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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 (18 articles)
Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2017 07:29:48 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: F56FFB6C-FA54-4CC9-87AE-3D429111A02C**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, August 28, 2017 at 7:29:15 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 (18 articles)
BROKEN THERMOMETER LEAVES MERCURY HAZARD
Tags: Australia, public, release, response, mercury
KARNATAKA: 34 SHEEP SUCCUMB TO CHEMICAL POISONING
Tags: India, public, release, environmental, pesticides
SCORES TREATED AFTER ‰?2CHEMICAL MIST‰?2 HITS BRITISH BEACH
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
OFFICIALS TURN CRITICAL EYE TOWARD CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: us_TN, industrial, follow-up, environmental, nitrogen
TOXIC GAS LEAK SPARKS EVACUATION, ROAD CLOSURE IN NORFOLK COUNTY, ONT.
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, hydrogen_sulfide
OFFICIALS UPDATE INCIDENT AT CHRISTIANA MALL, SEVEN PATIENTS ‰?? FIRST STATE UPDATE
Tags: us_DE, public, release, injury, freon
DANGER IN THE GUISE OF SAFETY, TODAY
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SLASHES CHEMICAL REGULATIONS
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
INSIDE THE POISON PAPERS ‰?? AMERICAN FREE PRESS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, toxics
THE DANGER OF STORMS HITTING NEAR CHEMICAL PLANTS
Tags: us_TX, industrial, discovery, environmental, petroleum
A127 BLOCKED AFTER 25 LITRES OF FLAMMABLE AND CORROSIVE CHEMCIALS SPILL ONTO ROAD
Tags: United_Kingdom, transportation, release, response, corrosives
CAUSE OF FIRE AT TULSA PORT OF CATOOSA FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTOR NOT YET KNOWN
Tags: us_OK, industrial, fire, response, ag_chems
VA. BEACH MAN MIXED CHEMICALS CAUSING EXPLOSION, SENT TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_VA, public, explosion, injury, bleach, cleaners, nitric_acid
'HOBBY CHEMIST' BURNED IN OVERNIGHT EXPLOSION IN LONGMONT
Tags: us_CO, public, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
TESTS FOR HARMFUL CHEMICALS TO BE CONDUCTED ON THOMAS STREET
Tags: us_WI, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
THREE CONN. COMPANIES PROVIDE PUBLIC WITH CHEMICAL INFORMATION UNDER EPA SETTLEMENTS
Tags: us_CT, industrial, follow-up, environmental, toxics
DR. MARTENS RECALLS BOOTS DUE TO CHEMICAL EXPOSURE
Tags: public, discovery, response, other_chemical
RUBBERTOWN PLANT WANTS TO INCREASE CHEMICAL EMISSIONS
Tags: us_KY, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
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BROKEN THERMOMETER LEAVES MERCURY HAZARD
Tags: Australia, public, release, response, mercury
An antique thermometer at a Melbourne auction house has broken, with a specialist hazmat crew and scientist called in to remove the potentially deadly substance.
The incident occurred at a South Yarra auction house about midday on Monday, with only small "but dangerous" amount of mercury spilt, an Metropolitan Fire Brigade spokeswoman said.
No one was injured.
---------------------------------------------
KARNATAKA: 34 SHEEP SUCCUMB TO CHEMICAL POISONING
Tags: India, public, release, environmental, pesticides
As many as 34 sheep, including a few goats were found dead in Nrupathunga town here on Sunday, after they allegedly consumed water that contained traces of chemicals from pesticides.
Around 1 p.m., a group of shepherds had come with their flock from a nearby colony for grazing, and the sheep consumed some water from a puddle that was formed due to the rains. Within ten minutes, the shepherds noticed that the sheep started shivering and collapse, following which they alerted the authorities.
Upon inspection, Deputy Director of the Animal Husbandry Department, Namadhev Rathod, told ANI that there were traces of pesticide in the stagnant water, and said the sheep possibly died due to chemical poisoning.
---------------------------------------------
SCORES TREATED AFTER ‰?2CHEMICAL MIST‰?2 HITS BRITISH BEACH
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
Cliff tops and beaches near the town of Eastbourne in southern England were evacuated on Sunday after hundreds of people were affected by a mystery chemical mist.
More than 100 people were treated in hospital after reporting breathing difficulties, stinging eyes and sickness from the haze, the BBC reported.
The broadcaster cited East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust as saying that 133 people were being "decontaminated" at one of its hospitals.
Other British media quoted local police as saying up to 50 people were affected when the incident was first reported at about 5pm local time (16:00 UTC)
Beaches including this one at Eastbourne were evacuated due to the mystery 'haze'
Emergency services warned the public to stay away from beaches and to keep doors and windows closed due to the unknown noxious substance.
In a statement, Sussex Police said the haze appeared to be coming in from the sea, adding that it had yet to establish the source.
---------------------------------------------
OFFICIALS TURN CRITICAL EYE TOWARD CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: us_TN, industrial, follow-up, environmental, nitrogen
In the six years since the Greene County Commission paved the way for US Nitrogen to come to Greene County by approving zoning changes in the Pottertown Road area, several groups of landowners, environmentalists and government critics have raised alarms about the company.
But in the wake of hazardous materials leaks, numerous problems starting up the plant and several violations of state permits, local government officials ‰?? including the Greene County Commission itself ‰?? are turning a more critical eye toward the Midway plant.
Earlier this week, the Greene County Commission, while discussing Commissioner Eddie Jennings‰?? proposal to rescind the February 2011 zoning changes, voted to have its Health & Safety Committee ‰?? known also as the Debris Ordinance Committee ‰?? examine how the county can pressure state and federal regulators to ensure they‰??re holding US Nitrogen accountable to environmental laws.
‰??I think there‰??s agreement [among commissioners] that those agencies that are dictated by statute to ensure compliance with air and water are diligent in their responsibilities,‰?? Greene County Mayor David Crum said in an interview Friday. ‰??Hopefully they‰??re not distracted in some way.‰??
When asked if he thought the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation was doing all it should do in terms of regulating US Nitrogen, Crum said investigations such as those regarding US Nitrogen take longer than what the general public wants. The former Greeneville Police Department detective likened it to the justice system. ‰??A lot of times people thought justice should be more quick than it often occurred,‰?? he said.
---------------------------------------------
TOXIC GAS LEAK SPARKS EVACUATION, ROAD CLOSURE IN NORFOLK COUNTY, ONT.
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, hydrogen_sulfide
A flammable, hazardous gas leak discovered on Friday evening in Norfolk County, Ont. ‰?? some 30 kilometres west of Port Dover ‰?? has prompted police to close a stretch of roadway and issue an evacuation order for the area.
A hydrogen sulphide gas leak, which is is fatal at high concentrations, was identified at a well yesterday. It isn't clear how the gas leaked, but investigators say the gas poses potential threats to people's health.
Residents in the area between Silver Hill and Langton are asked by county officials to avoid the contaminated zones.
---------------------------------------------
OFFICIALS UPDATE INCIDENT AT CHRISTIANA MALL, SEVEN PATIENTS ‰?? FIRST STATE UPDATE
Tags: us_DE, public, release, injury, freon
Newark ‰?? Lastevening, at approximately 7:00 pm, Christiana Fire Company Command operating at 800 Christiana Mall, requested the assistance of New Castle County Paramedics and personnel from the Aetna Hose, Hook & Ladder Company, Wilmington Manor, Minquas, Five Points and Mill Creek Fire Companies for an odor investigation at the Target, Paramedic Senior Corporal David J. McKinney, Jr., Public Information Officer.
McKinney said Christiana Fire Company was dispatched to the Target store for a reported odor investigation. While responding, Fire Company Command requested additional resources to the scene for management of several patients, reporting a cough. Upon the arrival of New Castle County Paramedics, seven patients were evaluated for respiratory complaints, including a cough and sore throat. The odor was determined to be Freon gas, a gas which is used in the refrigeration and cooling process. Once evaluated, all patients refused transport to the hospital. Christiana Fire Company handled the command and investigation process.
---------------------------------------------
DANGER IN THE GUISE OF SAFETY, TODAY
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental
In his seminal book The Limits of Safety, Scott D. Sagan contrasted two schools of thought to assess the safety performance of the United States nuclear weapon system during the era of the Cuban Missile Crisis: High reliability theory and complexity theory. One of the basic tenets regarding high reliability organizations is that they are able and willing to learn from events. Sagan, however, found that oftentimes, the U.S. military failed to learn from the incidents they had experienced. He attributed this failure of organizational learning in part to what March, Sproull, and Camull called ‰??the ambiguity of interpretation.‰?? This ambiguity stems from the fact that events in which safety margins were reduced, but which did not end in an accident, can be interpreted both as a proof of the robustness of the safety barriers, or as ‰??near misses‰??, as events in which accidents almost occurred if it wasn‰??t for some random element. The first interpretation supports the perce!
ption that the system in question is fundamentally safe; the second interpretation supports the perception that the system is not safe enough.
---------------------------------------------
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SLASHES CHEMICAL REGULATIONS
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
Cancer Council Australia, unions and public health advocates have expressed alarm over proposed federal government changes to industrial chemical regulations.
