY RULE
Tags: industrial, follow-up, environmental
WORKERS MAY HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO EBOLA, HIV AND TB AT WINNIPEG LAB, REPORTS REVEAL
Tags: Canada, laboratory, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
ASTRO CHEMICAL OF SPRINGFIELD FINED $5,000 BY MASSDEP FOR NOT REPORTING HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SPILL
Tags: us_MA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical, metals
$1 BILLION LAWSUIT FOR CONTAMINATION FROM LOVE CANAL
Tags: us_NY, industrial, release, environmental, waste
HAZMAT CREWS CALLED TO WESTMEAD AFTER POISON SCARE AT CLYDE OIL REFINERY
Tags: Australia, public, release, response, petroleum
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL OCULAR INJURIES AMONG CHILDREN LINKED TO LAUNDRY DETERGENT PODS
Tags: public, discovery, injury, cleaners
Between 2012 and 2015, the number of chemical burns to the eye associated with laundry detergent pods increased more than 30-fold among preschool-aged children in the U.S., according to a study published online by JAMA Ophthalmology.
The widespread adoption of laundry detergent pods, which are dissolvable pouches containing enough laundry detergent for a single use, has led to an increase in associated injuries among children. Reports of pod-related injuries, including poisoning, choking, and burns, have suggested that this pattern may be in part due to the products' colorful packaging and candy-like appearance.
R. Sterling Haring, D.O., M.P.H., of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and colleagues examined the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS; run by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission) for the period 2010-2015 for eye injuries resulting in chemical burn or conjunctivitis among children age 3 to 4 years (i.e., preschool-aged children).
During this time period, 1,201 laundry detergent pod-related ocular burns occurred among children age 3 to 4 years. The number of chemical burns associated with laundry detergent pods increased from 12 instances in 2012 to 480 in 2015; the proportion of all chemical ocular injuries associated with these devices increased from 0.8 percent of burns in 2012 to 26 percent in 2015. These injuries most often occurred when children were handling the pods and the contents squirted into one or both of their eyes or when the pod contents leaked onto their hands and a burn resulted from subsequent hand-eye contact.
---------------------------------------------
PERSPECTIVES: CHAMPIONING CHEMISTRY
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
An editorial in Nature Chemistry in 2010 asked chemists a simple question: 'Where are the champions?' The opinion piece highlighted long-held misconceptions and negative perceptions about chemistry and observed that 'chemistry lacks the easily articulated grand challenges associated with physics or biology, and it generally gets a rough ride in the mainstream media. All the more reason that it needs effective advocates and champions.'
The International Year of Chemistry held the following year does not appear to have achieved the hoped-for change in chemistry's standing in the public's eye, to have raised the profile of the subject, or, with a few exceptions, to have inspired champions of chemistry to step forward. Moreover, a Royal Society of Chemistry study in 2015 revealed that chemists' image of how society views the subject was worse than the reality. These results seem to us indicative of a profession afflicted with low self-esteem rather than one confident to undertake effective advocacy on its own behalf.
Against this backdrop, chemists need to ponder ways to reenergize and refresh their profession in a form that will be suited to meeting oncoming challenges. We should reflect on the question, where are the champions? It is inextricably linked to the equally important question, how do we champion chemistry? And both of those questions raise the further question, what is the nature of the chemistry that should be championed?
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL SPILL AT POWER PLANT ON UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS CAMPUS
Tags: us_IL, industrial, release, response, magnesium
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCCU) ' A scare at the Abbott power plant on the U of I campus.
Crews were called out for a chemical spill Sunday afternoon. The University of Illinois, Champaign, and Urbana first responders were called for the spill in the plant's basement.
At that time, all pipes exiting the power plant were closed.
Less than an hour later the scene was cleared.
Officials say it was a small leak of magnesium hydroxide -- deemed 'Non-hazardous'.
"Good news at least it wasn't something serious, so no injuries, no evacuation,' Lieutenant John Brown said. 'Turned out the chemical is essentially milk of magnesia, and not dangerous."
