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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, May 5, 2017 at 8:52:28 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 (13 articles)
$1 MILLION WORTH OF ELEPHANT TRANQUILIZER CARFENTANIL REMOVED FROM HOME
Tags: us_PA, public, discovery, response, clandestine_lab
OAKLAND FIRM CITED FOR CORRODED VATS OF TOXIC CHEMICALS
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, illegal, toxics
37 INJURED IN BLAST AT CHEMICAL RECYCLING PLANT IN SPAIN ‰?? NEWS ‰?? THE GUARDIAN NIGERIA NEWSPAPER
Tags: Spain, industrial, explosion, injury, waste
USA SUES EXXON FOR INFO ON REFINERY EXPLOSION & FIRE
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, flammables
NIH WILL LIMIT SCIENTISTS' GRANTS
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental
UPDATE: FIRST RESPONDERS FALL ILL AT SCENE OF MAN'S DEATH
Tags: us_MA, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
CHEVRON FLARING CAUSED BY EQUIPMENT MALFUNCTION AT RICHMOND REFINERY
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical
BUTANE CANISTER CLEANUP CONSIDERED HAZARDOUS MATERIAL IN NEVADA COUNTY
Tags: us_CA, public, discovery, response, butane, clandestine_lab
THOUSANDS PROTEST CHEMICAL PLANT POLLUTION IN CHINA'S HEBEI
Tags: China, industrial, release, response, other_chemical
MARINE RECRUIT SUFFERED CHEMICAL BURNS IN HAZING INCIDENT
Tags: us_SC, public, follow-up, injury, bleach
IMPLEMENTATION OF ALTERNATIVE TESTING STRATEGIES UNDER AMENDED TSCA
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
GREENPEACE WARNS ABOUT CHINESE PROJECTS
Tags: China, industrial, discovery, environmental, carbon_dioxide
EXXONMOBIL LACKED ADEQUATE PROCESS SAFETY AT REFINERY
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, hydrofluoric_acid, toxics
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$1 MILLION WORTH OF ELEPHANT TRANQUILIZER CARFENTANIL REMOVED FROM HOME
Tags: us_PA, public, discovery, response, clandestine_lab
UNITY TOWNSHIP, Pa. - A Pennsylvania State Police Clandestine Lab was called Wednesday to a townhome in Unity Township after the powerful elephant tranquilizer carfentanil was found.
Investigators were tipped off when postal inspectors noticed the drug, which is considered 10,000 times more powerful than morphine, had been sent to the home on Whitney Court Drive.
A dose of carfentanil as small as a grain of sand can be deadly, which is why the hazmat team was needed to remove it from the home.
Police confirmed that children and youth services are also involved in this case because a child was lives at tje address.
A total of 5 grams of carfentanil was found inside the home, police said.
Police had to wear hazmat suits to avoid contact with the drug, due to its potency.
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OAKLAND FIRM CITED FOR CORRODED VATS OF TOXIC CHEMICALS
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, illegal, toxics
OAKLAND ‰?? A business near Jack London Square with a long history of recklessly handling toxic chemicals used in its electroplating business is back in law enforcement‰??s crosshairs.
Investigators found thousands of gallons of hazardous chemicals stored in leaking tanks and seeping into the ground last month at E-D Coat property on Fourth Street. The state Department of Toxic Substances Control led the multi-agency search of the site April 19.
The Alameda County District Attorney‰??s office found the site in a similar state five years earlier.
‰??When we saw the condition of the tanks, we knew we had to take action. It is crucial the property be cleaned up,‰?? Hansen Pang, chief investigator for Department of Toxic Substances Control‰??s Office of Criminal Investigations, said in a statement.
Five days later, the owners of E-D Coat were ordered to clean up the site. They face possible fines of $25,000 daily if they do not immediately comply with a response and plans saying who will do the cleanup and how.
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37 INJURED IN BLAST AT CHEMICAL RECYCLING PLANT IN SPAIN ‰?? NEWS ‰?? THE GUARDIAN NIGERIA NEWSPAPER
Tags: Spain, industrial, explosion, injury, waste
Several explosions ripped through a recycling site for hazardous chemical waste near Madrid on Thursday, injuring 37 people, three of them seriously, and forcing the evacuation of nearby schools, officials said.
The blast in Arganda del Rey sent up a huge column of black smoke, but emergency services said several air quality measuring stations in the area showed normal readings, easing concerns about toxic pollution.
Thirty-seven people were injured in the blasts and fire at the plant, the Arganda del Rey city hall said in a statement.
Firefighters said three of the injured were in serious condition, two for burns and one with a fractured pelvis.
It was unclear whether the injured were all workers at the plant.
Madrid‰??s emergency services centre said on Twitter there had been ‰??several explosions‰?? at the site about 30 kilometres (20 miles) southeast of the Spanish capital.
The authorities are investigating the cause of the blasts.
