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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, December 7, 2018 at 7:30:56 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)
HAZMAT SPILL LEADS TO OXNARD EVACUATION OF BUILDINGS
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, response, hydrogen_peroxide
GET YOURSELF A CO2 METER WITH AN ALARM TO KEEP BREWERS SAFE AND OSHA HAPPY
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental, carbon_dioxide
EXPLOSION AT IISC LAB KILLS ONE RESEARCHER, INJURES 3
Tags: india, laboratory, explosion, death, hydrogen
AMAZON WORKERS HOSPITALIZED AFTER BEAR SPRAY CHEMICAL RELEASE (2)
Tags: us_nj, industrial, release, injury, bear_spray
SAFETY WARNING ISSUES AFTER TOXIC CHEMICAL RELEASED AT PUBLIC SWIMMING POOL
Tags: australia, public, release, injuries, pool_chemicals
A DECADE AFTER A FATAL LAB SAFETY DISASTER, WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
Tags: us_ca, laboratory, death, follow-up, environmental
GENOMICS TOOLMAKER LIABILITY SURFACES IN ETHICAL DEBATE THE ADVENT OF ‰??CRISPR BABIES‰?? THROWS A SPOTLIGHT ON THE RESPONSIBILITY OF TECHNOLOGY VENDORS
Tags: us, discovery, public, environmental, other_chemical
AUSTRALIA SHOULD BAN FIREFIGHTING FOAMS WITH CERTAIN PFAS, REPORT SAYS PARLIAMENT PANEL SUGGESTS GOVERNMENT BUY CONTAMINATED PROPERTIES NEAR MILITARY BASES
Tags: australia, public, discovery, release, environmental
BOOM GOES THE HONEY POT: SUSPECTED MARIJUANA-OIL LAB EXPLODES IN SANTA ROSA
Tags: us_CA, public, explosion, response, butane, illegal, clandestine_lab
PRINTER INK SPILL LEADS TO HEADACHES, HAZMAT RESPONSE AT DOMINO'S FARMS
Tags: us_MI, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
MYSTERY PERSISTS OVER INTEL HAZMAT SCARE
Tags: us_OR, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
FORT SMITH POLICE DEPARTMENT LOBBY CLOSED DUE TO UNKNOWN RESIDUE. HAZMAT TEAM IS ON SCENE.
Tags: us_AR, public, release, injury, sodium_hydroxide
NO INJURIES REPORTED IN HAZMAT SITUATION IN WEST RENO
Tags: us_NV, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical
CHEMCHINA PLANT LEAK IS IDENTIFIED AS CAUSE OF BLAST THAT KILLED 23 IN CHINA
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, death, vinyl_chloride
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HAZMAT SPILL LEADS TO OXNARD EVACUATION OF BUILDINGS
https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/communities/oxnard/2018/12/06/hazmat-spill-oxnard-evacuation/2228815002/
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, response, hydrogen_peroxide
Industrial buildings in Oxnard were evacuated after a hydrogen peroxide spill was reported Thursday morning.
Firefighters and hazardous materials workers responded to the incident at 10:40 a.m. in the 2900 block of Camino Del Sol, according to Oxnard Fire Department Battalion Chief Sergio Martinez.
A truck delivering the chemical had backed up to the building when a leak was discovered in a 330-gallon tote, Martinez said. The main building and a neighboring building were evacuated, affecting 10 to 15 people.
---------------------------------------------
GET YOURSELF A CO2 METER WITH AN ALARM TO KEEP BREWERS SAFE AND OSHA HAPPY
https://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/news/brewery-co2-meters-with-alarms/
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental, carbon_dioxide
A lot of brewers have either succumbed to carbon dioxide in a beer fermentation tank or they know someone who has. Most of the time it‰??s told as a funny story. The sudden shortness of breath is quickly followed by dizziness. The worker jumps back from the tank and hopes no one notices. Occasionally someone passes out, only to wake up on the floor surrounded by fellow workers who shrug it off as a rite of passage for all brewers. Of course, no one tells the owner. It was a stupid mistake, it was embarrassing and it‰??s a lesson not soon forgotten.
I recently asked a friend who is a brewmaster at a local brewery about the subject. His first response was, ‰??We can‰??t afford brewery safety equipment.‰?? When I said a pocket CO2 meter didn‰??t cost a lot, he shrugged.
‰??We only have six tanks,‰?? he said. ‰??I‰??m the only one who goes into them, and I know which ones can kill me.‰??
If I was a brewery owner, I‰??d shudder if one of my employees said this.
---------------------------------------------
EXPLOSION AT IISC LAB KILLS ONE RESEARCHER, INJURES 3
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/explosion-at-iisc-lab-kills-one-researcher-injures-3/articleshow/66962935.cms
Tags: india, laboratory, explosion, death, hydrogen
BENGALURU: A researcher was killed and three others sustained burns in an explosion in a laboratory at Indian Institute of Science (IISc) here on Wednesday. The blast occurred around 2.30pm when 32-year-old Manoj Kumar, who died in the blast, and his colleagues were working on an experiment at the Laboratory for Hypersonic and Shock Wave Research in IISc.