The spilled milk-like chemical is used in the process for generating steam and power.
---------------------------------------------
RICHMOND COUNTY DEPUTY DIES AFTER INHALING LIQUID NITROGEN
Tags: us_GA, public, release, death, liquid_nitrogen
A Richmond County sheriff's deputy died Sunday after inhaling liquid nitrogen while trying to save a worker inside a sperm bank.
Three other deputies were injured but 'are going to be OK,' Lt. Allan Rollins said late Sunday.
Sgt. Greg Meagher, 57, went to Xytex at 1100 Emmett St. about 3:30 p.m., according to a news release from the sheriff's office.
'Upon arrival, Sgt. Meagher succumbed to injuries sustained after inhaling an unknown chemical substance,' the release said.
The chemical was liquid nitrogen, according to Dee Griffin, the spokeswoman for the Augusta Fire Department and Augusta's Emergency Management Agency. The chemical is used to freeze sperm donations.
Three other deputies who had responded to the call already had been taken to a hospital after complaining of shortness of breath when firefighters arrived just before 4 p.m.
---------------------------------------------
FIRE DAMAGES BUILDING AT TULSA'S PORT OF CATOOSA
Tags: us_OK, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
PORT OF CATOOSA - A building at the Port of Catoosa is heavily damaged after a fire burned for hours.
Firefighters said they weren't able to start putting out the fire right away because nearby chemicals raised some concerns.
Around 2:15 Saturday morning, sparks flew at the Port of Catoosa.
Three employees escaped the burning building, but the threat of dangerous chemicals kept firefighters from putting out the flames.
Tulsa Fire Captain Jim Moseby said, "It's very nerve-racking when you do approach a building with a lot of chemicals in it. Any firefighter is gonna be very leery of that."
Moseby said anytime firefighters go to the Port of Catoosa they look for placards on buildings before they start using water.
---------------------------------------------
MAJOR ALERT IN CAMBRIDGE AS STUDENTS ACCIDENTALLY CREATE "CHEMICAL HARMFUL TO HUMAN HEALTH" DURING ART EXPERIMENT
Tags: United_Kingdom, education, discovery, injury, unknown_chemical
Students who had accidentally created a chemical that was harmful to human health during an art project caused a major alert in Cambridge this afternoon.
The incident unfolded shortly before 12noon today (Saturday) on Gilbert Road in Cambridge.
Cambridgeshire police, the East of England Ambulance Service and Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service were all called to the scene.
A spokesman for Cambridgeshire police told the News that students accidentally created the chemical while undertaking an art experiment. Details on the specific chemical created have not yet been released to the press.
Alex Madej sent in these pictures of the incident on Saturday (February 4). The ambulance service has confirmed that one person has been taken to hospital
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It was stressed that nobody was seriously injured, and there was nothing to cause suspicion over the incident.
One person has been taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital with breathing difficulties.
---------------------------------------------
OVERTURNED TANKER TRUCK SPILLS CREAMER INTO CREEK
Tags: us_NC, transportation, release, injury, other_chemical
CLEMMONS, N.C. '
Hazmat crews are working to clear a crash scene involving an overturned tanker truck on I-40 East in Clemmons.
The single-vehicle crash happened at about 7 a.m. Friday near Harper Road.
The truck was carrying a dairy creamer. Authorities said the creamer is leaking into a nearby creek.
Both lanes of I-40 East are closed. Crews expect to have the scene cleared by noon.
Investigators said a mechanical failure caused a tire to blow on the truck. The incident caused the driver to lose control and overturn.
The truck driver was taken to Davie Medical Center with minor injuries.
---------------------------------------------
LORTON INCINERATOR FIRE CAUSE REGIONAL CONCERN
Tags: us_VA, industrial, fire, response, waste
LORTON, VA (WUSA9) - Smoke is still billowing out of the waste to energy plant in Lorton. The fire has caused major damage to a facility that take both Fairfax County and D.C.'s trash. Where will that trash go now?
The fire and damage it's caused means that trash from Fairfax county and D.C. will be sent to landfills instead of being converted to energy.