The changes mean more than 99% of new industrial chemicals will not be officially assessed for threats to public health and the environment before being introduced to the public.
Under a bill introduced by Assistant Health Minister David Gillespie, industry would self-assess whether a chemical new to Australia was low-risk and therefore "exempt", meaning it could be brought to market without being reported to the regulator or having its safety assessed.
Under the proposed regime just 0.75% of new chemicals would be assessed before they are used by industry.
---------------------------------------------
INSIDE THE POISON PAPERS ‰?? AMERICAN FREE PRESS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, toxics
‰??Poison Papers‰?? is the sadly appropriate name for an online compilation of documents that reveal decades of government cover-ups on the use of toxic chemicals, collusion between the chemical industry and regulatory agencies, deceit, incompetence, fraud, and ultimately an utter lack of concern for life itself.
---------------------------------------------
THE DANGER OF STORMS HITTING NEAR CHEMICAL PLANTS
Tags: us_TX, industrial, discovery, environmental, petroleum
The large number of refineries and petrochemical plants means that the Gulf Coast region has large numbers of chemical and oil tank farms and, in some cases, open storage pits.
‰??When these storms hit the Texas coast, they‰??re hitting near many chemical plants,‰?? said Al Armendariz, now with the Sierra Club and formerly a regional director for the Environmental Protection Agency based in Texas. ‰??Whenever you have a storm like this, there is always a possibility that some of that stuff might be released.‰?? He added, ‰??chemical plants have storm procedures they are supposed to follow, but tanks can always be ruptured because of flying debris.‰??
He said that Citgo‰??s Corpus Christi refinery, in the bull‰??s eye of the storm, stores and uses hydrofluoric acid, a highly corrosive and toxic chemical used to make high-octane blending components for gasoline. In 2009, the refinery had a fire that led to a release of the chemical, critically injuring one employee.
‰??The release of even a puff of that stuff into a community‰?? could cause lots of injuries, Armendariz said.
A Chemical Safety Board investigation discovered that the refinery‰??s stored water supply failed and the facility began to use salt water to deal with the emergency.
---------------------------------------------
A127 BLOCKED AFTER 25 LITRES OF FLAMMABLE AND CORROSIVE CHEMCIALS SPILL ONTO ROAD
Tags: United_Kingdom, transportation, release, response, corrosives
The A127 is partially blocked after a lorry spilt 25 litres of corrosive chemicals across the road.
It is understood that the incident happened between the A129 Rayleigh Road (Rayleigh Weir) and the A1245 Chelmsford Road (Fairglen Interchange) at around 10am this morning (Friday, August 25).
The lorry involved was carrying large drums of sodium hypochlorite, one of which tipped over and spilt inside the lorry, causing the liquid to leak onto the roadway.
---------------------------------------------
CAUSE OF FIRE AT TULSA PORT OF CATOOSA FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTOR NOT YET KNOWN
Tags: us_OK, industrial, fire, response, ag_chems
CATOOSA ‰?? A fire melted a large hole in the vinyl roof of a Tulsa Port of Catoosa fertilizer distributor early Thursday.
Tulsa firefighters responded about 1:30 a.m. Thursday to Agri-Nutrients Inc., located in the 5200 block of Bird Creek Avenue near Catoosa, after the fertilizer business caught fire.
Fire Capt. Stan May said firefighters had the flames contained about 4:30 a.m. but remained throughout the morning to contain hot spots.
Firefighters initially were held back while the Tulsa Fire Department‰??s Hazardous Materials team established what chemicals were where in the warehouse.
The Tulsa Fire Department‰??s HazMat team set up at the fertilizer distributor ‰??to make sure none of it got into the (McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System) waterway,‰?? May said.
The cause of the fire was not immediately clear. May said the investigation would be turned over to the State Fire Marshal‰??s Office.
---------------------------------------------
VA. BEACH MAN MIXED CHEMICALS CAUSING EXPLOSION, SENT TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_VA, public, explosion, injury, bleach, cleaners, nitric_acid
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WVEC) -- A chemical explosion sent one man to the hospital, and hazmat crews are investigating Thursday morning.
Dispatch received reports of a pressure washer explosion, and injuries around 7:00 a.m. at 2744 Dam Neck Road.
When crews arrived no one was there, but a locked storage unit with the smell of chlorine coming from inside.
After further investigation, officials learned a man mixed chlorine bleach with nitric acid, common in cleaners, which caused an explosion.
The man suffered injuries to his right hand and arm and drove himself to the hospital, but locked the storage unit before leaving.
Hazmat was able to open the storage unit to further investigate.
---------------------------------------------
'HOBBY CHEMIST' BURNED IN OVERNIGHT EXPLOSION IN LONGMONT
Tags: us_CO, public, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
Longmont police are investigating an explosion after a man describing himself as a "hobby chemist" mixed unknown chemicals in an apartment bathroom.
Cmdr. Joel Post said officers were dispatched at 12:19 a.m. Thursday to Longmont United Hospital, where a 54-year-old man was being treated for chemical burns.
Post said officers learned the man was injured in an explosion that occurred about 35 minutes earlier in an apartment in the 1600 block of 16th Avenue.
Three men were in the apartment, two of whom were drinking, including the 54-year-old man who described himself as a "hobby chemist." The man went into a bathroom and mixed unknown chemicals, resulting in the explosion.
"There is no indication this was a narcotics related event, nor is there deemed to be any danger to the public," Post said.
The 54-year-old has not being identified. A 24-year-old man and a 63-year-old man also at the apartment did not sustain any injuries, Post said.
---------------------------------------------
TESTS FOR HARMFUL CHEMICALS TO BE CONDUCTED ON THOMAS STREET
Tags: us_WI, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
WAUSAU - The city has commissioned testing for potentially lethal chemical compounds that lie beneath the surface of Thomas Street before an ongoing road project moves farther east.
Mayor Robert Mielke ordered the testing to find out if the second phase of the street's reconstruction will stir up chemicals that were released into the soil and groundwater in the 1980s by Crestline Windows. Crestline had operated near the 3M plant at the time. Most buildings were torn down in the 1990s, according to Wausau Daily Herald archives.
The compound in question, pentachlorophenol or "Penta," is a preservative that was used by Crestline to treat the wood used in its windows and doors, according to documents detailing the use of the chemical. The documents also note that dioxins, which are known to be carcinogens, may be present. The use of Penta was stopped in 1986 at Crestline.
---------------------------------------------
THREE CONN. COMPANIES PROVIDE PUBLIC WITH CHEMICAL INFORMATION UNDER EPA SETTLEMENTS
Tags: us_CT, industrial, follow-up, environmental, toxics
BOSTON - Three Connecticut companies will report publically on their use of required toxic chemicals, creating a safer environment for the public, under the terms of three separate recent settlements with the US Environmental Protection Agency. All three settlements involve facilities thoroughly evaluating the toxic chemicals present at their facility.
In an agreement with EPA, Redland Brick Inc. of South Windsor has agreed to properly report its use of barium compounds, which was not done in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Proper reporting of chemical data aids the comprehensive planning done by federal, state, and local authorities to clean up industrial pollution or safely and effectively respond to emergency situations.
In a second agreement, Scapa Tapes North America of Windsor agreed to pay a penalty to resolve claims that it failed to properly report its use of ethylbenzene in 2013, 2014, and 2015, and vinyl acetate in 2014 and 2015.
And in the third agreement, O.F. Mossberg & Sons of North Haven agreed to properly file reports by the required deadline identifying the amount of copper it used and has improved its method for future reporting.
Companies and facilities are required to report annually on their use under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). Complying with EPCRA and TRI helps ensure that communities are not deprived of their right to know about chemical releases that may affect public health and the environment. Now that these facilities are providing data about their use of chemicals, the local communities have access to information about the presence of chemicals in the area.
---------------------------------------------
DR. MARTENS RECALLS BOOTS DUE TO CHEMICAL EXPOSURE
Tags: public, discovery, response, other_chemical
(MEREDITH) -- More than 30,000 pairs of Dr. Martens Vegan Boots are being recalled due to a threat of chemical exposure. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says direct contact with the boot's tongue can expose the wearer to benzidine, which has been cited to be a carcinogen.
Recent studies show years of exposure has led to cancer. As of the initial recall, no reports of injuries from wearers.
The recall involves Dr. Martens unisex Vegan 1460 boots sold in cherry red, all sizes.
The boots were sold at Dr. Martens and other retailers, including online at Amazon.com, DrMartens.com and Shoebuy.com from 2015 through July of this year.
Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled boots and contact Dr. Martens for a full refund or free replacement product.
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RUBBERTOWN PLANT WANTS TO INCREASE CHEMICAL EMISSIONS
Tags: us_KY, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - The Louisville Metro Council approved a resolution aimed at keeping a plant in Rubbertown from modifying emissions standards.
American Synthetic Rubber wants to release a higher amount of 1.3 Butadiene than is currently allowed.
It is a cancer-causing chemical.
Neighbors have been outspoken at several Air Pollution Control Board hearings.
With a unanimous vote, the city council approved the resolution asking the Board to deny the company's request.
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