Check out Safety Emporium for your N95, N99, and face shield needs.
From: DCHAS Secretary <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (12 articles)
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2017 07:49:50 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: 8C755503-EB3E-4175-A7D3-4DACA2D0BE10**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, June 9, 2017 at 7:49:37 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 (12 articles)
UNION WARNS AGAINST DRIVERLESS TRUCKS HAULING HAZARDOUS MATERIAL
Tags: us_RI, transportation, discovery, environmental, gas_cylinders
LAWYER SAYS FLAMING QUESO BURNS WOMAN AT CEDAR PARK RESTAURANT
Tags: us_TX, public, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
CHEMICAL LEAK FORCES EVACUATION OF JAMESTOWN CALL CENTER
Tags: us_NY, public, release, injury, hvac_chemicals
PROBES AT INCINERATOR AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK MAKES STAFF SICK
Tags: Ireland, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
NO INJURIES REPORTED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL AT UNIVERSITY OF AKRON
Tags: us_OH, laboratory, release, response, chlorine
3 KILLED IN DALLAS HOME WITH HIGH LEVELS OF CARBON MONOXIDE
Tags: us_TX, public, release, death, carbon_monoxide
BATHTUB REFINISHERS‰?? DEATHS RENEW DEBATE: LABEL PRODUCTS OR BAN?
Tags: us_TN, industrial, follow-up, death, methylene_chloride
TRUSTEES APPROVE CAMPUS HANDGUN REGULATIONS ‰?1 ET CETERA
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, discovery, response
'HAZARDOUS LIVING' DANGER IN VERNON: HAVE YOU BEEN HARMED LIVING NEAR EXIDE BATTERY RECYCLING PLANT?
Tags: us_CA, public, discovery, environmental, batteries, waste
EPA BEGINS $2M CLEANUP AT MADISON HEIGHTS CHEMICAL PLATING PLANT
Tags: us_MI, industrial, discovery, response, toxics, waste
HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL CLEAN UP BEGINS IN NEIGHBORHOOD, COULD EXTEND MILES FURTHER
Tags: us_SC, public, discovery, response, other_chemical, illegal
FATHER SAYS COMPANY WHERE ZACHARY HENZERLING DIED IN EXPLOSION, FIRE SHOULD PAY MORE THAN $5,000 FINE
Tags: us_OH, industrial, follow-up, death, other_chemical
---------------------------------------------
UNION WARNS AGAINST DRIVERLESS TRUCKS HAULING HAZARDOUS MATERIAL
Tags: us_RI, transportation, discovery, environmental, gas_cylinders
EAST GREENWICH, R.I., June 8, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Hazardous material drivers and gas cylinder fillers who work at Airgas here have been negotiating a new contract since the current agreement expired in February. After continued bargaining and several contract extensions, the workers went on strike May 31.
The workers, represented by Teamsters Local 251, are concerned about their families' health care and a secure retirement. Additionally, Airgas' proposed contract language would allow the company to operate driverless trucks transporting dangerous materials through our communities and on America's highways.
"Airgas has been demanding contract language nationally that would allow the company to operate driverless vehicles. They have failed to take into consideration the potential dangers of the cargo or the fact that it could jeopardize the safety of the public if an accident were to occur," said Sean M. O'Brien, Teamsters International Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Joint Council 10 New England.
"Teamsters are the safest and most experienced drivers in the country," he added. "We want to alert the public of the risks that corporations like Airgas are willing to take at the expense of working people."
---------------------------------------------
LAWYER SAYS FLAMING QUESO BURNS WOMAN AT CEDAR PARK RESTAURANT
Tags: us_TX, public, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
A 27-year-old woman received second- and third-degree burns after the flaming queso she ordered in May at a Mexican restaurant in Cedar Park blew up in her face, according to a lawsuit.
She has sued Dos Salsas and its manager, William Plata. Plata could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.
The woman,an Austin resident, was eating at the restaurant at 1600 E. Whitestone Blvd. on May 20 with her family when the incident happened, said her lawyer, Adam Loewy.
She ordered an appetizer called the ‰??Quesos Flameados,‰?? the lawsuit said.