There are other concerns with this fire. Thursday night, flames poured out out of I-95 Energy Resource Recovery Facility, commonly referred to as the Fairfax County Incinerator. It's a waste to energy plant which burns trash and turns it into energy.
PREVIOUS: Fire under control at recycling plant in Fairfax Co
"I don't know what kind of chemical is in there. They said it was three levels, or three stories of trash and they can't get to to stop it," said Heather McDevitt who lives nearby.
Inside, trash is burning, but it's difficult for firefighters to get to the heart of the fire since there are few windows.
---------------------------------------------
EXPLOSION AT ROUND ROCK BUSINESS SERIOUSLY INJURES EMPLOYEE
Tags: us_TX, industrial, explosion, injury, explosives, fireworks
ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) ' An employee was seriously burned in an explosion at a Round Rock business on Friday.
Police were initially asking people to avoid the area of Sam Bass Road between Woods Boulevard and Chisolm Trail. Friday night, the Austin Police Department Bomb Squad was at the scene.
Emergency crews were called to Energetic Materials & Products, Inc. located at 1413 Brandi Ln. at 2:05 p.m. Two employees were working inside the building when the explosion happened. One employee suffered serious burns and was flown by helicopter to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
The company's CEO, Dennis Wilson, says the employee ' a technician who started work there 8 months ago ' was handing reactive material when the explosion happened. Energetic Materials develops and tests ballistics, explosives and pyrotechnics, according to their website. Round Rock Fire says the company makes breaching tools with charges, something police or military would use to breach a door.
---------------------------------------------
CHUCK NORRIS LASHES 'CHEMICAL IMBALANCE' OF U.S. REGULATIONS
Tags: public, follow-up, environmental
You know something's up when the two largest discount retailers in the United States ' Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated and the Target Corporation ' take it upon themselves to direct their suppliers to remove or restrict the use of certain hazardous chemicals from the products they produce. But that's exactly what has been going on in recent years.
According to Reuters News, the Target Corporation said it is introducing a policy aimed at removing a number of harmful chemicals used in its personal care, beauty and textiles products. This action is on the heels of its move to abolish more than 1,000 chemicals from some of its products in 2015. The retailer also further plans to invest $5 million over the next five years in 'green chemistry,' a process which involves the reduction or elimination of hazardous substances in products.
Target's announcement comes six months after Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated said it was pushing suppliers to remove or restrict the use of eight hazardous chemicals from some of the products it sells.
The need for taking such actions was highlighted in a recent editorial in the Washington Post by Joseph Allen, an assistant professor at Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. According to Allen, when it comes to chemicals, current regulatory policy leaves the door wide open for the replacement of one harmful chemical by another equally or more harmful than the one that was banned.
---------------------------------------------
BRISTOL UNI 'CHEMICAL INCIDENT': BOMB SQUAD CALLED TO REMOVE 'EXPLOSIVE SUBSTANCE' ACCIDENTALLY CREATED IN LAB
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, discovery, response, explosives
Bristol University students have been evacuated from its chemistry school over reports of an 'unstable substance'.
The bomb squad has been called to remove materials that appear to have been accidentally created in one of its laboratories.
One university science graduate claims on social media that a student inadvertently made 90 grammes of TATP - aka triacetone triperoxide - which is the same explosive that the Paris attackers used in their suicide bombs.
The university declined to comment on the claim at this stage - or what indeed the substance was until it investigated further.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL SPILL AT UA CIVIL ENGINEERING BUILDING
Tags: us_AZ, laboratory, release, response, waste
An apparent chemical spill at the Civil Engineering building on UA campus closed parts of Second St. and stopped the streetcar Friday night.
Second Street was closed between Olive Street and Mountain Ave. Tucson Fire and UAPD are on the scene.
A student was in the building when they noticed a reaction involving waste products, so the student pulled the fire alarm and evacuated.
The hazmat team was deployed, and the Tucson Fire Department along with UAPD is working to clean-up and identify the substance.
Second St. and the streetcar are now open.
---------------------------------------------
SCIENCE IS FALLING WOEFULLY BEHIND IN TESTING NEW CHEMICALS
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental, ag_chems, carbon_dioxide, drugs, nitrogen, pesticides, pharmaceutical
Recently, a PBS documentary about Rachel Carson's life made headlines. Her seminal work Silent Spring'which documented the detrimental effects of pesticides'still stands as a pillar of the modern environmental movement. But a new report suggests that science has been struggling to stay afloat in a rapidly growing sea of chemicals.
The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, suggests that the research community is falling woefully behind in studying the chemicals, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and other novel concoctions seeping into our oceans, waterways, soil and food chain.
As Kieran Mulvaney at Seeker reports, new chemical compounds are produced at a rate of 10 million per year, which translates into 1,000 new ones synthesized every hour. Meanwhile, research funds have dried up, significantly dropping off since the 1990s as the problem with chemicals in the environment has grown.
'The amount and diversity of pesticides, pharmaceuticals and other industrial chemicals that humans are releasing into the environment are increasing at rates that match or exceed recent increases in CO2 emissions, nutrient pollution from nitrogen fertilizers and other drivers of global change,' Emily Bernhardt, biogeochemist at Duke University and lead author of the article says in a press release. 'But our analysis shows we're not spending anywhere near the amount of attention or money that we should be to assess their impacts.'
---------------------------------------------
PFLUGERVILLE SHELTER IN PLACE OVER AFTER CHEMICAL SMELL
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, response, chlorine
PFLUGERVILLE, TEXAS - Officials said there is no longer a shelter in place for residents in Pflugerville near West Pflugerville Parkway after a reported "chemical issue" Friday afternoon.
Pflugerville police said a chemical transporter was delivering items to a pumping station when two chemicals mixed and released the chlorine smell into the air. Officers who were on patrol in the area quickly responded, and around 150 homes within a one half-mile radius were asked to shelter in place as a precaution. The shelter in place was lifted around 2 p.m. Friday.
An official with Windermere Elementary School nearby said that recess was canceled Friday and that students may not be released on time depending on when the scene is cleared.
Austin-Travis County EMS initially described the call as a "toxic explosion," but later said there were no patients when they left the scene.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL SPILL FORCES CLOSURE OF CO DOWN LEISURE CENTRE
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
A chemical spill has forced a Co Down Leisure Centre to close this morning.
Emergency services were called to the scene at Newry Leisure centre following a 'plant-room failure' which resulted in a chemical spill.
The centre was evacuated while the situation was brought under control.
In a statement Newry and Mourne District Council said: "A plant-room failure has occurred this morning in Newry Leisure Centre resulting in a chemical spill.
"Newry, Mourne and Down District Council has implemented it's Emergency Action Procedures and is currently in liaison with it's Health and Safety Department and relevant emergency services, who have now departed.
"Ambulance service were in attendance at Newry Leisure Centre to ensure there was no impact on staff or members of the public.
---------------------------------------------
CONGRESS CONSIDERS REVOKING INDUSTRIAL CHEMICAL SAFETY RULE
Tags: industrial, follow-up, environmental
Congress is considering legislation that would nullify a recent regulation on industrial chemical safety.
Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) introduced the legislation, H.J. Res.59, on Feb. 2 at the urging of 21 business groups, including several chemical industry organizations. In a recent letter to Congress, the groups'which include the American Chemistry Council and the Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates'say Congress should block the regulation. The rule modifies EPA's 25-year-old risk management plan program to reduce chemical plant accidents and protect communities, workers, and emergency responders.
The Obama Administration finalized the rule in late December. Under the Congressional Review Act, lawmakers have 60 legislative days to review the regulation and can vote to overturn it.
Echoing the chemical industry groups' letter, Mullin says the regulation is unnecessary and burdensome and may make businesses less safe. EPA made the changes in response to a 2013 executive order from then-president Barack Obama. That directive ordered a broad multiagency safety review and came in the wake of a warehouse explosion involving ammonium nitrate that killed 15 people in West, Texas. The EPA regulation was the only regulatory response to emerge from the executive order.
The new regulation aims to encourage better communication among emergency responders and requires independent third-party accident audits and company consideration of inherently safer manufacturing methods.
If Congress blocks the regulation, the executive branch can't reissue it in the same form or in any other variation that is substantially the same. Congress has successfully used the 1996 Congressional Review Act against a regulation only once.
---------------------------------------------
WORKERS MAY HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO EBOLA, HIV AND TB AT WINNIPEG LAB, REPORTS REVEAL
Tags: Canada, laboratory, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
More than a dozen employees may have been exposed to potentially dangerous pathogens in incidents at Winnipeg's National Microbiology Laboratory over a 22-month period.
There were 14 cases involving possible exposures in 45 incident reports between January 2015 and October 2016, which were released under an access to information request.
Those incidents include problems with biosafety suits, contaminated needle pricks and equipment malfunctions which led to individuals coming into contact with samples of HIV, Ebola and tuberculosis, among other contaminants.
In each of these cases, the risk of infection was considered "low," "very low" or "negligible" by on-call infectious disease physicians.
"Any incident should be the last one," said Dr. Gary Kobinger, an infectious disease expert who used to work at the lab.
Kobinger said working with deadly pathogens does carry some degree of risk but proactive safety protocols and followup after each case minimizes the risk of an incident happening again.
None of the incidents in this period resulted in an employee becoming infected, according to Dr. Matthew Gilmour, scientific director general of the National Microbiology Laboratory's Public Health Agency.
---------------------------------------------
ASTRO CHEMICAL OF SPRINGFIELD FINED $5,000 BY MASSDEP FOR NOT REPORTING HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SPILL
Tags: us_MA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical, metals
SPRINGFIELD -- The state Department of Environmental Protection has fined Astro Chemicals Inc. of Springfield $5,000 for violating regulations by failing to report a small chemical spill in July.
According to a DEP statement, the chemical supply company had a minor spill at its facility at 64 Shaw Lane on July 19.
Several drums of divinylbenzene, a combustible and reactive chemical, spilled from metal drums likely because elevated temperatures in the warehouse caused the chemical to expand. A small amount of the chemical spilled on to the floor and ventilated into the building.
Employees took steps to clean the chemical up but the company failed to notify either city public safety officials or the DEP. A spill is required to be reported to the state DEP within two hours after it is discovered.
---------------------------------------------
$1 BILLION LAWSUIT FOR CONTAMINATION FROM LOVE CANAL
Tags: us_NY, industrial, release, environmental, waste
The Town of Wheatfield, New York, just east of Niagara Falls, is being sued by current and former residents who claim that contaminants from the old Niagara Sanitation landfill impact their adjacent properties.
There are 16 notices of claim that make up the lawsuit and more are expected. Each notice is for $60 million in damages. According to the filing notice, the plaintiffs have 15 months to file a formal lawsuit.
The claim made by the plaintiffs, all current or former residents of Forbes Street in North Tonawanda, claim that their poor health is a result of chemicals migrating from the old Niagara Sanitation Landfill in the Town of Wheatfield. The residents claim that they are experiencing headaches, nausea, respiratory issues and nervous system disorders
The site has been reclassified in recent years by the NYDEC to a Class 2 site on the New York State Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Sites. The reclassification of the site by the NYDEC was due to recently characterized elevated surface soil concentrations identified in several locations and the presence of hazardous waste in the subsurface.
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HAZMAT CREWS CALLED TO WESTMEAD AFTER POISON SCARE AT CLYDE OIL REFINERY
Tags: Australia, public, release, response, petroleum
SERVICES have resumed as normal at Westmead Hospital after a hazmat operation shut down the ambulance bay on Friday afternoon.
Six men presented to the hospital requiring decontamination after potential exposure to hazardous material.
NSW Police Media have reported that the men were at the Clyde Oil Refinery when they were exposed.
The men are said to be experiencing no adverse symptoms however, Fire and Rescue NSW were required to carry out decontamination procedures on them before they could be triaged.
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