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USA SUES EXXON FOR INFO ON REFINERY EXPLOSION & FIRE
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, flammables
LOS ANGELES (CN) ‰?? Federal prosecutors have sued Exxon Mobil to enforce compliance with subpoenas in the investigation of a 2015 explosion at its oil refinery in Southern California, which injured workers, destroyed property and released hazardous gases.
The United States asked the Federal Court on Tuesday to enforce compliance with subpoenas from the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board against Exxon Mobil Oil.
The February 2015 explosion and fire in Torrance released flammable hydrocarbons, ‰??injured multiple workers and caused substantial property damage,‰?? the government says in the complaint.
The blast came in a fluid catalytic cracking unit after exhaust particulates unevenly accumulated on expander turbine blades. The imbalance caused the turbine to shut down. Flammable fuels in a main column then flowed into a reactor, regenerator and electrostatic precipitator, where they ignited.
The explosion rocked surrounding areas with the force of a 1.7 magnitude earthquake, tore a hole in the side of the precipitator and sent ash filled with metals, fiberglass and glass wool into nearby neighborhoods.
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NIH WILL LIMIT SCIENTISTS' GRANTS
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental
Scientists will be restricted in the number of grants they can receive from the National Institutes of Health under a new policy the agency released this week.
The move is an attempt to spread the wealth to more scientists in the current hypercompetitive research environment, where grant award rates hover around their lowest level in history. The agency estimates the move will free up 1,600 grants to help early- and mid-career scientists, who have been finding it harder to get grants in recent years.
The new Grant Support Index will assign a number value to each grant an investigator has on the basis of the type of research, type of award, and responsibilities, explains Lawrence Tabak, NIH‰??s principal deputy director. He says the index is an attempt to estimate how much bandwidth each investigator has to continue doing high-quality research.
---------------------------------------------
UPDATE: FIRST RESPONDERS FALL ILL AT SCENE OF MAN'S DEATH
Tags: us_MA, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
HAVERHILL -- Four first responders who arrived at an Anna Street duplex Wednesday afternoon were taken to a nearby hospital after being exposed to hazardous materials in the home.
According to the Essex district attorney's office, first responders received a call about an unresponsive man at 6 Anna St. in the early afternoon Tuesday.
Attempts to revive the 40-year-old man were unsuccessful, and he died shortly thereafter, said Carrie Kimball-Monahan, spokeswoman for Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett.
Kimball-Monahan said a state police detective assigned to the DA's office determined no foul play in the man's death.
Later in the afternoon, four and possibly five of the first responders fell ill inside the home, and were rushed to a nearby hospital.
---------------------------------------------
CHEVRON FLARING CAUSED BY EQUIPMENT MALFUNCTION AT RICHMOND REFINERY
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical
RICHMOND, Calif. (KGO) -- Chevron is saying that there's no danger to the public, from "flaring" at its Richmond refinery, and it was all due to an equipment malfunction.
It was classified as a "level one incident" which means some hazardous materials were released, with the possibility of impact off the site of the plant.
No shelter in place warning was issued.
---------------------------------------------
BUTANE CANISTER CLEANUP CONSIDERED HAZARDOUS MATERIAL IN NEVADA COUNTY
Tags: us_CA, public, discovery, response, butane, clandestine_lab
A large number of empty butane canisters spotted and reported in North San Juan are awaiting removal by authorities, after an area man seeking to clean them up was told to keep his hands off.
Brad Peceimer said he was out walking his dog when he spotted nearly 1,300 empty butane canisters, boxed and dumped in the woods on a neighbor's property.
Peceimer said he has dedicated time to help rid the county of butane litter while working as vice chair with the Americans for Safe Access, a group advocating the safe and legal access of cannabis for therapeutic use and research.
Nearly a year ago, Peceimer removed more than 20,000 such canisters from down a hill in a large patch of poison oak along with many smaller clean-ups, he said. The empty butane canisters are suspected to be used for creating butane honey oil, an extract of cannabis.
---------------------------------------------
THOUSANDS PROTEST CHEMICAL PLANT POLLUTION IN CHINA'S HEBEI
Tags: China, industrial, release, response, other_chemical
Thousands of people protested in the northern Chinese province of Hebei on Wednesday after a leak at a chemical plant releases toxic gases into the air.
Residents said the leak was emitted on Apr. 29 from the Hebei Xingfei Chemical Co. factory in Dongwang township, near Hebei's Xingtai city following a recent fire.
An official circular issued by the Ningjin county government, which administers Dongwang township, said there had been a fire in a pipeline carrying trichloroisocyanuric acid, "resulting in the emission of irritating gas that was blown to a few villages downwind, and causing vomiting, coughing and other difficulties."
"The Ningjin county government is extremely concerned about the incident and is carrying out educational work with local people," the circular said. "We have also instructed the county and [Xingtai] municipal environmental protection bureaus to investigate enterprises in the vicinity."
Residents of several villages near the site reported vomiting and fainting, while thousands have gathered outside the factory gates, blocking the road and demanding the plant's relocation for the past few days.
