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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, August 10, 2018 at 7:11:57 AM
A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
Connecting Chemistry and Safety at http://www.dchas.org
All article summaries and tags are archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas
Table of Contents (14 articles)
FIRE AT HANFORD RADIOACTIVE LAB SENDS 2 TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_WA, laboratory, fire, injury, radiation
EPA SILENT ON CASE AGAINST CHEMICAL BARREL PLANTS MONTHS AFTER VIOLATIONS
Tags: us_WI, industrial, follow-up, environmental, unknown_chemical
RIVCO WARNS OF DANGERS OF CLEANING UP 'TOXIC' ASH FROM HOLY FIRE
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, metals
NEW DOCS REVEAL MORE OF DA'S CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST ARKEMA
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, response, other_chemical, illegal
US MANUFACTURING PLANT EXPLOSIONS INJURE FOUR
Tags: us_NY, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY HAS LEFT MAHUL VILLAGE IN MUMBAI WITH TOXIC AIR, POLLUTED WATER
Tags: India, industrial, follow-up, environmental, petroleum
THREE YEARS AFTER TIANJIN EXPLOSION KILLED 173 PEOPLE, FILMMAKER PROBES TRAGEDY‰??S TROUBLING AFTERMATH ‰?? SHANGHAIIST
Tags: China, public, follow-up, environmental
PLAYING WITH FIRE: AVOIDING TOXIC EXPOSURES IN STRUCTURE FIRES
Tags: us_CA, public, discovery, environmental, toxics
SHEFFIELD ROAD CLOSED AFTER LAWN CHEMICAL SPILL DUE TO OVERTURNED TRUCK
Tags: us_NH, transportation, release, response, pesticides
43 INJURED IN FIRE AT MUMBAI OIL REFINERY
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, injury, petroleum
ORLANDO OFFICE BUILDING NEAR AIRPORT EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL...
Tags: us_FL, public, release, injury, other_chemical
PRESERVATIVES CHALLENGE AWARDS CASH PRIZES
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental
EPA INVESTIGATES CONTAMINATED SOIL IN BURLINGTON'S OLD NORTH END
Tags: us_VT, public, discovery, environmental, pce
FOUR QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS AFTER DEADLY BOLOGNA TRUCK EXPLOSION
Tags: Italy, transportation, explosion, death, unknown_chemical
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FIRE AT HANFORD RADIOACTIVE LAB SENDS 2 TO HOSPITAL
https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/hanford/article216417500.html
Tags: us_WA, laboratory, fire, injury, radiation
RICHLAND, WA
A Hanford laboratory was evacuated and two workers went to the hospital after a small fire shortly before noon Thursday.
A worker at the 222-S Laboratory in central Hanford put out the fire with a hand-held fire extinguisher while other employees pulled the fire alarm and called 911, according to a message to employees of Washington River Protection Solutions.
The Hanford Fire Department responded and confirmed the fire was out. Surveys were done to verify that no radioactive material was involved.
About 250 laboratory employees evacuated the lab facilities, with all employees accounted for at 12:11 p.m. and sent to air-conditioned office buildings.
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EPA SILENT ON CASE AGAINST CHEMICAL BARREL PLANTS MONTHS AFTER VIOLATIONS
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/investigations/2018/08/09/epa-silent-case-against-chemical-barrel-plants-months-after-violations/923789002/
Tags: us_WI, industrial, follow-up, environmental, unknown_chemical
Months after issuing violations against a chain of industrial barrel refurbishing plants, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said nothing publicly about the case. U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin is asking why.
Citing a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation that documented danger in the plants to workers and residents in surrounding neighborhoods, Baldwin (D-Wis.) sent a letter to the EPA this week calling for action.
"While multiple agencies have found dozens of violations at the site, the EPA has not completed its investigation or provided the public confidence that the illegal practices have ended," Baldwin wrote in a letter Monday to EPA Acting Secretary Andrew Wheeler and Regional Administrator Cathy Stepp.
"I am deeply concerned the EPA has not taken swift, substantial action to protect residents by addressing the company's negligence."
