On Sep 21, 2018, at 5:48 AM, DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG> wrote:

Chemical Safety Headlines =46rom Google
Friday, September 21, 2018 at 7:48:28 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 (10 articles)

MYSTERY ODOR BRIEFLY EVACUATES CLASSES AT WASHINGTON HIGH IN CEDAR RAPIDS
Tags: us_WA, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical

ONE TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER EXPOSURE TO CLEANING SUPPLIES NEAR GOTHA
Tags: us_FL, public, release, injury, acetone

CHILDREN SICK AFTER MYSTERY SUBSTANCE DROPPED OVER WAIRARAPA PRIMARY SCHOOL
Tags: New_Zealand, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical

WORKER'S EYE REMOVED AFTER CHEMICAL ACCIDENT
Tags: New_Zealand, industrial, release, injury, corrosives

NORTH CAROLINA COLLEGES DEAL WITH THE AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE FLORENCE
Tags: us_NC, laboratory, discovery, environmental

OFFICIALS EVACUATE HOTEL FOLLOWING CHLORINE LEAK
Tags: us_CT, public, release, injury, chlorine

1 SICK AFTER 'SUSPICIOUS WHITE POWDER' FOUND ON HAMDEN BUS
Tags: us_CT, public, release, injury, cleaners

CHEMICAL REACTION IN IMMOKALEE LEAVES AT LEAST 3 SICK
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, bleach

WEST FOOTSCRAY FACTORY FIRE: HEALTH CONCERNS FROM SMOKE, CHEMICALS
Tags: Australia, industrial, follow-up, response, acetone

U.S. AGREES TO BOOST WORKER SAFETY AT POLLUTED HANFORD NUKE SITE, INSTALL VAPOR PROTECTIONS
Tags: us_WA, industrial, discovery, environmental, radiation, waste


---------------------------------------------

MYSTERY ODOR BRIEFLY EVACUATES CLASSES AT WASHINGTON HIGH IN CEDAR RAPIDS
https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/public-safety/classes-disrupted-area-briefly-evacuated-after-mystery-odor-appears-at-cedar-rapids-washington-20180920
Tags: us_WA, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical

A strange odor of unknown origin in a science classroom at Washington High School led to the sealing and evacuation of that room and nearby rooms on Thursday afternoon in Cedar Rapids.

According to a news release from the Cedar Rapids Fire Department, crews arrived at Washington High at 2:21 p.m. Thursday after the report of a "suspicious odor" in the area. Some students and a teacher were also complaining of scratchy throats, the release said.

The first fire crew on scene evacuated and isolated the classroom and rooms that shared a common hallway. The building's ventilation system was also isolated, and the classroom in question was "enclosed with tape," according to the release.

Paramedics assessed two students who did not require any further treatment.

The incident happened near the end of the school day, so students left campus and the school building as normal, according to the release. After the students left, firefighters entered the room wearing protective equipment, but there was no indication of any hazardous chemicals, according to the release.

Firefighters inspected the room again without protective equipment, and they determined it was safe.

Cedar Rapids Fire Captain Joel Miles said the firefighters were unable to locate the odor's origin. After interviewing students and the teacher involved, Miles said some indicated there had been a smell remiscent of formalehyde, while another student said it may have been pepper spray. Miles said firefighters ruled out pepper spray because no one in the classroom exhibited symptoms of being exposed to pepper spray, which generally causes watery eyes and running noses.

---------------------------------------------

ONE TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER EXPOSURE TO CLEANING SUPPLIES NEAR GOTHA
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-hazmat-incident-gotha-20180920-story.html
Tags: us_FL, public, release, injury, acetone

One person was taken to the hospital Thursday after being exposed to cleaning supplies, according to Orange County Fire Rescue.

The person was cleaning a bathroom and became sick from the acetone, fire rescue said.

It happened about 7:30 p.m. at a home in the 1000 block of Melontree Court near Gotha.

The person was conscious and alert when taken to Health Central Hospital.