The waitress serving the dish at the restaurant usually brings it to the table already on fire and sprays a chemical on it that makes the flames go straight up, Loewy said. That didn‰??t happen in this case, he said. A waitress brought it out and sprayed the chemical but instead of going up, the fire ‰??went sideways and engulfed (the victim) in flames,‰?? he said.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL LEAK FORCES EVACUATION OF JAMESTOWN CALL CENTER
Tags: us_NY, public, release, injury, hvac_chemicals
JAMESTOWN, N.Y. (WIVB) ‰?? Authorities blamed a leaking HVAC unit for the fumes that sickened as many as 30 people, Thursday, at a call center located in the Jamestown Furniture Mart on West Second Street.
The trouble centered on a cooling unit for ‰??The Connection‰?? contact center, a call center on the fifth floor, where a company spokesperson said 190 staffers were hard at the time.
Jamestown Deputy Fire Chief Chet Harvey said coolant from the unit started to leak, ‰??Maintenance personnel on location, were trying to service it. It began to leak, they started collecting some of the product, it leaked onto the floor.‰??
Harvey said fumes from the liquid coolant then became airborne and many of the workers started to complain of difficulty breathing. Other fire units were summoned, a triage center was set up, and the building was evacuated.
---------------------------------------------
PROBES AT INCINERATOR AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK MAKES STAFF SICK
Tags: Ireland, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
Testing and commissioning at the Poolbeg incinerator remains suspended after 11 workers were taken to hospital following an incident at the ‰?Â600m plant.
The workers went to St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin after complaining of nausea, breathing difficulties and blurred vision, which followed the release of a small amount of hydrated lime in the building.
Three investigations are under way: one by the incinerator operator, US firm Covant; a second by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), and a third by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which licences the plant.
The EPA said it would require Covanta to produce a full report, which would address "corrective and preventative actions" to be taken.
"On foot of this report and the EPA's own investigation, further action may be considered," it said.
The incident occurred at 10.45pm on Wednesday. Around 30 workers were dismantling scaffolding in a part of the building close to the boilers when a small quantity of hydrated lime, which Covanta said was no more than two cubic metres, was released inside the flue gas treatment area.
Dangerous
Lime is used to help remove dangerous toxins while waste is being incinerated.
Eleven workers complained of feeling ill and received medical attention on site, before making their way to St Vincent's Hospital. Two of them were detained overnight.
In a statement Covanta said that a "number of workers" were in an adjacent area to the gas treatment area and were taken to hospital for evaluation "as a precaution".
The statement added: "Combustion Unit No 1, which was operating at the time, was shut down.
---------------------------------------------
NO INJURIES REPORTED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL AT UNIVERSITY OF AKRON
Tags: us_OH, laboratory, release, response, chlorine
AKRON, Ohio -- No injuries were reported Wednesday following a chemical spill at the University of Akron's Olsen Research Center.
The Akron Fire Department's hazmat team was called to the South Force Street building just after 11 a.m., a fire department spokesman said in a news release.
The spill was small and involved a chlorine-based chemical, university spokesman Dan Minnich said.
There is no danger to anyone on campus, he said.
The Olsen Research Center was evacuated and will remain closed Wednesday afternoon as the hazmat crew cleans up the spill.
---------------------------------------------
3 KILLED IN DALLAS HOME WITH HIGH LEVELS OF CARBON MONOXIDE
Tags: us_TX, public, release, death, carbon_monoxide
DALLAS -- Three people have died following a gas leak inside a home in southeast Dallas Wednesday night.
City officials say a hazardous materials team found high levels of carbon monoxide inside a home in the 7000 block of Rose Bud Drive. Dallas police say they were asked by family members to report a welfare check at about 7:40 p.m.
The source of the gas leak has not yet been identified, but the Hazmat team has cleared the house. Police say the rest of this neighborhood is not in danger.
The cause of the leak remains under investigation.
The victims inside the home have been identified as an 89-year-old husband and 83-year-old wife and their 65-year-old daughter. A neighbor and friend of this family told WFAA that she was with them on their porch earlier Wednesday afternoon
---------------------------------------------
BATHTUB REFINISHERS‰?? DEATHS RENEW DEBATE: LABEL PRODUCTS OR BAN?
