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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, September 10, 2018 at 7:28:06 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 (17 articles)
INNOVATIVE COLLAPSIBLE AIRLOCK INSTALLATION CHALLENGES
Tags: us_NM, laboratory, discovery, environmental, plastics
BCSO RESPONDS TO HAZMAT SITUATION ON SPRING PLACE RD. SUNDAY NIGHT
Tags: us_TN, laboratory, discovery, response, drugs
USPS SEEKS 'MORE AGGRESSIVE APPROACH' TO MITIGATE CHEMICAL PLUME AFFECTING GREAT BARRINGTON POST OFFICE
Tags: us_MA, public, release, response, cleaners
CHEMICAL SPILL AT CAL STATE FULLERTON PROMPTS BRIEF EVACUATION
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, release, injury, chlorine
HAZMAT SCARE FROM LIQUID NITROGEN TANK LEADS TO PLEASANTON EVACUATIONS
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, response, liquid_nitrogen
4000 CHILDREN EVACUATED FROM CRIMEA TOWN AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: Belarus, industrial, release, injury, sulphur
WACKER EMPLOYEE SUES MANUFACTURER FOR $5 MILLION AFTER SEPTEMBER 2017 EXPLOSION
Tags: us_TN, industrial, follow-up, injury, hydrogen
FIREFIGHTING CHEMICAL LINKED TO WATER SAFETY CONCERNS
Tags: us_MI, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
2 CHARGED IN NORTH COUNTY DRUG-LAB EXPLOSION
Tags: us_CA, public, explosion, response, butane, illegal, clandestine_lab
IOWA CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT EXTINGUISHES FIRE AT TROWBRIDGE HALL
Tags: us_IA, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
N.J. IS NOW THE FIRST STATE TO SET STANDARDS FOR THIS DANGEROUS CHEMICAL
Tags: us_NJ, public, discovery, environmental, plastics, toxics
3 SEVERELY BURNED IN WHITEHALL EXPLOSION
Tags: us_PA, public, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
GREENWOOD CHEMICAL PLANT: A TOXIC LEGACY
Tags: us_VA, industrial, follow-up, environmental
CLEANUP CONTINUES AT AFCO
Tags: us_LA, industrial, explosion, response, unknown_chemical
CALIFORNIA BANS USE OF MOST CHEMICAL FLAME RETARDANTS IN CHILDREN‰??S PRODUCTS AND FURNITURE
Tags: us_CA, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
WORKERS FILE CIVIL LAWSUIT AGAINST HUSKY ENERGY
Tags: us_WI, industrial, follow-up, environmental, petroleum
ARKEMA WANTS HARVEY CHEMICAL SUIT PAUSED FOR CRIMINAL TRIAL
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical, illegal
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INNOVATIVE COLLAPSIBLE AIRLOCK INSTALLATION CHALLENGES
https://opexshare.doe.gov/lesson.cfm/2018/9/7/23535/Innovative-Collapsible-Airlock-Installation-Challenges
Tags: us_NM, laboratory, discovery, environmental, plastics
Airlocks installed on LANL gloveboxes include neoprene and/orfluoropolymer elastomer sealing materials which are subject to aging, and chemical degradation during their service life. Some gaskets, have failed resulting in actions to temporarily restore sealing functionality. The current LANL designed glovebox airlock has remained the same since it was placed into use in the 1950's. This configuration was not designed to be easily replaceable or maintainable. This project was commissioned to design a replaceable airlock to correct degraded airlock sealing materials and install them without moving the glovebox. The airlock needed to be adaptable to various configurations as well as meet design requirements to prevent failure in the case of over-pressurization. The adjustable turnbuckles solved this issue and relieved the stress on the GB walls.
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BCSO RESPONDS TO HAZMAT SITUATION ON SPRING PLACE RD. SUNDAY NIGHT
https://newschannel9.com/news/local/bcso-responds-to-hazmat-situation-on-spring-place-rd-sunday-night
Tags: us_TN, laboratory, discovery, response, drugs
BRADLEY COUNTY, Tenn. ‰?? A spokesman for the Bradley County Sheriff's Office says crews are working on a hazmat cleanup on the 3200 block of Spring Place rd.
Adam Lewis with the Sheriff's Office says crews responded to a duplex early in the evening.
Lewis says crews found a number of chemicals inside the duplex originally thought to be the makings of a meth lab.
According to Lewis, it is "not a meth lab but we still don't know what it is."
Lewis says "the name of the game now is cleanup."
"There are a number of chemicals, each of which are precursors to certain drugs," Lewis tells NewsChannel 9.
The BCSO does have one individual in custody.
There is no immediate danger to surrounding homes.
