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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, December 15, 2017 at 7:08:19 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 (21 articles)
RESIDENTS, WORKERS EVACUATED DUE TO GAS LEAK IN NW OKC
Tags: us_OK, public, release, response, methane
UPDATE: 10 STUDENTS EXPOSED TO TEAR GAS AFTER SAN JUAN POLICE DEPARTMENT TRAINING ACCIDENT
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, tear_gas
STUDY: FACILITIES USING CHEMICALS POSE RISK TO LOW-INCOME RESIDENTS
Tags: us_CT, public, discovery, environmental
MISSOURI ISSUES FIRST FINES OVER MISUSE OF FARM CHEMICAL IN 2016
Tags: us_MO, industrial, follow-up, environmental, ag_chems
NOMINEE TO LEAD EPA CHEMICALS PROGRAM WITHDRAWS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
REPURPOSED STEEL DRUMS HAZARDOUS AT HOME, IN WORKPLACE
Tags: us_WI, public, discovery, environmental, flammables
MORE THAN A DOZEN HOSPITALIZED AFTER HAZMAT INCIDENT IN ATHENS, TENN.
Tags: us_TN, industrial, release, injury, carbon_monoxide
SEE SMOKE NEAR CMC-UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL? DON'T PANIC
Tags: us_NC, public, fire, response, waste
CITY BLANKETED IN SMOKE AS MAYFIELD TIP CATCHES FIRE
Tags: Australia, industrial, fire, response, waste
OFFICIALS: HAZMAT LEAK REPORTED AT FACILITY NEAR CHARLESTON AND
Tags: us_NV, industrial, release, response, ammonia
15 INJURED IN GAS PIPELINE EXPLOSION
Tags: Pakistan, transportation, explosion, injury, other_chemical
7 DAY CARES TESTING FOR DRY CLEANING CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION
Tags: us_VT, public, discovery, environmental, cleaners
2 STUDENTS FAINT AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK AT NJ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Tags: us_NJ, education, release, injury, ethylene_glycol
TURKEY UPS ITS GAME WITH NEW REACH LAW
Tags: Turkey, public, discovery, environmental
EPA CHEMICAL SAFETY NOMINEE DROPS OUT AMID STRONG OPPOSITION
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
ONE DEAD AFTER AUSTRIAN GAS HUB EXPLOSION
Tags: Austria, industrial, explosion, death, other_chemical
POLICE DECLARE EMERGENCY AFTER BLAST AT PORTSMITH METAL YARD WHERE LARGE FIRE HAS BROKEN OUT
Tags: Australia, industrial, explosion, response, gasoline, metals, waste
MINNESOTA JOINS U.S. STATES LIMITING CONTROVERSIAL FARM CHEMICAL
Tags: us_MN, public, discovery, environmental, pesticides
STUDIES HIGHLIGHT POTENTIAL HEALTH RISKS FOR CONSUMERS AND EMPLOYEES AT BEAUTY SALONS
Tags: us_NJ, public, discovery, environmental, formaldehyde
SHEFFIELD LEISURE CENTRE FINED OVER CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, follow-up, environmental, chlorine
PCB: PCB TO PROSECUTE FIRMS INVOLVED IN CHEMICAL DUMP
Tags: India, public, discovery, response, waste, illegal
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RESIDENTS, WORKERS EVACUATED DUE TO GAS LEAK IN NW OKC
Tags: us_OK, public, release, response, methane
Enlarge1 / 1
OKLAHOMA CITY - Residents and workers were evacuated after a gas leak in NW Oklahoma City, Thursday afternoon.
According to the Oklahoma City Fire Department, Hazmat crews responded to the area of NW 3rd and Blackwelder, around 12:25 p.m.
OKCFD says a gas line was struck and crews were working to determine the location of the leak.
---------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 10 STUDENTS EXPOSED TO TEAR GAS AFTER SAN JUAN POLICE DEPARTMENT TRAINING ACCIDENT
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, tear_gas
A training accident at the San Juan Police Department shooting range exposed 10 students, a teacher and several parents to tear gas Wednesday.
The police department hosted a SWAT training Wednesday afternoon at the shooting range, which is located near the intersection of Hall Acres Road and South Veterans Boulevard in San Juan.
The training involved tear gas. Ten students, a teacher and several parents at the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District agricultural farm were exposed to the gas, according to district spokeswoman Arianna Vazquez-Hernandez.
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STUDY: FACILITIES USING CHEMICALS POSE RISK TO LOW-INCOME RESIDENTS
Tags: us_CT, public, discovery, environmental
Bridgeport, Norwalk and Danbury have manufacturing plants using such large quantities of hazardous chemicals that they are required to submit disaster response plans to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Since many of the facilities are in areas long inhabited by poor people ‰?? often people of color ‰?? those groups are at a higher risk of exposure to a leak, explosion or adverse health effect, a new report indicates.
In ‰??Living in the Shadow of Danger: Poverty, Race and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards,‰?? the Center for Effective Government examined more than 12,500 facilities in 50 states, grading states based on the ‰??disparities faced‰?? by people living adjacent to or near these facilities.
Connecticut, and 25 other states, earned a ‰??D‰?? grade for its inequities. About 170,000 people ‰?? roughly 5 percent of the state‰??s population ‰?? live within a mile of these facilities. Among smaller neighborhoods affected are those in Milford, Trumbull and Shelton.
The center reported children of color under age 12 living in Connecticut were 2.2 times more likely than white children to live within a mile of one of these facilities. In many instances, residents are unaware of the dangers just blocks from their homes, the report said.
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MISSOURI ISSUES FIRST FINES OVER MISUSE OF FARM CHEMICAL IN 2016
Tags: us_MO, industrial, follow-up, environmental, ag_chems
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Missouri has issued its first fines over the misuse of a farm chemical in 2016 that went on to be linked in different formulations to widespread U.S. crop damage this year, the state said on Thursday.
Authorities fined eight people a total of $145,125 for improperly spraying the chemical known as dicamba, used to kill weeds, in what Missouri called ‰??the first wave of civil penalties issued to applicators,‰?? according to a statement.
SPONSORED
The delay between sprayings last year and the state‰??s action shows how a long process of investigating many complaints about dicamba use is straining resources in farm states.
The United States has faced an agricultural crisis this year caused by the new formulations of dicamba-based herbicides, which farmers and weed experts say have harmed crops that cannot resist the chemical because it evaporates and drifts away from where it is applied.
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NOMINEE TO LEAD EPA CHEMICALS PROGRAM WITHDRAWS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
The top spot in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency‰??s office that oversees commercial chemicals and pesticides remains vacant. President Donald J. Trump‰??s pick to lead the office, Michael Dourson, withdrew his nomination on Dec. 13 amid growing concerns about his ties to the chemical industry and insufficient votes to clear the Senate confirmation process.
Trump nominated Dourson, a board-certified toxicologist, in July. Dourson left his position as a professor in the Risk Science Center at the University of Cincinnati in October and had since been working for EPA as an adviser. It is unclear where he will land now, but he is expected to leave the agency.
Dourson is best known for his work as founder and director of the Cincinnati-based consulting firm Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment, where he worked from 1995 to 2015. In that role, he helped chemical and pesticide manufacturers evaluate the safety of their products. Prior to that, Dourson worked at EPA from 1980 to 1995.
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REPURPOSED STEEL DRUMS HAZARDOUS AT HOME, IN WORKPLACE
Tags: us_WI, public, discovery, environmental, flammables
They‰??re often presumed to be safe because they‰??re empty, but steel drums with only a small amount of flammable residue or vapor inside have exploded, injuring and killing scores of people, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found.
Here's a sampling of accidents, including ones at homes and businesses, over the past 10 years.
Nov. 21: Two people in Georgetown, S.C., were injured when a 55-gallon drum they were working on exploded. Old oil residue sparked by a cutting tool was the cause, The Sun News in Myrtle Beach reported.
Sept 28: Three people in Rockland, Maine, were injured when the 55-gallon drum they were using for a work stand caught fire from the sparks of a grinding tool and exploded.
The drum had once contained acetone, but the workers thought it was vented enough to be safe, said Rockland Fire Chief Chris Whytock. One of the three suffered third-degree burns.
---------------------------------------------
MORE THAN A DOZEN HOSPITALIZED AFTER HAZMAT INCIDENT IN ATHENS, TENN.
Tags: us_TN, industrial, release, injury, carbon_monoxide
More than a dozen people were hospitalized after an apparent hazmat incident at Mills Products Inc. in Athens, Tenn., but authorities are still unsure what that incident was.
McMinn County emergency services received three calls from the facility on Northridge Drive early Wednesday morning, according to Athens Fire Chief Jim Dyer.
He said multiple employees from a variety of divisions in the building were experiencing nausea and headaches, prompting concerns about carbon monoxide poisoning.
"We thought there might be carbon monoxide in their bloodstream," Dyer said. "That is a life threatening situation."
At least fifteen people were transported as a precaution, but fire teams detected no elevated carbon monoxide levels at the facility. A hazmat team called to the scene also could not immediately detect elevated carbon monoxide levels.
Dyer said it's still unclear what might have caused the employees' symptoms, but authorities will continue working to investigate the cause.
---------------------------------------------
SEE SMOKE NEAR CMC-UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL? DON'T PANIC
Tags: us_NC, public, fire, response, waste
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - If you saw smoke near the Carolinas Medical Center's University campus, don't panic, it was only a dumpster fire by the northeast Charlotte hospital.
Several viewers sent Channel 9 pictures and videos of heavy black smoke and flames filling the air Wednesday night near CMC-University.
Many were concerned about the heavy smoke they were seeing in the air, and one viewer told Channel 9 they saw the smoke spread to UNC Charlotte's campus.
Channel 9 has contacted the Fire Department to ask if there is a hazmat concern over what was in the dumpster since it was outside the hospital.
---------------------------------------------
CITY BLANKETED IN SMOKE AS MAYFIELD TIP CATCHES FIRE
Tags: Australia, industrial, fire, response, waste
FIREFIGHTERS were late on Thursday night battling a blaze inside a Mayfield West recycling facility.
Multiple units were called to the scene on McIntosh Drive, in the Steel River industrial estate, shortly after 8.30pm.
The fire was burning inside the Benedict Recycling centre and sent a thick plume of smoke over Mayfield.
A HAZMAT team arrived at the scene shortly after 9pm.
Fire crews were stationed at various points around the blaze and attacked it from multiple fronts. Visibility was poor in several surrounding streets.
It is the second time Benedict Recycling has caught fire in three months. The fire on September 20 took more than eight hours to fully extinguish.
The cause of Thursday‰??s fire was still under investigation.
---------------------------------------------
OFFICIALS: HAZMAT LEAK REPORTED AT FACILITY NEAR CHARLESTON AND
Tags: us_NV, industrial, release, response, ammonia
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) -
HAZMAT officials responded to a chemical leak at a food processing plant near Charleston Boulevard and Commerce Street Wednesday.
Las Vegas Fire Department official were on scene around 6 p.m. for what appeared to be a ammonia leak at the facility located at 123 West Colorado Avenue, authorities said.
---------------------------------------------
15 INJURED IN GAS PIPELINE EXPLOSION
Tags: Pakistan, transportation, explosion, injury, other_chemical
KARACHI: At least 15 people were injured when a fire erupted in a gas pipeline after an explosion in the Metroville area of the city on Wednesday.
According to sources, 15 people received minor burn injuries when the fire erupted in a gas pipeline after an explosion in Metroville area. One car and two rickshaws were also burnt in the fire. However, the fire was doused after some time.
A heavy contingent of Rangers and police was present at the site of the fire. The injured were shifted to different hospitals of the city for treatment.
Fire incidents are a common occurrence in Karachi. In September this year, a fire erupted in a shoe factory which took 17 hours to cool down.
However, it was not an accident as a few workers had reportedly set fire to a chemical drum in the factory, following an altercation with the accounts department over the payment of salary, claimed Chief Fire Officer Tehseen Siddiqui.
---------------------------------------------
7 DAY CARES TESTING FOR DRY CLEANING CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION
Tags: us_VT, public, discovery, environmental, cleaners
Seven child care programs in Vermont will be undergoing precautionary testing for cleaning chemical contamination.