Tags: us_TN, industrial, follow-up, death, methylene_chloride
Federal and state agencies have attributed the deaths of at least 17 bathtub refinishers since 2000 to the workers‰?? exposure to the paint stripper methylene chloride, prompting government actions.
The recent death of yet another bathtub refinisher is being investigated by a Tennessee labor agency.
‰??Investigators from the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration continue to look into the events surrounding the workplace fatality of Kevin Hartley in April of this year,‰?? Chris Cannon, communications director for the agency, told Bloomberg BNA June 6.
Cannon referred to the April 28 death of 21-year-old Kevin Hartley of Ashland City, Tenn. His family attributed his death to his exposure to chemicals used during his bathtub refinishing work.
The most recent worker‰??s death‰??and additional details Bloomberg BNA uncovered on the deaths in 2012 and 2015 of other refinishers‰??comes as two federal agencies work to protect consumers and workers exposed to methylene chloride in paint and coating stripping products.
Labels Versus Ban
The Consumer Product Safety Commission voted June 2 to include stronger language on household products containing methylene chloride (CAS No. 75‰??09‰??2), so consumers would know the products can be deadly and shouldn‰??t be used in small, unventilated spaces.
And the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a ban of paint and coating strippers containing methylene chloride along with restrictions on n-methylpyrrolidone (NMP; CAS No. 872-50-4), which can substitute for methylene chloride.
But, industry representatives say they are concerned about government overreach in regulating the chemicals.
The EPA‰??s proposed ban is a ‰??blatant and raw power grab‰?? of consumer protection authority that Congress gave the commission, W. Caffey Norman, a partner in the Washington office of Squire Patton Boggs, said. Norman represents the Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance, Inc., which includes companies that have made products federal and state health agencies have associated with bathtub refinishers‰?? deaths.
---------------------------------------------
TRUSTEES APPROVE CAMPUS HANDGUN REGULATIONS ‰?1 ET CETERA
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, discovery, response
The Dallas County Community College District Board of Trustees approved campus carry restrictions yesterday in the last meeting before the law goes into effect on two year college campuses in Texas.
Starting August 1, concealed handgun license holders will be allowed to carry guns on all public two year colleges in Texas.
The DCCCD has set restriction on fitness centers, sporting or interscholastic events, childcare centers, health centers, counseling offices, polling places, labs and potentially hazardous areas such as those storing hazardous materials, in DCCCD-owned vehicles, in rooms used only for grievance proceedings and areas used exclusively by early college high school groups.
Other temporary exclusion zones may be set up if an event in the area is likely to incite violence, alcohol is present, there is a risk of violence or a reasonable threat to the DCCCD community exists. These zones must be announced at any time before the event and proper signage must be placed outside the event.
Anyone carrying a concealed handgun on campus must be a concealed handgun license holder, must not be intoxicated and must follow federal, state and DCCCD laws, rules and regulations relating to carrying a firearm.
In the DCCCD, there is an estimated total of 335 students who qualify to carry handguns on campus, a total of .69 percent of the total population.
---------------------------------------------
'HAZARDOUS LIVING' DANGER IN VERNON: HAVE YOU BEEN HARMED LIVING NEAR EXIDE BATTERY RECYCLING PLANT?
Tags: us_CA, public, discovery, environmental, batteries, waste
Los Angeles County health officials and volunteers will be going door-to-door Saturday, visiting thousands of homes near the former Exide battery-recycling plant in Vernon to see if residents have health issues, link them with available services and provide them with educational materials.
‰??These residential communities have been unjustly exposed to hazardous living conditions for decades,‰?? County Supervisor Hilda Solis said. ‰??Thousands of people still have not been given appropriate information about the contaminants or been connected to the appropriate resources to improve their lives.
‰??It is important we continue connecting our residents to the information and support they need to protect their health and their families,‰?? she said.
Health officials and more than 1,500 community volunteers will be taking part in the outreach effort, visiting more than 20,000 homes within a 1.7- mile radius of the plant that closed in March 2015. The participants will survey residents about their health issues or concerns. The homes are in Bell, Boyle Heights, Commerce, Maywood, East Los Angeles, Huntington Park and Vernon.