---------------------------------------------

CHILDREN SICK AFTER MYSTERY SUBSTANCE DROPPED OVER WAIRARAPA PRIMARY SCHOOL
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/09/emergency-services-attending-incident-at-wairarapa-school.html
Tags: New_Zealand, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical

Fifteen people have been taken to hospital and over 100 people are going through a decontamination process after a chemical incident at South End school in Carterton, Wairarapa.

Wellington Free Ambulance (WFA) said those in hospital have moderate symptoms, and 40 people are being treated at the scene with very minor symptoms.

A low-flying aircraft is believed to have dropped an unknown substance over the school playground at around 1pm on Friday.

The Fire and Emergency Hazmat (hazardous materials) unit was dispatched to decontaminate people, which involves showering and putting on clean clothes.

South End school said in a post on Facebook that there was a "very strong smell" in the playground.

"A plane flew in a southward direction and one student had seen 'stuff' coming out of the plane - so we assume it was a fertiliser of some sort," the post said.

---------------------------------------------

WORKER'S EYE REMOVED AFTER CHEMICAL ACCIDENT
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/107288319/workers-eye-removed-after-chemical-accident
Tags: New_Zealand, industrial, release, injury, corrosives

A worker had to have his eye removed after an incident involving a corrosive cleaning product at a Tauranga mussel processing plant.

North Island Mussels Limited was handed a $219,375 fine in the Tauranga District Court on Friday.

The worker received $60,000 in reparation for the January 2017 incident.

The worker was decanting a cleaning product when a piece of tubing flicked him in the eye.

READ MORE:
* Francois Barton: Health and safety - it's not just red tape
* Complacency rises in workplace health and safety, and we're all to blame

The corrosive product and the impact of the tubing left him with damage so significant that his eye had to be removed. The resulting scarring also meant the victim could not be fitted with a prosthetic eye.

WorkSafe said the worker should not have needed to decant the cleaning product and that a safer system of work would have avoided the incident all together.

---------------------------------------------

NORTH CAROLINA COLLEGES DEAL WITH THE AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE FLORENCE
https://cen.acs.org/education/North-Carolina-colleges-deal-aftermath/96/i38
Tags: us_NC, laboratory, discovery, environmental

Universities in the Wilmington, N.C., area took a direct blow from Hurricane Florence. At the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, the building housing the chemistry and biochemistry department was hit particularly hard.
"While the damage was extensive, it is not irreversible, and faculty and staff are hard at work developing a plan to accommodate classes normally held in Dobo [Hall], as well the work being done in offices and labs," the university posted on its Facebook page on Sept. 19. No one at the university was available to speak about the specific problems, though. As of C&amp;EN deadline, floodwaters blocked most entrances and exits from the city, and the university remained closed.
Kristina Mazzarone, a chemistry instructor at Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, evacuated the area with her husband and two young children, so she hasn't seen how her campus fared yet. She took precautionary steps to move all of the equipment in her second-floor lab away from windows into an interior lab prep space and cover it with plastic sheeting.
Though she doesn't know when the school will start again, Mazzarone is already concerned how she will be able to make up at least two weeks of missed classes. "The missed laboratory days will be very difficult to recover," she says.
She also worries whether students will be able to return when classes start. "Our students either commute or live in the area. If their housing is damaged, they would not be able to attend classes."

---------------------------------------------

OFFICIALS EVACUATE HOTEL FOLLOWING CHLORINE LEAK
http://www.rep-am.com/news/news-connecticut/2018/09/19/officials-evacuate-hotel-following-chlorine-leak/
Tags: us_CT, public, release, injury, chlorine

CROMWELL (AP) - Authorities say over 100 people had to be evacuated because of a chlorine leak at a hotel pool.

WVIT-TV reports emergency personnel responded Tuesday when a maintenance worker fell ill at the Red Lion Hotel in Cromwell. The worker was hospitalized and two others were treated at the scene.

Authorities determined there was a chlorine leak near the hotel pool. About 100 people were evacuated and the surrounding area was blocked off.

