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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, March 10, 2017 at 7:49:57 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 (9 articles)

10 PEOPLE MYSTERIOUSLY SICKENED IN WESTWOOD PARKING STRUCTURE
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

CHEMICAL SPILL LEADS TO CRYSTAL LAKE, BARRINGTON ROAD CLOSURES
Tags: us_IL, transportation, follow-up, response, irritant, urethane

FIREFIGHTERS CALLED TO CHEMICAL SPILL AT SHELDON HOTEL
Tags: us_IA, public, release, response, chlorine, pool_chemicals

RESEARCHERS FIND NEW WAY TO DEAL WITH WATER CONTAMINATED WITH FIRE-FIGHTING FOAM CHEMICALS
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical

SCIENCE MAGAZINE ARTICLE ON: POLICY REFORMS TO UPDATE CHEMICAL SAFETY TESTING
Tags: public, discovery, environmental

SCIENTISTS LINK FRACKING AND WATER WELL EXPLOSION IN PALO PINTO COUNTY
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, methane, natural_gas

TOWN IN CANADA HAS PINK TAP WATER AFTER WATER TREATMENT CHEMICAL MISTAKE
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, potassium_permanganate, water_treatment

BARRINGTON CHEMICAL CLEANUP TO CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING
Tags: us_IL, transportation, fire, injury, irritant, urethane

EPA SCRAPS METHANE REPORTING FOR OIL AND GAS INDUSTRIES
Tags: industrial, follow-up, environmental, carbon_dioxide, methane, natural_gas

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10 PEOPLE MYSTERIOUSLY SICKENED IN WESTWOOD PARKING STRUCTURE
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

WESTWOOD, CA ‰?? Ten people complained of being sickened Thursday in an underground parking structure in Westwood, but none of them required hospitalization.

The incident was reported at 7:11 p.m. in the 1000 block of Glendon Avenue, just south of the UCLA campus, according to Sean Saunders of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The patients complained of a burning sensation, a metallic taste in their throats and feeling sickened, Saunders said.

No one was taken to a hospital, but a hazardous materials crew was dispatched to take samples and try to determine what substance was involved.

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CHEMICAL SPILL LEADS TO CRYSTAL LAKE, BARRINGTON ROAD CLOSURES
Tags: us_IL, transportation, follow-up, response, irritant, urethane

CRYSTAL LAKE ‰?? Part of Eastgate Road in Crystal Lake will likely remain closed for cleanup from a chemical spill through Friday ‰?? and possibly longer ‰?? after a semi-truck crash earlier this week, authorities said Thursday.

Westbound Route 14 at Hart Road in Barrington will remain closed through the evening. Officials plan to open at least one lane overnight into Friday morning, according to a news release.

The spill happened about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday when the semi collided with a pickup truck at Route 14 and Hart Road in Barrington. The semi caught fire and the product leaked onto the ground and shoulder at the scene of the crash, officials said.

Crews were originally told the substance was vegetable oil but found out the next day it was methylene diphenle diisocycanate, a chemical used in polyurethane production. The chemical can be an allergen and an irritant, officials said.

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FIREFIGHTERS CALLED TO CHEMICAL SPILL AT SHELDON HOTEL
Tags: us_IA, public, release, response, chlorine, pool_chemicals

Sheldon, Iowa ‰?? Sheldon firefighters were called to the report of a chemical spill in the maintenance room of the swimming pool area at Sheldon‰??s Holiday Inn Express shortly before 9:30 Thursday morning.

Sheldon Assistant Fire Chief Randy Harms tells KIWA that the incident happened when the hotel received an unexpected delivery of chemicals. Harms says the empty chemical containers contain a small amount of chemical residue, and an attempt was made by a maintenance worker to combine two partial containers of the same chemical into one container. However, a mistake was made, and two different chemicals, hydrochloric acid and chlorine were combined into the same container, causing a reaction that generated foam and noxious fumes. Harms praised the maintenance worker and chemical delivery person for quickly donning protective masks, getting the containers outside the building, and going back inside the pool area, and opening windows to ventilate the building.

Harms says Sheldon Firefighters contacted the Sioux City Fire Department HazMat Team to make sure the right steps were being taken to mitigate the situation. He says they learned from the HazMat Team that the fumes given off by the combination of the chemicals is highly flammable, but Harms says fortunately there was no ignition source in the area.

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RESEARCHERS FIND NEW WAY TO DEAL WITH WATER CONTAMINATED WITH FIRE-FIGHTING FOAM CHEMICALS
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical

Australian researchers may have found a solution to help deal with fire-fighting contamination water at Defence bases and other airports around the country.

The chemicals in the foams, per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), are today known as being ubiquitous in the environment and human bodies.

Australian researchers at CRC CARE has found a way to help remediate PFAS-contaminated water. Photo: Jim Rice

Investigations are underway into potential contamination of the substances in water and soil at several Defence bases around the country, due to historical fire-fighting practices.

But researchers at the Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment have found a way to use electricity to create strong oxidising agents that strip PFAS molecules of electrons, breaking them down into smaller and safer compounds.

The treatment adapts a previous CRC CARE technology, called ‰??matCARE‰??, into a new substance called ‰??pfasCARE‰??, which could be used to help remediate PFAS-contamination wastewater and groundwater.

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SCIENCE MAGAZINE ARTICLE ON: POLICY REFORMS TO UPDATE CHEMICAL SAFETY TESTING
Tags: public, discovery, environmental

Toxicological evaluation of chemicals and newly emerging substances, such as engineered nanomaterials, is essential to protect human health and the environment (1). Traditional approaches for chemical safety assessment often use high-dose animal studies, human exposure estimates, linear dose extrapolations, and uncertainty factors to determine the circumstances under which human exposure is safe. But in 2016, major bipartisan reform of the antiquated Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in the United States embraced a new paradigm emerging across the globe (2). This paradigm, relying largely on nonanimal, alternative testing strategies (ATS), uses mechanism-based in vitro assays and in silico predictive tools for testing chemicals at considerably less cost (3). We provide a cautious but hopeful assessment of this intersection of law and science. Although the law generally takes a sensible approach to using ATS for regulatory purposes, commitment by the U.S. Environmental Prot!
ection Agency (EPA) and its partner agencies remains the key to successful integration of ATS in TSCA.

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SCIENTISTS LINK FRACKING AND WATER WELL EXPLOSION IN PALO PINTO COUNTY
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, methane, natural_gas

New information has surfaced in the water well explosion in the summer of 2014 injuring three members of a Palo Pinto County family.

According to new scientific studies commissioned by the family, and included in newly filed court papers, the explosion was the direct result of fracking operations a quarter mile away.

Oil and gas industry officials have long claimed there are no provable cases of aquifer contamination due to fracking operations in the U-S.

But the Murray family and their attorney say that has changed. They say tests conducted by four top scientists have established a direct link between a nearby gas well and the explosion that nearly killed them.

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TOWN IN CANADA HAS PINK TAP WATER AFTER WATER TREATMENT CHEMICAL MISTAKE
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, potassium_permanganate, water_treatment

Residents of Onoway, Canada got a surprise on Monday when the town's tap water began to run pink.

The mayor of the town, Dale Krasnow, said in seemingly apologetic statement to locals that the questionable color of the water did not pose any health risks to the public but felt that his office "could have done a better job communicating what was going on."

Check out the water for yourself:

7 TWEETS
Canada's pink water
SEE GALLERY

The mayor said the odd hue was an unfortunate side-effect of a likely valve malfunction at the town's water treatment plant.

As a result, high levels of potassium permanganate, a common water-treatment chemical, the Onoway mayor said, seeped into the public's distribution lines.

"While it is alarming to see pink water coming from your taps, potassium permanganate is used in normal treatment processes to help remove iron and manganese and residents were never at risk," Krasnow said.

SEE ALSO: Spanish river turns bright green, alarming residents

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BARRINGTON CHEMICAL CLEANUP TO CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING
Tags: us_IL, transportation, fire, injury, irritant, urethane

Two men were injured when a pickup collided with a semi truck Tuesday evening in northwest suburban Barrington, causing a fire and chemical spill.

The pickup and semi collided about 11:30 p.m. at Route 14 and Hart Road, according to a statement from the Village of Barrington. The semi was engulfed in flames, which were brought under control in about 35 minutes.

The 35-year-old man driving the pickup and a 49-year-old man riding with him as passenger were were taken to Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, authorities said. They were expected to survive. The semi driver was not hurt.

As a result of the collision, methylene diphenyl disocyanate‰??a substance used in the production of polyurethane‰??leaked onto the road, authorities said. The substance is described as an allergen and irritant, but cleanup crews were assisted by high winds on Wednesday, which dissipated the substance. The area was not considered a threat to the public outside of the contained area.
There was no risk to the water supply or the public, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Duty Officer George Krebs, said in a statement Wednesday night.

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EPA SCRAPS METHANE REPORTING FOR OIL AND GAS INDUSTRIES
Tags: industrial, follow-up, environmental, carbon_dioxide, methane, natural_gas

The Trump Administration has withdrawn an EPA request that oil and natural gas companies provide information on their methane emission from field operations.
The Obama Administration had sent the data request to some 15,000 oil and gas companies late last year. It asked for basic information on the numbers and types of equipment used at onshore drilling and production facilities as well as more detailed information on methane emissions sources and control devices.
Earlier in 2016, EPA issued methane control regulations for new oil and gas facilities, but did not address existing facilities. The data collection rule was an attempt by the Obama EPA to learn more about oil and gas operations in preparation for emissions regulations at operating facilities.
Oil and gas operations are the largest industrial source of methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent that carbon dioxide, according to EPA.
The U.S. is experiencing an oil and gas bonanza with some million wells in operation. However, in the rush to exploit the resource much is unclear‰??even the exact number of wells is uncertain. Confusion also surrounds the quantity of methane emissions. The now-canceled reporting was intended to help resolve this uncertainty.
‰??There is a lack of transparency in oil and gas operations,‰?? notes Mark Brownstein, vice president of climate and energy at the Environmental Defense Fund, an activist group. ‰??We really don‰??t know what is out there. You can‰??t manage what you are not measuring. The irony is industry called for this information before EPA proposes to regulate existing oil and gas facilities.‰??

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