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RIVCO WARNS OF DANGERS OF CLEANING UP 'TOXIC' ASH FROM HOLY FIRE
https://patch.com/california/temecula/rivco-warns-dangers-cleaning-toxic-ash-holy-fire
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, metals
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA ‰?? As the massive Holy Fire continues to grow, forcing thousands of Southwest Riverside County residents from their homes, another danger lurks: ash. Riverside County health officials issued a warning Thursday to area residents to "take precautions as they clean up the ash that has fallen on their cars, homes and driveways."
"Just because it's burned up doesn't make it safe," said Dr. Cameron Kaiser, Riverside County public health officer. "Ash can be toxic even in small quantities depending on where it came from."
And as eager as you may be to get that ash off your property, health officials urged residents to wait. They said "residents should not begin the clean-up while ash is still falling and the situation is unpredictable."
What's more, the county health department said to try your best to avoid skin contact with the ash.
"Ash from burned homes and other items will likely contain potentially toxic materials if breathed in or touched with wet skin, such as metals, chemicals, and potentially asbestos," the agency said. "If you do get ash on your skin, wash it off immediately. Some wet ash can cause chemical burns."
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NEW DOCS REVEAL MORE OF DA'S CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST ARKEMA
https://abc13.com/arkema-case-filing-other-plants-moved-chemicals-out-of-harms-way/3917997/
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, response, other_chemical, illegal
CROSBY, Texas (KTRK) -- Court documents filed Wednesday in Harris County's criminal case against Arkema appear to show the stark differences between how it and another chemical company prepared for Harvey's torrent of rainfall.
Prosecutors filed documents from AkzoNobel's Pasadena plant, including a hurricane preparedness plan, emails that detail the days before and after Hurricane Harvey and packing slips that show the company shipped hundreds of thousands of volatile chemicals to New York before the storm moved in for safekeeping.
Similar to Arkema, Akzo houses chemicals that must be refrigerated at all times or will begin to degrade and catch on fire.
The documents show Akzo plant managers ordered the plant be emptied on Thursday, Aug. 24, twelve hours before Harvey made landfall near Rockport, Texas.
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US MANUFACTURING PLANT EXPLOSIONS INJURE FOUR
http://www.hazardexonthenet.net/article/157316/US-manufacturing-plant-explosions-injure-four.aspx
Tags: us_NY, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
An explosion on August 6 at the Arconic Fastening Systems plant in Rochester, New York State, created a fireball that left two men with critical injuries, police and fire officials told local news organisations. The blast is thought to have occurred when fluid from a leaky hydraulic press touched an ignition source.
First responders arrived at the facility to find a 29-year-old man and a 33-year-old man with severe burns, local media reported. The fire department said that three other people received minor injuries from the fireball.
The plant in Rochester produces aircraft engine and industrial gas turbine components, according to the company‰??s website.
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INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY HAS LEFT MAHUL VILLAGE IN MUMBAI WITH TOXIC AIR, POLLUTED WATER
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/industrial-activity-has-left-mahul-village-in-mumbai-with-toxic-air-polluted-water-1310258-2018-08-09
Tags: India, industrial, follow-up, environmental, petroleum
Residents of Mahul Village are still in shock after Wednesday's explosion at Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited's (BPCL) Refinery.
People do not want to live in the vicinity as they fear for their lives now. This is because their health has been deteriorating because of these refineries and chemical factories. The recent blast has only added to the tension.
Local residents are having a tough time daily dealing with toxic air and contaminated water.
Mahul, which is a small village in Mumbai, came in the limelight after an explosion took place here on Wednesday afternoon. Tremors of the explosion were so strong that local residents are still in shock.
In 2015, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) announced Mahul was a highly polluted area however, the BMC still rehabilitated more than 1,000 slums to Mahul.