Officials believe no one was directly contacted by the chemical.

---------------------------------------------

1 SICK AFTER 'SUSPICIOUS WHITE POWDER' FOUND ON HAMDEN BUS
https://www.wtnh.com/news/connecticut/new-haven/1-sick-after-suspicious-white-powder-found-on-hamden-bus/1459669156
Tags: us_CT, public, release, injury, cleaners

HAMDEN, Conn. (WTNH) - Officials say one person was sickened after a cleaning chemical was found on a bus in Hamden.

According to crews at the scene, a CTtransit employee became sick after moving a bus that was parked in a garage.

Authorities responded to the scene at 2061 State Street and police cleared the bus.

Officials with the Connecticut Department of Energy &amp; Environmental Protection identified the material as a cleaning chemical. Further investigation revealed that the previous operator of the bus had used the cleaning product to disinfect the dashboard.

---------------------------------------------

CHEMICAL REACTION IN IMMOKALEE LEAVES AT LEAST 3 SICK
http://www.nbc-2.com/story/39122172/chemical-reaction-in-immokalee-leaves-at-least-3-sick
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, bleach

Three people at the Summer Glen Apartment complex In Immokalee said they noticed an overwhelming foul smell in their apartment.

The family who lives there said they called maintenance for some clogged pipes. They believe there was a mixture of something similar to Drano and bleach put down the pipes about a week ago, but the smell had been getting progressively worse.

Maria Alvarado, the daughter of the woman who lives there said her reaction to it was bad.

"Dizzyness headaches, I wanted to pass out. My eyes were turning red like somebody punched me right here. I can still feel the bruise in my eye," Alvarado said.

Around noon Immokalee fire Control District came out to the area along with North Collier Fire Control &amp; Rescue District and the hazmat team. They checked the entire building and did not find anything.

---------------------------------------------

WEST FOOTSCRAY FACTORY FIRE: HEALTH CONCERNS FROM SMOKE, CHEMICALS
https://www.ntnews.com.au/lifestyle/health/residents-still-struggling-three-weeks-after-west-footscray-factory-fire/news-story/3be92223f7f5df87e7d523207ddae1fb
Tags: Australia, industrial, follow-up, response, acetone

A TWISTED 44 gallon drum full of dirty chemicals lies on the ground at West Footscray where it flew through the air propelled by a massive explosion three weeks ago.

The mix of grease, oil and acetone residues ooze out of the drum.

It=E2=80™s a stark reminder of how dangerous and how out of control the factory fire of August 30 was before it raged - contained by still spewing poisonous smoke - for several days.

Weeks after drums filled with chemicals exploded and black smoke forced local residents to close their doors and windows and wait for clear air, those same residents say they're experiencing bizarre side effects including nose bleeds, headaches and "weeping yellow pus".

---------------------------------------------

U.S. AGREES TO BOOST WORKER SAFETY AT POLLUTED HANFORD NUKE SITE, INSTALL VAPOR PROTECTIONS
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/09/20/world/science-health-world/u-s-agrees-boost-worker-safety-polluted-hanford-nuke-site-install-vapor-protections/#.W6OE4i_QZTY
Tags: us_WA, industrial, discovery, environmental, radiation, waste

SEATTLE - The U.S. government will test and implement a new system to capture and destroy dangerous vapors released at the nation's most polluted nuclear weapons production site as part of a settlement agreement reached Wednesday.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson told reporters that the agreement represents a major win for hundreds of workers who have been getting sick for years while cleaning up the nation's nuclear waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in eastern Washington.

"Those workers deserve to be protected," Ferguson said.

He added that the U.S. Department of Energy did not take the issue seriously and resisted putting protections in place.

"There's no way to sugar coat this," Ferguson said.

The Energy Department will for the first time test a new technology that Ferguson called "game-changing" that would protect workers from the vapor exposures.

---------------------------------------------




Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
membership**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org

Membership chair
American Chemical Society
Division of Chemical Health and Safety

---
For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional membership chair at membership**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas