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From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (10 articles)
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2017 08:15:33 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: D7079C31-6238-4FDC-AE65-8A4BEF9E7E38**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, March 1, 2017 at 8:15:19 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)
BPA-FREE WATER BOTTLES MAY CONTAIN ANOTHER HARMFUL CHEMICAL
Tags: us_MO, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
TIGHTENED EPA CHEMICAL SAFETY REGS AT RISK
Tags: us_IN, public, discovery, environmental
OFFICIALS INVESTIGATING AFTER SEVERAL FALL ILL AT YALE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Tags: us_CT, laboratory, release, injury, unknown_chemical
BLOUNT DEPUTIES, ALCOA OFFICERS SETTLE SUIT AGAINST CSX IN CHEM FIRE
Tags: us_TN, public, follow-up, injury, acrylonitrile, toxics
HAZMAT, FIRE CREWS INVESTIGATE POTENTIAL CHEMICAL SITUATION AT DAVISON HOME
Tags: us_MI, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
2 FIREFIGHTERS SUSTAIN CHEMICAL BURNS AFTER FIRE IN CECIL COUNTY
Tags: us_MD, industrial, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
FIREFIGHTERS ASK FOR CHEMICAL FLAME RETARDANT BAN
Tags: us_ME, public, discovery, environmental, toxics
AUDIO: TORRANCE CITY DEFENDS DEADLY REFINERY CHEMICAL THAT OTHERS WANT BANNED
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, hydrofluoric_acid
KFR HAZMAT RESPONDS TO MCARTHUR ISLAND AMMONIA LEAK
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, ammonia
CHEMICAL LEAK SCARE PROMPTS EVACUATION OF DIALYSIS CLINIC
Tags: us_TX, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
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BPA-FREE WATER BOTTLES MAY CONTAIN ANOTHER HARMFUL CHEMICAL
Tags: us_MO, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
Talk about unintended consequences. A compound called BPA is being phased out of plastic packaging due to fears it may disrupt our hormones ' but a replacement for it may be just as harmful.
BPA, or bisphenol A, is often found in disposable water bottles and babies' milk bottles and cups. Small amounts can dissolve into the food and drink inside these containers.
This is a concern because a host of studies have shown that BPA can mimic the actions of oestrogen, binding to the same receptor in the body. Oestrogen is normally involved in breast development, regulating periods and maintaining pregnancies. Animals exposed to BPA develop abnormal reproductive systems, but it is unclear if people are exposed to high enough doses to be affected.
Due to public pressure ' and bans in a few countries ' many manufacturers have started replacing BPA. One substitute, fluorene-9-bisphenol, or BHPF, is already widely used in a variety of materials.
But Jianying Hu of Peking University in Beijing and her team have found that BHPF also binds to the body's oestrogen receptors. Unlike BPA, it does this without stimulating them, instead blocking their normal activity. In tests on female mice, BHPF caused the animals to have smaller wombs and smaller pups than controls, and in some cases miscarriages.
If BHPF binds to the same receptor in humans, it has the potential to cause fertility problems. 'That's pretty scary,' says Frederick vom Saal of the University of Missouri.
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TIGHTENED EPA CHEMICAL SAFETY REGS AT RISK
Tags: us_IN, public, discovery, environmental
Environmental health advocates are pressing Sen. Mitch McConnell to make sure Congress doesn't throw out new chemical safety rules that were adopted in the waning days of the Obama administration.
McConnell's spokesman, Rob Steurer, declined to say whether the Senate Majority Leader from Louisville wants those U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules killed, as an Oklahoma lawmaker has proposed under a procedure that allows Congress to nullify certain regulations.
"Nothing to report at this time," Steuer wrote in an email.