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THREE YEARS AFTER TIANJIN EXPLOSION KILLED 173 PEOPLE, FILMMAKER PROBES TRAGEDY‰??S TROUBLING AFTERMATH ‰?? SHANGHAIIST
http://shanghaiist.com/2018/08/09/three-years-after-tianjin-explosion-killed-173-people-filmmaker-probes-tragedys-troubling-aftermath/
Tags: China, public, follow-up, environmental
On the night of August 12th, 2015, a massive chemical explosion ripped through Tianjin‰??s Binhai New Area district, killing 173 people, injuring hundreds more, and causing an estimated $1.1 billion in damage.
Three years later, with many of the traces of that catastrophic blast fading from public memory, Chinese filmmaker Zhou Na has published a short documentary looking at the aftermath of the tragedy from the perspective of those survivors whose lives will never be the same.
‰??I have spent three years collecting accounts and examining how survivors and families have coped since that traumatic event,‰?? Zhou writes. ‰??I document the lingering pain, to resist public forgetting and indifference. Hundreds of photographs bear witness to the broken windows, scorched facades, and environmental contamination, attesting to the mass destruction and disruption of the private spaces that were once called home.‰??
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PLAYING WITH FIRE: AVOIDING TOXIC EXPOSURES IN STRUCTURE FIRES
https://www.propertycasualty360.com/2018/08/08/playing-with-fire-avoiding-toxic-exposures-in-stru/?slreturn 180709074157
Tags: us_CA, public, discovery, environmental, toxics
When property claims adjusters are assigned a fire loss, they are often on scene within hours of the fire being extinguished. The claims process typically begins with the adjuster meeting with the insured, taking photos of the damage, sketching the building layout, writing a repair estimate, compiling an inventory of lost or damaged personal property, and other tasks. This requires adjusters to spend hours and sometimes days walking amongst the ash and fire debris. However, what insurance professionals may not realize is that entering a fire-damaged structure, especially one that has recently been boarded up, can pose a serious health risk.
Although the flames are out, the smoke has cleared, and the fire department has removed the yellow tape, the fire scene is not as safe as one might think. Toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) created by the vast array of materials and products, that burned are in a state of off-gassing, saturating the indoor air with poisonous gases and particulates.
Beware of toxic substances
The combination of the lack of ventilation after a board-up and the toxicity of the combustion byproducts, classifies this environment as immediately dangerous to life and health (IDLH). The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) states that a respiratory hazard exists when a toxic contaminant is present in the air at a sufficient concentration to cause harm when inhaled. The damage may occur immediately, or it may take days, weeks, months or years for effects to surface.
The types and quantities of materials and products that combust, their chemical reactions, heat, time and other factors make each post-fire environment unique. The vast array of toxic chemicals, VOCs and particulates are limitless, and exposure to them by inhalation, ingestion or absorption through the skin can have immediate or long-term health effects. Fire investigators know all too well the dangers of post-fire environments and many have been sickened or died from exposure to fire toxins.
One example of this occurred when a fire chief in California walked through a residential fire to assess the damage. A short time later, as he was returning to the fire station, he became ill and his aide transported him to a local hospital. The hazardous material response team was called to the scene and located several glass containers of a substance later identified as liquid sodium cyanide. The chief was transported to a medical facility equipped with a hyperbaric chamber for treatment and fully recovered. Physicians and investigators eventually determined that he had inhaled near-lethal doses of sodium cyanide from a jewelry refinishing business operating from the home.
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SHEFFIELD ROAD CLOSED AFTER LAWN CHEMICAL SPILL DUE TO OVERTURNED TRUCK
https://manchesterinklink.com/sheffield-road-closed-after-lawn-chemical-spill-due-to-overturned-truck/
Tags: us_NH, transportation, release, response, pesticides
MANCHESTER, NH ‰?? Manchester Fire Department responded to Sheffield Road just before 7 a.m. on Aug. 8 for a rollover accident involving an overturned lawn care truck.
Upon arrival crews found that a TruGreen service truck full of lawn chemicals had overturned on the roadway and the chemicals were spilling onto the roadway.
The spill was located east of 85 Sheffield Road, according to Manchester District Fire Chief James Michael.
The truck was carrying 200 gallons of a pesticide known as bifenthrin, with an initial reported concentration of 7.9 percent. Approximately 50 gallons of the pesticide spilled from the truck when it oveturned. It was determined that the company‰??s ‰??recipe‰?? for application of bifenthrin was a concentration of .057 percent.
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43 INJURED IN FIRE AT MUMBAI OIL REFINERY
http://www.gulf-times.com/story/602243/43-injured-in-fire-at-Mumbai-oil-refinery
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, injury, petroleum
At least 43 people were injured in a massive fire that broke out at the Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) refinery in Mumbai yesterday afternoon, officials said.
The refinery is located at Mahul in Chembur, in the eastern Mumbai suburbs.
According to locals and eyewitnesses, the fire was followed by a loud explosion and a thick black smoke which was visible from several kilometres away.
A BPCL official later said that the fire erupted in the compressor shed of a hydrocracker plant within the plant complex after a leak of an oil-water mixture in an adjoining plant.
‰??The incident, which occurred around 2.45pm and the resultant raging fire, was initially handled by the BPCL‰??s in-house firefighters. The affected plant has been shut down, though other operations in the complex are functioning normally,‰?? the official said.
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ORLANDO OFFICE BUILDING NEAR AIRPORT EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL...
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/orlando-office-building-near-airport-evacuated-after-chemical-gets-into-ventilation
Tags: us_FL, public, release, injury, other_chemical
ORLANDO, Fla. - A six-story office building near Orlando International Airport was evacuated Wednesday afternoon after roofing chemicals got into the building's ventilation system, according to Orlando Fire Department officials.
Fire officials said the Citadel building at 5850 T G Lee Blvd. was undergoing some roofing work when a chemical bonding agent got into the building's HVAC system.
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PRESERVATIVES CHALLENGE AWARDS CASH PRIZES
https://cen.acs.org/business/consumer-products/Preservatives-challenge-awards-cash-prizes/96/web/2018/08
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental
Under the auspices of the Green Chemistry & Commerce Council (GC3), a group of consumer product companies, major retailers, and preservative makers have awarded $175,000 in prize money to seven developers of new green preservative technologies.
....
The challenge, which officially got underway in April 2017, was created to encourage and support development of new preservatives that could be used to prevent microbial growth and spoilage of personal care and household cleaning products. The number of preservatives available to product makers has shrunk in recent years as many ingredients are suspected of being endocrine disruptors, cancer-causing agents, and skin irritants.
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EPA INVESTIGATES CONTAMINATED SOIL IN BURLINGTON'S OLD NORTH END
https://www.sevendaysvt.com/OffMessage/archives/2018/08/07/epa-investigates-contaminated-soil-in-burlingtons-old-north-end
Tags: us_VT, public, discovery, environmental, pce
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is investigating soil vapors in the Old North End in Burlington after elevated levels of chemicals were detected in a home.
In July, testing at a house on the northern part of Elmwood Avenue revealed two chemicals at levels above federal limits, according to Michael Nahmias, an environmental analyst for the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. The department has not yet found the source, he added.
The chemicals are known as perchloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE). PCE and TCE are commonly used for dry cleaning and can also be found in cleaning products and grease removers. The neighborhood was formerly home to two dry-cleaning businesses.
Exposure can cause nausea, vomiting, dizziness and irritation, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Longterm exposure to PCE can lead to changes in memory and mood, and potentially to cancer.
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FOUR QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS AFTER DEADLY BOLOGNA TRUCK EXPLOSION
https://www.thelocal.it/20180807/questions-answers-bologna-italy-truck-explosion
Tags: Italy, transportation, explosion, death, unknown_chemical
A tanker truck exploded after a collision with another truck on Monday afternoon, sending a fireball flying across a busy motorway.
It took place in the Borgo Panigale area, close to Bologna airport, and the entire area was filled with flames and black smoke, with the high temperatures and heavy debris destroying cars at a nearby dealership and smashing windows of nearby buildings.
"I was here (at a nearby restaurant) for work... at a certain point we heard a violent blast, i thought it was a terrorist attack," Marco Rosadini, whose car was trapped under the flyover, told the daily La Repubblica. "After the explosion the roof of the restaurant started to collapse. I looked outside and I felt like I was looking at a wall of fire."
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