MyNBC5 reports that the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation and Health Department will be testing facilities within 200 feet of current or former dry cleaning services.
The dry cleaning chemicals can seep into the ground and pollute the air of nearby buildings.
---------------------------------------------
2 STUDENTS FAINT AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK AT NJ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Tags: us_NJ, education, release, injury, ethylene_glycol
A New Jersey elementary school was evacuated Wednesday afternoon after a chemical leak caused two students to faint.
Elmwood Park schools Superintendent Anthony Grieco said in an email to parents around 2 p.m. that Gantner Avenue Elementary School was evacuated for the situation. But he said students were moved to another indoor location and were safe and warm.
According to the Bergen Record, which first reported the leak, two students fainted after the chemical glycol leaked from a heating unit on the building‰??s roof and circulated through the building‰??s heating system.
A third student complained about being nauseous, and a custodian and firefighter also were treated for sickness.
---------------------------------------------
TURKEY UPS ITS GAME WITH NEW REACH LAW
Tags: Turkey, public, discovery, environmental
Turkey‰??s new REACH-like law, KKDIK, which enters into force on 23 December, will create new opportunities and obstacles in equal measure. Alignment with REACH, which is considered the gold standard for chemical legislation, will stimulate Turkish exports, not just to the EU - its main trading partner - but also to other regions such as Asia, where Turkish products will benefit from an image boost.
As a neighbouring state outside the bloc, Turkey also aims to put a tighter lid on unwanted chemicals. It imports most of its raw materials, reformulating them for domestic use and exports; hence there is plenty of scope for illegal chemicals to creep in from Europe and elsewhere, including its war-ridden eastern neighbours.
Yet an ambitious and complex legislation like REACH will undoubtedly bring enormous challenges, both to industry and the authorities. The Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation (MoEU) is currently ill-equipped to enforce the law, with a team of just six people dedicated to registrations, compared with Echa‰??s 600.
For industry, KKDIK could be the trigger for substantial consolidation, with many SMEs likely to find themselves priced out of export markets. Smaller manufacturers, which make up more than 80% of Turkey‰??s chemicals sector, are mostly oblivious to the new legislation.
---------------------------------------------
EPA CHEMICAL SAFETY NOMINEE DROPS OUT AMID STRONG OPPOSITION
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
WASHINGTON (AP) ‰?? President Donald Trump‰??s pick to oversee chemical safety at the Environmental Protection Agency withdrew his nomination Wednesday after bipartisan opposition made his Senate confirmation unlikely.
Officials at the White House and the Senate told The Associated Press that Michael Dourson had sent a letter asking his name to be removed from consideration to serve as head of the EPA‰??s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. The two officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
North Carolina‰??s two Republican senators, Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, said last month they would vote against Dourson‰??s nomination after The Associated Press and other media outlets detailed his past work as a toxicologist hired to defend major chemical companies.
---------------------------------------------
ONE DEAD AFTER AUSTRIAN GAS HUB EXPLOSION
Tags: Austria, industrial, explosion, death, other_chemical
An explosion at Austria's main gas hub Tuesday has left one person dead and several injured, according to a report.
Gas Connect Austria, which operates the Baumgarten site on the Austrian border with Slovakia, said that the cause of the blast was not yet known.
According to Reuters, deliveries to Italy might be most affected. Shortly after the news, Italy's wholesale gas price rose 87 percent to 44.50 euros per megawatt hour.
Italian industry minister Carlo Calenda warned of a "serious" energy supply problem and said the country would need to declare a state of emergency.
---------------------------------------------
POLICE DECLARE EMERGENCY AFTER BLAST AT PORTSMITH METAL YARD WHERE LARGE FIRE HAS BROKEN OUT
Tags: Australia, industrial, explosion, response, gasoline, metals, waste
EARLIER: Emergency services are responding after an explosion which is believed to have occurred at a scrap metal business in Portsmith.
Smoke is pouring from Sims Metal on Comport St following the blast which occurred about noon.
Police have stated there will be roadblocks in place and motorists and residents are urged to avoid the area.
Police declare emergency after blast at Portsmith metal yard where large fire has broken out. PHOTO: ANNA ROGERSSource:Supplied
A police spokesman said they have declared an emergency situation due to an industrial fire.