The Courier-Journal on Dec. 27 reported that the EPA had completed a promised revamping of its risk-management requirements for businesses that store large quantities of dangerous chemicals. Indiana and Kentucky have dozens of such plants, including nearly two dozen in Louisville, some of which have had mishaps with deadly results. The risk-management plans show that people could be sickened or killed within a few miles of some facilities in the event of a worst-case scenario release, and require safety precautions be taken.
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OFFICIALS INVESTIGATING AFTER SEVERAL FALL ILL AT YALE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Tags: us_CT, laboratory, release, injury, unknown_chemical
Officials with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) tell News 8 they responded to 333 Cedar Street in New Haven Tuesday afternoon for a report of two unconscious females. The building is a part of the Yale School of Medicine.
DEEP officials took air samples and hazmat crews were been called to the scene after at least three people fell ill. New Haven Fire Chief John Alston says just before 2:40 p.m., the call came in for three people feeling sick. Responders found two people in a lab and one in a clerical office. One person fainted and one person felt faint and weak. Chief Alston says another person had already left sick and went home. They were brought back to be examined.
'Anytime you have more than two to three people experiencing the same symptoms in the workplace, it's a little bit suspicious for us,' said Alston.
Assistant Fire Chief Orlando Marcano tells News 8 all of the victims drank from the same coffee maker. Water testing is being done.
The Board of Health, New Haven Fire, Yale Police and New Haven Police are all investigating.
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BLOUNT DEPUTIES, ALCOA OFFICERS SETTLE SUIT AGAINST CSX IN CHEM FIRE
Tags: us_TN, public, follow-up, injury, acrylonitrile, toxics
All but one person in a group of Blount County deputies and Alcoa police officers have settled a lawsuit they filed against rail operator CSX Transportation Inc. after a July 2015 chemical spill.
Beecher Bartlett, among the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, told 10News on Monday the settlement between the men and CSX is confidential.
One Blount County Sheriff's Office deputy, Brad Butler, remains a plaintiff against CSX.
All continue in their pursuit of damages against defendant Union Tank Car Co.
The law officers, many of whom have returned to work, allege they suffered medical problems from exposure while responding to the rail accident late July 1 and early July 2, 2015, in Maryville.
A train tank car ruptured and caught fire, emitting a toxic chemical called acrylonitrile.
The responders allege they had breathing and other health problems after helping evacuate residents in the area.
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HAZMAT, FIRE CREWS INVESTIGATE POTENTIAL CHEMICAL SITUATION AT DAVISON HOME
Tags: us_MI, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
DAVISON, MI -- Firefighters in hazmat suits searched through a Davison home Monday afternoon after a call earlier in the day for a potential chemical contaminant.
A call was received Monday, Feb. 27, for possible contaminants after an odor was coming from a home in the 600 block of North Genesee Street, between Flint and Bay streets. Police and firefighters responded to the home.
Fire crews and the county's hazmat team were dispatched to the scene before 1 p.m. for a potential mercury spill. However, officials at the scene were vague about what they found when they responded and have not confirmed any spill.
"We don't know at this point (what the issue is)," Mike Wright, Davison-Richfield fire chief, told reporters outside the home. "Until we come up with something concrete, we're all kind of at a loss right now as to where we're at with this."
There were some concerns over family members being in the home, Wright said, but those concerns were "eliminated" when a male and female resident were located.
---------------------------------------------
2 FIREFIGHTERS SUSTAIN CHEMICAL BURNS AFTER FIRE IN CECIL COUNTY
Tags: us_MD, industrial, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
ELKTON, Md. (WBFF) ' A one-story wood-framed commercial building caught fire in Elkton on Tuesday afternoon.
Crews were dispatched around noon, to Colonial Metals Inc. on Blue Ball Road.
According to the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM), two firefighters were transported to a hospital with chemical burns.
Their injuries are said to be non-life-threatening.
The fire reached two alarms and was contained in approximately two hours.
The cause remains under investigation.
---------------------------------------------
FIREFIGHTERS ASK FOR CHEMICAL FLAME RETARDANT BAN
Tags: us_ME, public, discovery, environmental, toxics
AUGUSTA, Maine (NEWS CENTER) ' Maine firefighters have teamed up with an environmental group to try to ban the sale of upholstered furniture treated with chemical flame retardants.
The groups are asking the Legislature to pass a bill that would ban all those chemicals for new products starting next year.
The firefighters say that when foam and upholstery treated with those chemicals do burn, they give off smoke, fumes and particles that can be carcinogenic. They say firefighters have a much higher rate of cancer than the general public and point to those products as one of the causes.
Former state Sen. Linda Baker told the committee that her husband was a firefighter and former fire chief who died of cancer, and believes it was caused by breathing toxic chemicals from a burning car.
"There is strong evidence that many of these chemicals are carcinogens, as well as causing disabilities and reproductive disorders," Baker said.
The Maine DEP, however, is opposed to the bill and says it is far too broad because it targets all flame retardant chemicals. They say the cost to the DEP and consumers could be significant.
---------------------------------------------
AUDIO: TORRANCE CITY DEFENDS DEADLY REFINERY CHEMICAL THAT OTHERS WANT BANNED
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, hydrofluoric_acid
At a time when state lawmakers and air quality regulators are weighing a possible ban on a deadly chemical used at refineries in Torrance and Wilmington, Torrance City Fire Department officials plan to defend the chemical at a public meeting Tuesday evening.
Torrance residents have been asking questions about the safety of modified hydrofluoric acid since a big explosion and fire at the refinery two years ago. A multi-ton chunk of debris from the blast just missed a tank holding tens of thousands of pounds of the acid, also called MHF.
The previous owner of the refinery -- Exxon Mobil -- said MHF has the potential to form a toxic cloud that could travel for miles in a large-scale release. The substance is in use at only two refineries in California, at Torrance and the Valero Refinery in Wilmington.
The Torrance Fire Department plans a show-and-tell of the safety features installed at the refinery to keep a spill of the acid from forming a toxic cloud. It will be the first public showing of photos of some of the protective devices used to keep MHF from moving away from the plant. They include a wrapping similar to a diaper surrounding flanges in the plant, and settling pans to collect any chemical that might leak.
"The system that was set up in the late 1990s works," Deputy Fire Chief David Dumais told KPCC. He is the city's official safety liaison to the refinery. He plans to explain to the public why the form of MHF used at the refinery is safer than the undiluted form of Hydrofluoric Acid it replaced decades ago.
---------------------------------------------
KFR HAZMAT RESPONDS TO MCARTHUR ISLAND AMMONIA LEAK
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, ammonia
KAMLOOPS ' An ammonia leak at the McArther Island Sport and Events Centre was quickly isolated Monday afternoon.
Kamloops Fire Rescue was called out to the facility after a gauge blew off a valve that a worker was attempting to change. Ammonia began to rush out.
Fortunately, the toxic gas was isolated to only one area, and there was no need to evacuate the building.
"It could be a problem if you get it in too high of levels," said Captain Darryl Cooper with Kamloops Fire Rescue. "190, I believe, is the high levels. This was much over that. But, it was isolated to one room, and we had it pressurized with a fan which kept it isolated from the rest of the building. I sent two guys in to shut off the valve, and now it's shut down completely."
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CHEMICAL LEAK SCARE PROMPTS EVACUATION OF DIALYSIS CLINIC
Tags: us_TX, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
SAN ANTONIO - A chemical leak scare prompted the evacuation Monday of a dialysis clinic downtown.
Several hazmat and fire units responded at 9 a.m. to DaVita Rivercenter Dialysis in the 1100 block of North Main.
San Antonio Fire Department Battalion Chief Wesley West said that employees complained of itchy and burning eyes, probably from cleaning supplies.
"And either they got too much of it, or it smelled different than it normally smells," West said.
After determining there was no chemical leak, the all-clear was given.
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