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From: DCHAS Secretary <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (14 articles)
Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2017 07:29:24 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: 10C13CB3-EF5C-4930-A145-A24AB9E424BC**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, February 13, 2017 at 7:29:14 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 (14 articles)
GORE TO DROP WATERPROOFING PFCS
Tags: United_States, public, discovery, environmental
TWO KILLED IN CHEMICAL PLANT EXPLOSION IN CHINA ' WINFIELD REVIEW
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, death, calcium_carbide
RECORD CHEMICAL USE 'OF CONCERN' TO SALMON GIANT
Tags: industrial, follow-up, environmental, hydrogen_peroxide
HAMBURG AIRPORT EVACUATED AFTER SUSPECTED CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: Germany, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
ROCHESTER FIREFIGHTERS DEAL WITH TOXIC GAS
Tags: us_MN, transportation, release, response, suicide, waste
1 KILLED, 2 INJUED AS TRUCK LADEN WITH CHEMICAL SPIRIT TURNS TURTLE ON DIMBAM GHAT ROAD
Tags: India, transportation, release, death, unknown_chemical
CHEMICAL TRADE GROUP ATTACKS CANCER RESEARCH AGENCY
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, pesticides
TOURIST CRITICALLY INJURED IN HONG KONG SUBWAY ARSON ATTACK
Tags: Hong_Kong, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
DANGEROUS FENTANYL POWDER FOUND IN SARATOGA SPRINGS HOME
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, response, dust, illegal, clandestine_lab
AISE URGES CHANGES TO ESDSS AND SUBSTANCE EVALUATION PROCESS
Tags: Belgium, industrial, discovery, environmental
TARGET'S NEW CHEMICALS POLICY HITS A BULLSEYE
Tags: public, discovery, response, toxics
FULL IMPACT OF EU'S 10-YEAR OLD CHEMICAL LAW DAWNING ON NATIONAL MODS
Tags: Belgium, public, discovery, environmental
NGOS SUE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER REGULATORY ORDER
Tags: us_DC, public, discovery, environmental
FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO GAS LEAK ON SHOP ROAD IN COLUMBIA
Tags: us_SC, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
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GORE TO DROP WATERPROOFING PFCS
Tags: United_States, public, discovery, environmental
Bowing to pressure from activist groups, Gore Fabrics says it is working to eliminate perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) of environmental concern from its products. Gore supplies water-resistant fabrics to many leading outdoor apparel makers, including Patagonia and The North Face.
High-performance outerwear is commonly coated with a PFC-based barrier to improve water resistance. But those coatings can wear off and escape into the environment.
Greenpeace and other environmental groups have targeted PFCs, a large family of chemicals, because they persist in the environment and have been found in arctic polar bears' livers and human blood. Some PFCs have been shown to have negative health effects.
Although it is not clear what proportion of PFCs found in the environment come from water-resistant clothing, Greenpeace has been campaigning since 2012 to get outdoor apparel makers to stop using the coatings and switch to alternatives.
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TWO KILLED IN CHEMICAL PLANT EXPLOSION IN CHINA ' WINFIELD REVIEW
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, death, calcium_carbide
Two persons were killed and eight others injured today in a chemical factory blast in China's northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The regional work safety administration said the explosion took place at one of the calcium carbide furnaces of the Yihua chemical plant.
The reason of the blast is yet to be ascertained.
The explosion in the plant in Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture left two persons dead and three in serious condition. Five persons sustained minor injuries.
---------------------------------------------
RECORD CHEMICAL USE 'OF CONCERN' TO SALMON GIANT
Tags: industrial, follow-up, environmental, hydrogen_peroxide
The world's largest salmon farmer has expressed 'concern' over the use of chemicals to fight disease after a record 20m litres of hydrogen peroxide ' a substance harmful to fish ' were dumped into coastal waters around Scotland.
More than 160 farms resorted to the chemical in 2015 to tackle parasites such as sea lice, according to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).