---------------------------------------------
EPA BEGINS $2M CLEANUP AT MADISON HEIGHTS CHEMICAL PLATING PLANT
Tags: us_MI, industrial, discovery, response, toxics, waste
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began a major hazardous waste cleanup Wednesday at an industrial processor in metro Detroit that state regulators shut down last year after finding numerous deteriorating drums and tanks brimming with toxic chemicals.
At the former Electro-Plating Services plant, 945 E. Ten Mile in Madison Heights, an EPA inspector said he estimated that the cleanup will cost about $2 million and take more than four months. The site is surrounded by residential, commercial and industrial properties, including nine child care facilities within a mile.
"We‰??re finding hundreds if not thousands" of containers of highly poisonous chemicals, said Jeff Lippert, the EPA‰??s on-site Superfund coordinator, based at the agency's office on Grosse Ile.
Lippert said the small firm‰??s 50 years of doing chrome-plating and other metal processing left behind vats of such liquids as sodium cyanide, a compound so toxic that swallowing a single drop is fatal. Other chemicals haphazardly stored in the aging facility included powerful solvents used for degreasing metal; and water contaminated with concentrated aqueous lead ‰?? the brain-damaging toxin that poisoned residents of Flint through their water supply, according to an EPA news release.
---------------------------------------------
HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL CLEAN UP BEGINS IN NEIGHBORHOOD, COULD EXTEND MILES FURTHER
Tags: us_SC, public, discovery, response, other_chemical, illegal
CHERAW, S.C. - Barbara Graham looks at the mess in her neighbor's backyard and worries.
"It bothers me that it's something that could be potentially harmful," she said.
She lives on Pecan Drive in Cheraw, where a private contractor started digging up six backyards on Tuesday.
They were hired by the EPA to remove soil contaminated by PCBs that have been buried there since the 1960s.
Nearly $1 million is being spent on what federal officials called the first phase of a cleanup. The properties are adjacent to the former Burlington textile mill.
‰??This is just the first step in what should become a large cleanup process," said on-scene coordinator Matthew Huyser, with the EPA out of Atlanta.
"Most of what they'll find as far as contamination is no more than six inches below the surface, but they may go down two feet in some places," he said.
PCBs were commonly used in transformers, but also served in a variety of other commercial and industrial uses, until the chemicals were banned in 1979. They have been linked to cancer and that concerns Cathy Hatchell, who played here as a child.
She played in the ditch where officials said Burlington dumped contaminated wastewater for decades.
"You would see fluids and stuff in the ditch, but we were kids. We didn't pay that much attention as to what it was," Hatchell said.
---------------------------------------------
FATHER SAYS COMPANY WHERE ZACHARY HENZERLING DIED IN EXPLOSION, FIRE SHOULD PAY MORE THAN $5,000 FINE
Tags: us_OH, industrial, follow-up, death, other_chemical
CINCINNATI ‰?? A Forest Park man who lost his son in an explosion and fire lashed out Wednesday at a plea deal reached with the company where he worked.
Jim Henzerling says laws need to be changed to protect victims and their families after the company, indicted for reckless homicide and other charges, got by with a $5,000 fine.
"Basically I can own a business and I can kill anybody I want, I can poison anybody I want, and I can pay a fine,‰?? Jim Henzerling said.
‰??That's the way it's set up in Ohio. I can't sue them because of Employer Intentional Tort Law. That's a crying shame. Politicians' kids don't have to work in these places. Our kids do.‰??
Zachary Henzerling, 20, began working at Environmental Enterprises Inc. in Spring Grove Village some 4 1/2 years ago. Three weeks later, he died in an explosion and fire on Dec. 28, 2012.
A Hamilton County grand jury indicted the company and two managers, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced in January 2016.
The company pleaded no contest to negligent homicide Wednesday and was found guilty by Judge Thomas Heekin. The $5,000 fine was the maximum under the law.
---------------------------------------------
---
For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional secretary at secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas
Previous post | Top of Page | Next post