It is believed an unleaded petrol tank exploded at a premises.
The declaration encompasses the area between Ray Jones Drive, Draper Street, Buchan Street and Heatley Street.
---------------------------------------------
MINNESOTA JOINS U.S. STATES LIMITING CONTROVERSIAL FARM CHEMICAL
Tags: us_MN, public, discovery, environmental, pesticides
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Minnesota became the latest U.S. state on Tuesday to restrict controversial weed killers made by Monsanto Co and BASF SE that were linked to widespread crop damage, while Arkansas took a step back from imposing new limits.
The United States has faced an agricultural crisis this year caused by new versions of the herbicides, which are based on a chemical known as dicamba. Farmers and weed experts say the products harm crops that cannot resist dicamba because the herbicides evaporate and drift away from where they are applied, a process known as volatilization.
Monsanto and BASF say the products are safe when used properly.
Monsanto is banking on its dicamba-based herbicide and soybean seeds engineered to resist it, called Xtend, to dominate soybean production in the United States, the world‰??s second-largest exporter.
---------------------------------------------
STUDIES HIGHLIGHT POTENTIAL HEALTH RISKS FOR CONSUMERS AND EMPLOYEES AT BEAUTY SALONS
Tags: us_NJ, public, discovery, environmental, formaldehyde
Clients who frequent hair and nail salons exhibit more instances of dermal and fungal symptoms than those who visit less often and nail salon technicians are receiving inadequate training in the use of chemicals, suggest two Rutgers School of Public Health studies.
These studies highlight the need for beauty salon clients and workers to protect themselves from health risks.
The first study, published in the November/December 2017 Journal of Chemical Health & Safety, surveyed 90 hair and nail salon clients in three New Jersey counties to assess their experience with respiratory, fungal and dermal symptoms ‰?? which often present as skin rashes or nail disfigurements ‰?? after visiting salons. The researchers also sought to learn how aware clients were of the potential biological and chemical hazards in salons. The study is one of the first to focus on health risks facing salon clients rather than employees.
"While there have been studies on the safety and health risks to employees of these facilities, less is known about client perception of these risks or whether they are exposed in a similar manner," said lead author Lindsey Milich, who conducted the study as part of her master's degree research. "We found that although clients might be aware of some hazardous chemicals like formaldehyde, they often do not recognize the dangers posed by pathogens and environmental irritants."
---------------------------------------------
SHEFFIELD LEISURE CENTRE FINED OVER CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, follow-up, environmental, chlorine
A leisure centre has been fined å£7,000 after a chemical reaction at the site led to eight children and six adults being treated for minor burns.
Springs Leisure Centre, in East Bank Road, Sheffield had to be evacuated after chlorine gas escaped into the swimming pool area in May 2016.
It happened when technicians inadvertently mixed two chemicals while fixing pool filtration equipment.
Operator Sheffield City Trust admitted breaching health and safety rules.
Prosecutor Paul Barber told Sheffield Magistrates' Court a safety notice warning against mixing the two chemicals was partially obscured and the instruction manual and risk assessment documents were not stored with the equipment.
He argued had this not been the case the incident could have been avoided.
The court heard the gas was able to escape as initially the doors between the plant room and the pool were propped open but when the maintenance workers realised what had happened they shut the doors and opened the fire escape.
However, a combination of the draught and a fault with the ventilation system meant the gas continued to escape into the pool area.
Mr Barber said none of those involved in the incident had any ongoing health problems as a result.
---------------------------------------------
PCB: PCB TO PROSECUTE FIRMS INVOLVED IN CHEMICAL DUMP
Tags: India, public, discovery, response, waste, illegal
HYDERABAD: The Telangana State Pollution Control Board has decided to prosecute pharma companies involved in chemical drums dumping cases. Rachakonda police on Monday arrested a gang for dumping chemical drums. Based on the report submitted by the Rachakconda police, the PCB has decided to take the case forward for further action.
PCB investigations revealed that the gang used Yadadri as a dumping ground. Effluent and hazardous waste from Karnataka and AP were also being dumped in Telangana. While gang members and store managers of companies have been arrested, both police and PCB authorities are verifying involvement of pharma company management.
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