Enough hydrogen peroxide was used to fill eight Olympic-size swimming pools, including more than 1m litres at a site operated by Marine Harvest, the Norwegian-owned firm.
On Friday, Marine Harvest said it is 'concerned' by the industry's 'increased use of medicines' to tackle parasites, which it said have flourished in recent years due to warmer coastal waters. The multibillion-pound firm said it‰?|
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HAMBURG AIRPORT EVACUATED AFTER SUSPECTED CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: Germany, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
Fifty people are said to have been taken to hospital after a chemical leak spread through Hamburg Airport.
Members of the public were treated for breathing problems and burning eyes by paramedics at the scene.
The German airport is on lockdown amid fears that the leak spread through the air conditioning system, with passengers and crews waiting in the building's car park in temperatures of -4C while the situation is resolved.
All flights were halted for several hours due to the evacuation, airport spokeswoman Karen Stein said to Associated Press. The cause of the incident is currently unknown.
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ROCHESTER FIREFIGHTERS DEAL WITH TOXIC GAS
Tags: us_MN, transportation, release, response, suicide, waste
ROCHESTER, Minn. ' A HAZMAT team was called out after an apparent suicide attempt.
Rochester law enforcement had been on the lookout for a vehicle after getting a 911 call around 9:30 pm Saturday about a suicidal subject. The vehicle was located around 4:15 am Sunday at Sunrise Trailer Park in the 7600 block of Highway 63 North.
Olmsted County Sheriff's deputies removed an awake female from the car. The Rochester Fire Department was called to deal with household chemicals that had been mixed in a pail to create a toxic gas. Two engines, the HAZMAT team and a battalion chief responded.
Firefighters wearing SCUBA gear used gas detectors and chemical testing paper to assess the situation and found no continuing danger. Fire crews arranged for the containment and disposal of the chemicals in the pail.
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1 KILLED, 2 INJUED AS TRUCK LADEN WITH CHEMICAL SPIRIT TURNS TURTLE ON DIMBAM GHAT ROAD
Tags: India, transportation, release, death, unknown_chemical
Erode: One was killed and two others injured after a truck laden with chemical spirit turned turtle on the Dimbam Ghat Road near Sathyamangalam in Erode district on Saturday. Following the incident, vehicular traffic between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka was halted for more than six hours.
The truck fell from hair pin bend 9 to 7, after it failed to negotiate the narrow ghat road. The truck driver was killed, while two bikers sustained injuries in the accident. The deceased was identified as P Kandasamy, 48, of Tirunelveli.
The incident took place when Kandasamy was on his way to Bengaluru via Sathyamangalam and Kollegal through Dimbam Ghat Road from Avinasi in Tiruppur district, transporting chemical spirit in a tanker truck. When he neared hairpin bend 9, he could not turn the tanker at the narrow sharp curve. "So, he decided to reverse the truck," highway patrol police said. While reversing, Kandasamy lost control over the truck, which turned turtle and landed on hairpin bend number 7.
In the impact, the tanker was completely damaged and chemical spirit was spilled over the road. Two bikers sustained burn injuries as the chemical spilled over their bodies. "The injured were identified as M Sathiesh Kumar, 27 and G Venkatachalam, 34, of Nambiyur near Gobichettipalayam," the police said. The duo was rushed to the government hospital in Sathyamangalam where their condition was said to be stable.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL TRADE GROUP ATTACKS CANCER RESEARCH AGENCY
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, pesticides
The American Chemistry Council, the U.S. chemical industry's main trade group, has launched the Campaign for Accuracy in Public Health Research to attack the credibility of reports on chemicals from the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The trade group claims that the agency, which operates under the World Health Organization, suffers from persistent scientific and process deficiencies that result in public confusion and misinformed policy-making. The IARC counters that the charges are wrong and misleading.
The report, or monograph, that ACC most criticizes is the one concluding that the herbicide glyphosate, invented by Monsanto, is a probable carcinogen. But the group is also critical of IARC's carcinogenic labeling of other chemicals. Those determinations are used, for instance, to place warnings on consumer products under California's Proposition 65, 'despite an often infinitesimal risk of developing cancer as a result of products' proper use,' ACC says.
'The IARC Monographs Program has been responsible for countless misleading headlines about the safety of the food we eat, the jobs we do, and the products we use in our daily lives,' says ACC CEO Cal Dooley. The campaign's website also calls out IARC's findings that red meat and cell phone radio frequencies are carcinogenic. It says the monograph program lacks transparency and has conflicts of interest.
An IARC spokesperson tells C&EN that the ACC campaign is full of misrepresentations and inaccuracies that are reminiscent of strategies used years ago by tobacco companies to cast doubt on scientific findings about the dangers of cigarette smoking.
'Unsurprisingly, the ACC, as a chemical industry trade association whose members include Monsanto, is defending its vested interests through this action,' the IARC spokesperson adds.
---------------------------------------------
TOURIST CRITICALLY INJURED IN HONG KONG SUBWAY ARSON ATTACK
Tags: Hong_Kong, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
A Taiwan tourist was among three people in critical condition on Saturday after a rush hour arson attack on a Hong Kong subway train the previous night, officials said, with one man with a history of mental illness arrested for the crime.
A total of 18 people were injured in the incident which occurred at 7:15 pm Friday, while police said they had seized suspected liquid accelerants from the scene.
Police have ruled out the possibility of a terrorist attack and said the man acted alone, with investigators looking into his mental state.
"We visited a female tourist from Taiwan, her condition is still considered critical and is in intensive care," the city's number two official Matthew Cheung told reporters.
"To our knowledge, she has a friend in Hong Kong, and that friend has notified her family, and that they are on their way to the city," Cheung, the chief secretary, said.
Health Secretary Ko Wing-man said the three in critical condition were on breathing apparatuses.
---------------------------------------------
DANGEROUS FENTANYL POWDER FOUND IN SARATOGA SPRINGS HOME
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, response, dust, illegal, clandestine_lab
SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid painkiller that is 50 times as powerful as heroin, was found on surfaces inside a home that city police raided before dawn on Friday, State Police said.
Capt. Robert Patnaude, who commands the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations, said the potentially lethal powder was not being manufactured inside 16 Cherry St. but was being mixed into heroin.
Fentanyl is often used to increase the potency of heroin and has been blamed for several deaths, including the April 21, 2016, overdose of rock star Prince.
Firearms were also taken from the home, police said.
---------------------------------------------
AISE URGES CHANGES TO ESDSS AND SUBSTANCE EVALUATION PROCESS
Tags: Belgium, industrial, discovery, environmental
Significant improvements to the EU REACH regime are needed to ensure better health and environmental protection and to reverse its negative effect on R&D and innovation, says soap and detergents trade body Aise.
Along with many other industry groups, NGOs and public sector bodies, Aise recently submitted detailed comments to the European Commission's consultation on the second review of REACH. The review's findings are due to be completed later this year.
The umbrella group representing ten trade bodies for downstream users of chemicals, Ducc, echoes many of Aise's comments. Below are some of the key issues raised by the two organisations:
Impact of 2018 registration deadline: national REACH helpdesks must have the necessary resources to help registrants who miss the last pre-registration deadline in June. These will have to first submit an inquiry followed by a registration dossier before being legally allowed to import any substances they have not already registered. Even if this happens, there will be fewer substances on the market after 2018, says Aise, because many suppliers will decide the costs of registration outweigh selling profits.
eSDSs and supply chain communication: since chemical suppliers started extending safety data sheets (eSDSs) by adding exposure scenario information, says Aise, they have become too big. And they often contain "unrealistic" risk management measures. They are also frequently unrelated to the recipient's uses and are not written in a helpful language.
---------------------------------------------
TARGET'S NEW CHEMICALS POLICY HITS A BULLSEYE
Tags: public, discovery, response, toxics
A chemical reaction needs at least two elements and a catalyst to begin a swift and irreversible change. Target's new chemicals strategy promises to cleanse its shelves, and the brands along its value chain, of toxic chemicals. If enacted properly, the chain reaction of the policy and its implementation can have lasting, positive repercussions across and beyond the retail industry.
Target's Jan. 25 announcement is the first push from a U.S. retailer encompassing every product it sells ' including its in-house and national brand consumer products ' and its operations. The process calls for several ingredients: Strategic planning from the retailer; the commitment of its business partners; and best practices borrowed from NGOs.
The hoped-for result? A healthier consumer base with loyal purchasing power, meaning sustainable returns for the company.
"Our chemical strategy will be one of the most comprehensive in the U.S. retail industry, including all Target-owned and national brand products and operations, not just formulated products," wrote Jennifer Silberman, Target's chief sustainability officer (CSO), in the press announcement. "Ultimately, we want to bring all stakeholders together to innovate and champion a consistent, industry-wide approach to greener chemistry."
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FULL IMPACT OF EU'S 10-YEAR OLD CHEMICAL LAW DAWNING ON NATIONAL MODS
Tags: Belgium, public, discovery, environmental
The delayed effect of the European Union's sprawling 10-year old law to control the environmental impact of all chemicals produced or imported within EU territory is now being felt across Europe's militaries.
It threatens security of supply lines while upping the research cost of chemical substitution by military forces and the defence industry, according to officials at the European Defence Agency, who will submit mitigating recommendations to the European Commission as it reviews the legislation in 2017.
"Our militaries are just now starting to understand the implications of REACH," an EDA expert told Jane's on 7 February, referring to the EU's 2007 Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals directive.
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NGOS SUE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER REGULATORY ORDER
Tags: us_DC, public, discovery, environmental
Three US non-profit organisations are suing President Donald Trump in an attempt to block his executive order slashing government regulations.
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Public Citizen and the Communications Workers of America filed their suit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on 8 February.
Naming several high-ranking members of the Trump administration, they ask the court to issue a declaration that the order cannot be lawfully implemented and to bar federal agencies from implementing it.
The president's order, issued 30 January, requires covered federal agencies to eliminate two regulations for each new one passed. And they may not introduce any new net costs to the federal government with new regulations, unless given written permission from the Trump administration.
But the complaint says the order "exceeds President Trump's constitutional authority, violates his duty under the Take Care Clause of the Constitution, and directs federal agencies to engage in unlawful actions that will harm countless Americans, including plaintiffs' members."
The complaint adds that to "repeal two regulations for the purpose of adopting one new one, based solely on a directive to impose zero net costs and without any consideration of benefits, is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and not in accordance with law".
"If implemented, the order would result in lasting damage to our government's ability to save lives [and] protect our environment," said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen. "By irrationally directing agencies to consider costs but not benefits of new rules, it would fundamentally change our government's role from one of protecting the public to protecting corporate profits."
The plaintiffs also claim the order will make it almost impossible for agencies to adopt new regulations, citing the executive order's mandate to balance costs. "With these requirements, agencies may just give up on rulemaking," the plaintiffs said in an online Q&A posted to Public Citizen's website.
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FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO GAS LEAK ON SHOP ROAD IN COLUMBIA
Tags: us_SC, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
COLUMBIA, SC
Columbia firefighters are responding to a gas leak on the 1800 block of Shop Road.
The call came in around noon Wednesday. Chief Aubrey Jenkins said the leak was reported at a building on the 1800 block of Shop Road. Hazmat crews are responding.
Jenkins said crews were doing some digging and hit a gas line. Firefighters are waiting on SCE&G representatives to determine how large the line is.
'We've got people sheltering in place,' he said. 'They've got a few businesses around here.'
Currently there's no immediate danger to the area around the leak, and Jenkins said the windy conditions will help dissipate the gas smell.
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