"All the farming communities near our township have gone over there to demand that the chemical factory halt production," a Dongwang resident surnamed Li told RFA on Wednesday.
---------------------------------------------
MARINE RECRUIT SUFFERED CHEMICAL BURNS IN HAZING INCIDENT
Tags: us_SC, public, follow-up, injury, bleach
A Marine Corps recruit hazed by his drill instructor during boot camp in 2012 suffered second- and third-degree chemicals burns so severe he required skin grafts.
According to documents obtained by the Washington Post, the recruit was ordered by his drill instructor to ‰??perform unauthorized exercises under an upside-down laundry bin on a floor covered in bleach and was required to stay in his wet pants for hours.‰?? The bleach resulted in severe burns that ‰??liquefied‰?? the skin on his buttocks.
The unnamed recruit told another superior about his injuries, but continued to train after he was told he would not be able to graduate with his class if he sought medical attention, the Post reported.
The drill instructor, former Sgt. Jeffrey VanDyke, was convicted at court-martial on numerous allegations, including cruelty and maltreatment, assault and failure to obey a lawful order in the case. He was sentenced in 2014 to a year in prison, but the severity of the hazing carried out by Van Dyke was never disclosed. It‰??s one of many abuse cases being investigated at the Parris Island boot camp in South Carolina over the past five years, according to the newspaper.
---------------------------------------------
IMPLEMENTATION OF ALTERNATIVE TESTING STRATEGIES UNDER AMENDED TSCA
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
The amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) has ushered in new developments in testing strategies. In March 2017, Andre E. Nel, Ph.D. (Division of NanoMedicine, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California (UCLA); California NanoSystems Institute, UCLA (CNSI)) and Timothy F. Malloy (CNSI; UCLA School of Law; UCLA Center on Environmental and Occupational Health) published Policy reforms to update chemical safety testing: TSCA reform empowers EPA to use modernized safety testing in the United States, in the Journal Science. This article discusses this new ‰??paradigm‰?? in testing, which it states relies ‰??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.‰?? There are technological and institutional challenges, however, that the article addresses, but the authors state they hope to !
provide a ‰??cautious but hopeful assessment of this intersection of law and science.‰??
The article describes five iterative components that make up the elements of ATS: conceptual pathways; biomolecular events; screening and modeling; integrating evidence; and regulatory applications. These components work together to inform four types of regulatory decisions: ‰??screening to identify chemicals and nanomaterials for more extensive testing and evaluation; ranking or prioritization for further action; qualitative or quantitative risk management in support of risk management; and comparative evaluation of the hazards and risks of different substances in support of safer design.‰??
Amended TSCA Section 4(h)(2) implements alternative testing methods to ‰??promote the development and timely incorporation of new scientifically valid test methods and strategies that are not based on vertebrate animals,‰?? and Section 4(h)(2)(A) directs EPA, by June 2018, to develop a strategic plan that will promote the development and implementation of alternative test methods and strategies to reduce, refine or replace vertebrate animal testing and provide information of equivalent or better scientific quality and relevance for assessing risks of injury to health or the environment of chemical substances or mixtures‰?|.‰??
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GREENPEACE WARNS ABOUT CHINESE PROJECTS
Tags: China, industrial, discovery, environmental, carbon_dioxide
Coal-to-chemicals projects that come on-line in China between 2015 and 2020 will be significant contributors to the country‰??s emissions of CO2, warns the environmental group Greenpeace. Responsible for less than 1% of the country‰??s CO2 emissions in 2015, coal-to-chemicals plants could be responsible for more than 5% of the total by 2020.
‰??The coal-to-chemicals industry is one of the major contributors to carbon emissions in China,‰?? the group says.
---------------------------------------------
EXXONMOBIL LACKED ADEQUATE PROCESS SAFETY AT REFINERY
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, hydrofluoric_acid, toxics
Fundamental process safety management errors‰??some common to all U.S. refineries‰??led to a 2015 accident at an ExxonMobil refinery in Torrance, Calif., says a May 3 report from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board.
ExxonMobil‰??s lack of proper protocol to manage risk meant ‰??workers were essentially running the unit blind,‰?? says CSB Chairwoman Vanessa Allen Sutherland.
The accident injured four workers, none seriously. The explosion sent debris flying, with some landing near tanks of hydrofluoric acid (HF). Many refineries use this highly toxic chemical in the alkylation process.
The explosion occurred in the electrostatic precipitator, part of the refinery‰??s air pollution control system. Undetected hydrocarbons back-flowed through piping from the fluid catalytic cracking unit and ignited in the precipitator, CSB determined. At the time of the incident, the cracking unit was shut down for planned maintenance but was not sufficiently isolated from the rest of the facility, the report says.
The refinery lacked hydrocarbon detection equipment that might have flagged the leak, CSB says. The absence of such equipment is an industry-wide problem, it adds.
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