Lewis says Bradley County Fire is working with the Tennessee Dangerous Drug Task Force on the cleanup.
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USPS SEEKS 'MORE AGGRESSIVE APPROACH' TO MITIGATE CHEMICAL PLUME AFFECTING GREAT BARRINGTON POST OFFICE
https://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/usps-seeks-more-aggressive-approach-to-mitigate-chemical-plume-in-great-barrington-post-office,549888
Tags: us_MA, public, release, response, cleaners
GREAT BARRINGTON ‰?? Concerned about risks to its employees and the public from chemical vapors inside the post office, the U.S. Postal Service is urging the state to take a "more aggressive approach" to contain a chemical plume still flowing in groundwater from the former dry cleaners next door.
The Postal Service also will take immediate measures to prevent and limit exposure to vapors emanating from contaminated groundwater, which has migrated from the Ried Cleaners property downhill south and east, toward the Housatonic River.
The renewed sense of alarm was prompted by the latest round of testing by AECOM Technical Services, detailed in an Aug. 2 letter to the state Department of Environmental Protection. AECOM said its 2018 indoor air-sampling data showed increasing vapor levels that approach the DEP's "Imminent Hazard" level and pose a "long-term risk" to employees, and possibly some risk to the public.
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CHEMICAL SPILL AT CAL STATE FULLERTON PROMPTS BRIEF EVACUATION
https://abc7.com/chemical-spill-at-cal-state-fullerton-prompts-brief-evacuation/4186911/
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, release, injury, chlorine
FULLERTON, Calif. (KABC) -- Concerns about a possible chlorine gas leak led to a brief evacuation of about 50 people at the campus of Cal State Fullerton Saturday, prompting a hazmat team to be called in before the area was cleared.
Firefighters responded to the incident at about 1 p.m. after a student working in a lab where an experiment was taking place noticed a change in color in a mixture of chemicals and then became concerned about an odor released by those chemicals.
The student was treated by the Orange County Fire Authority and was taken to a hospital for further observation, according to the Fullerton Fire Department.
"He started smelling something that was very curious to him and thought it didn't smell good," Captain Scot Willey of the Cal State Fullerton police said. "It caused him to maybe cough a little bit, and he stepped out. He's been under observation and seems to be doing fine."
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HAZMAT SCARE FROM LIQUID NITROGEN TANK LEADS TO PLEASANTON EVACUATIONS
https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/09/07/hazmat-scare-from-liquid-nitrogen-tank-leads-to-pleasanton-evacuations/
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, response, liquid_nitrogen
‰?? A hazmat scare happened at a biotech firm in Pleasanton Friday afternoon prompted the evacuation of two buildings.
Fire officials said a tank of liquid nitrogen fell off a truck outside Thermo-Fisher Scientific.
There was some concern the tank might explode initially, but officials have since said it appears to be working properly.
But authorities are still on the scene keeping an eye on the situation.
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4000 CHILDREN EVACUATED FROM CRIMEA TOWN AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK
https://www.fireengineering.com/ap-news/2018/09/07/4000-children-evacuated-from-crimea-town-after-chemical-leak.html
Tags: Belarus, industrial, release, injury, sulphur
MINSK, Belarus (AP) ‰?? About 4,000 children have been evacuated from a town in Russia-annexed Crimea where a noxious chemical leak has been blamed on a local titanium factory.
Residents of Armyansk complained in late August that a sour smell was pervading the community and a substance resembling rust had fallen on roofs, trees and vehicles.
Authorities this week decided to take children away from the town of 20,000 people for two weeks. They say the children are being housed at health resorts elsewhere in Crimea.
Russian media have not reported widespread illness or symptoms in Armyansk. The head of Ukraine's adjacent Kherson region said Friday that 37 border guards have been hospitalized due to negative effects from the leak.
Crimea's leader, Sergei Aksenov, identified the chemical as sulfur trioxide from the titanium plant.
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WACKER EMPLOYEE SUES MANUFACTURER FOR $5 MILLION AFTER SEPTEMBER 2017 EXPLOSION
https://newschannel9.com/news/local/wacker-employee-sues-manufacturer-for-5-million-after-september-2017-explosion
Tags: us_TN, industrial, follow-up, injury, hydrogen
CHARLESTON, Tenn. ‰?? One year to the day that an explosion rocked the Wacker chemical plant, an employee is suing the company behind the equipment the complaint says failed, leading to the explosion and his permanent injuries.
This is a $5 million dollar lawsuit on behalf of Andrew Gott, a Wacker employee who claims to have been ‰?? the closest Wacker employee to this horrific explosion.‰??
As for the accident itself, the suit states that a piston broke and came through the head of a compressor, even bursting through concrete walls of the room surrounding it. The failure ignited hydrogen, resulting in a ‰??horrific fireball felt several miles away.‰??
The complaint isn't against Wacker, however, but Burkhardt Compression. Gott's attorney says the company designed and provided a piston that broke.
The lawsuit says "the explosion & shockwaves hit him & burned him," and that ever since, he has been unable to go back to work. The lawsuit is also on behalf of Joann Gott, who cites damages beyond those of her husband Andrew.
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FIREFIGHTING CHEMICAL LINKED TO WATER SAFETY CONCERNS
http://news.jrn.msu.edu/2018/09/firefighting-chemical-linked-to-water-safety-concerns/
Tags: us_MI, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
LANSING ‰?? A firefighting foam has been linked to a group of chemicals known to be harmful to infants, toddlers and pregnant women. But it is still kept on hand because firefighters say they don‰??t have effective alternatives.
Detection of the chemicals, known as PFAS, has led to the creation of the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team, a multi-agency organization dedicated to understanding the far-reaching effects of the chemical and educating the public on the threat it poses.
‰??It‰??s reason for concern because it‰??s an issue of public health,‰?? said Katie Parrish, communications director for the Michigan League of Conservation Voters.
The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team has asked State Fire Marshal Kevin Sehlmeyer to survey over 1,000 fire departments to identify the amount of PFAS in firefighting foam, according to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
Although the survey has not been completed, the response team and other agencies have evidence of the dangers of the foam used to contain fuel and electrical fires and in training drills.
---------------------------------------------
2 CHARGED IN NORTH COUNTY DRUG-LAB EXPLOSION
https://fox5sandiego.com/2018/09/05/2-charged-in-north-county-drug-lab-explosion/
Tags: us_CA, public, explosion, response, butane, illegal, clandestine_lab
SAN DIEGO ‰?? Two men were charged Wednesday with a slate of narcotics and weapons charges in connection with a drug-lab explosion that set a northern San Diego County home ablaze last spring.
Gregory Allen Amos, 23, and 34-year-old Christopher Paul Hernandez allegedly were using butane to extract hash oil from marijuana in a house in the 1200 block of Barbara Drive in Vista when the blast occurred about 10:45 a.m. March 27, according to a federal criminal complaint.
Deputies and firefighters arrived to find a glass door blown out on a second-floor balcony of the burning residence and dozens of cans of butane strewn on the driveway, the court document states.
---------------------------------------------
IOWA CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT EXTINGUISHES FIRE AT TROWBRIDGE HALL
http://www.kcrg.com/content/news/Iowa-City-Fire-Department-extinguishes-fire-at-Trowbridge-Hall-492595211.html
Tags: us_IA, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
IOWA CITY (KCRG) - The Iowa City Fire Department responded to a report of a fire alarm activated on the University of Iowa Campus Wednesday afternoon.
Crews were called to Trowbridge Hall at 2:55 p.m. for a fire in one of the laboratories.
The fire was able to be extinguished with an extinguisher and authorities say 17 fire personnel responded to the alarm.
The fire started in laboratory equipment and then spread to nearby combustibles, causing light smoke damage on the fire floor and fire damage was only near the area where the fire began.
---------------------------------------------
N.J. IS NOW THE FIRST STATE TO SET STANDARDS FOR THIS DANGEROUS CHEMICAL
https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2018/09/new_jersey_sets_first-in-nation_standards_for_toxi.html
Tags: us_NJ, public, discovery, environmental, plastics, toxics
Nearly a decade after a polymer producer stopped using a toxic chemical at its Gloucester County plant, New Jersey is finally creating new rules to keep water in the affected areas safe to drink.
New Jersey has become the first state in the nation to create drinking water standards for a toxic chemical that has been found across the Garden State.
Effective Tuesday, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has set a maximum level of 13 parts per trillion for the chemical perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) in drinking water.
---------------------------------------------
3 SEVERELY BURNED IN WHITEHALL EXPLOSION
https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2018/09/06/whitehall-house-explosion-workers-injured/
Tags: us_PA, public, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
WHITEHALL (KDKA) ‰?? The owner of a Bethel Park flooring company was among the three contractors injured in a violent and unusual explosion at a Whitehall home Wednesday night.
All three men working on a job in the basement of a home in a residential neighborhood remain at Mercy Hospital with severe burns, two are in critical condition. Melted shoes and tattered clothes remain visible, evidence of the violent explosion that rocked this Whitehall home and sent neighbors running to help the injured.
One of the victims working for Sims Speciality Flooring of Bethel Park has been identified. The company‰??s president, David Sims, was severely burned while working in the basement of the home. The two other men have yet to be identified.
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GREENWOOD CHEMICAL PLANT: A TOXIC LEGACY
https://www.crozetgazette.com/2018/09/06/greenwood-chemical-plant-a-toxic-legacy/
Tags: us_VA, industrial, follow-up, environmental
It has been decades since four workers engulfed in flames fled the Greenwood Chemical Plant after highly volatile vapors exploded and caused a flash fire that closed the plant, revealing a toxic waste dump that landed the site on the federal government‰??s Superfund list.
But officials overseeing the cleanup of the worst chemical disaster in Albemarle County say most of the 33-acre property is cleared of contaminants and ready for use. Overcoming the stigma associated with a Superfund site is quite another challenge.
The tiny Greenwood Chemical Company, sitting on a steeply sloped, wooded parcel at the foot of Afton Mountain, employed no more than a dozen workers and made chemicals used in industrial, agricultural, pharmaceutical and photographic processes. Less than a mile from Pollak Vineyard on Newtown Road, it‰??s only a few hundred yards from a scenic overlook on Interstate 64 with breathtaking views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and Rockfish Gap Valley.
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CLEANUP CONTINUES AT AFCO
https://www.ktbs.com/news/shreveport-bossier/cleanup-continues-at-afco/article_679025e6-b22d-11e8-b29d-5b2560076f70.html
Tags: us_LA, industrial, explosion, response, unknown_chemical
(CADDO PARISH) - Cleanup crews are sifting through the rubble at AFCO today.
The chemical plant just west of Shreveport caught fire after an explosion yesterday afternoon.
Five workers were in the building at the time.
They all made it out safely.
Firefighters still aren't sure what started the fire, or what chemical exploded.
They say an unknown amount of chemicals leaked into the woods behind the building.
So, crews are now monitoring the air quality and a retention pond.
AFCO makes detergents, sanitizers, and other cleaning supplies
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CALIFORNIA BANS USE OF MOST CHEMICAL FLAME RETARDANTS IN CHILDREN‰??S PRODUCTS AND FURNITURE
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=97e416ca-bb6b-411e-bbf7-6736d0ff1b23
Tags: us_CA, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
On August 29, 2018, despite industry criticism, the California state legislature passed AB 2998 (the ‰??Bill‰??), which will require that levels of chemical flame retardants in covered products be below 1,000 parts per million. The Bill, which the governor is expected to sign into law, states that starting January 1, 2020, distributing children‰??s products, mattresses and upholstered furniture containing most chemical flame retardants will be illegal in the state of California. Samples of covered products sold to consumers will be provided to California‰??s Department of Toxic Substances Control for testing, and if a product is found to be noncompliant, a fine may be assessed against the manufacturer, distributor and/or retailer.
The Bill is the latest in a series of legislative actions taken in California amid concerns that the furniture industry has been using chemical flame retardants‰??which the legislature believes pose a number of health risks to consumers‰??in order to meet California‰??s strict flammability standards. In 2013, the state rolled back the requirement that upholstered furniture be able to withstand an ‰??open flame,‰?? requiring instead that furniture be smolder-resistant only‰??a standard more easily met without the use of added chemical flame retardants. Concerned that some manufacturers were still using chemical flame retardants despite the updated standard, the California legislature made a number of findings in the Bill to support the new ban, including that the federal government has failed to adequately regulate the use of flame retardant chemicals and that those chemicals are not needed to prevent fire safety. Although the Bill was widely supported by consumer safety advo!
cacy organizations, industry groups opposed the new Bill, pointing out that the blanket ban eliminates critical fire safety features in consumer products.
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WORKERS FILE CIVIL LAWSUIT AGAINST HUSKY ENERGY
https://www.wpr.org/workers-file-civil-lawsuit-against-husky-energy
Tags: us_WI, industrial, follow-up, environmental, petroleum
Contract workers are suing Husky Energy in Douglas County Circuit Court for injuries they received in an explosion at the company‰??s oil refinery this year. The civil lawsuit is separate from a class action lawsuit filed against Husky by Superior residents on Aug. 20.
....
The men were working for contractors Evergreen North America and Jamar Contractors as part of a five-week turnaround to conduct maintenance at the facility.
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ARKEMA WANTS HARVEY CHEMICAL SUIT PAUSED FOR CRIMINAL TRIAL
https://www.law360.com/whitecollar/articles/1080328/arkema-wants-harvey-chemical-suit-paused-for-criminal-trial
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical, illegal
Arkema Inc. and its CEO asked a Texas federal court to temporarily halt a civil case brought by first responders and residents who claimed they were harmed by the release of chemicals during Hurricane Harvey, saying that it should not proceed at the same time as a similar criminal case.
Arkema CEO Richard Rowe and the company said Wednesday that an early August indictment by a Texas grand jury included nearly identical allegations as those contained in the civil case.
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