Police said the injured researchers ‰?? Atulya Kumar, Naresh Kumar and Karthik ‰?? have been hospitalised. ‰??Their condition is critical,‰?? a police officer said.
The four were employees of Super-Wave Technology, an IISc-incubated startup headed by senior scientists at the department of aerospace engineering, IISc.
Preliminary investigation by police and forensic experts ruled out sabotage. Investigators, who suspect a leak in a hydrogen cylinder caused the explosion, described the impact as ‰??strong‰??. ‰??It completely damaged equipment in the laboratory,‰?? the officer said.
IISc chief security officer MR Chandrashekar said Wednesday‰??s explosion was unprecedented. ‰??This is the first time in the history of IISc that an explosion of such magnitude has taken place during experimentation,‰?? he said.
---------------------------------------------
AMAZON WORKERS HOSPITALIZED AFTER BEAR SPRAY CHEMICAL RELEASE (2)
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/safety/amazon-workers-hospitalized-after-bear-spray-chemical-release-1
Tags: us_nj, industrial, release, injury, bear_spray
An Amazon.com Inc. warehouse worker is in critical condition and more than 20 others are being treated at hospitals after equipment punctured a can of bear spray at a New Jersey fulfillment center Dec. 5.
John Nalbone, a spokesman for Robbinsville Township, N.J., told Bloomberg Law the puncture released the chemical capsaicin, an active ingredient in chili peppers. At least 54 workers were exposed, 24 of whom were transported to five local hospitals.
‰??The safety of our employees is our top priority, and as such, all employees in that area‰?? have been relocated to a ‰??safe place and employees experiencing symptoms are being treated onsite,‰?? an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement to Bloomberg Law. ‰??As a precaution, some employees have been transported to local hospitals for evaluation and treatment.‰??
---------------------------------------------
SAFETY WARNING ISSUES AFTER TOXIC CHEMICAL RELEASED AT PUBLIC SWIMMING POOL
https://www.miragenews.com/safety-warning-issues-after-toxic-chemical-released-at-public-swimming-pool/
Tags: australia, public, release, injuries, pool_chemicals
Safework NSW has issued an urgent safety warning after a worker at a public swimming pool in Picton incorrectly mixed chemicals, releasing toxic chlorine gas and injuring several swimming pool patrons.
Preliminary findings indicate the two chemicals were a chlorine-releasing salt called dry chlorine and sodium bisulphate.
For safe results, each chemical should be released in opposite ends of the pool.
However, it appears both chemicals were released in the same area, which resulted in a chemical reaction.
Better Regulation Division Deputy Secretary, Rose Webb said with the temperature rising and more families visiting their local pool, it‰??s timely to remind workers that pool chemicals can cause reactions if mixed incorrectly.
---------------------------------------------
A DECADE AFTER A FATAL LAB SAFETY DISASTER, WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
https://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2018/12/decade-after-fatal-lab-safety-disaster-what-have-we-learned
Tags: us_ca, laboratory, death, follow-up, environmental
This month marks 10 years since Sheharbano ‰??Sheri‰?? Sangji undertook her last experiment. On 29 December 2008, the 23-year-old lab technician tried to transfer a small quantity of tert-Butyllithium, which ignites on contact with air. The attempt ended in a fiery catastrophe; she died 18 agonizing days later. A subsequent 95-page state investigative report excoriated the lab‰??s principal investigator (PI), Patrick Harran, and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), for allowing a recent college graduate to work alone on a risky and intricate task without the training, technique, equipment, or protective gear needed to perform it safely. Unprecedented criminal charges and a yearslong legal case followed.
---------------------------------------------
GENOMICS TOOLMAKER LIABILITY SURFACES IN ETHICAL DEBATE THE ADVENT OF ‰??CRISPR BABIES‰?? THROWS A SPOTLIGHT ON THE RESPONSIBILITY OF TECHNOLOGY VENDORS
https://cen.acs.org/research-integrity/ethics/Genomics-toolmaker-liability-surfaces-ethical/96/web/2018/12
Tags: us, discovery, public, environmental, other_chemical
Last week‰??s report that the first gene-edited babies were born in China raised many questions about the safe and ethical use of technologies such as the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool deployed in the process. Little attention, though, was paid to the technology vendor‰??s responsibility to guard against misuse.
Questions of vendor ethics are similar to those raised in the contentious debate over gun sales in the US. Can a seller be held responsible for the actions of a buyer? How can a seller determine with certainty how any user will deploy a technology? What are the minimum requirements that must be met by a purchaser? Which technologies require user vetting? Does the onus of ethical behavior lie entirely with the user?
---------------------------------------------
AUSTRALIA SHOULD BAN FIREFIGHTING FOAMS WITH CERTAIN PFAS, REPORT SAYS PARLIAMENT PANEL SUGGESTS GOVERNMENT BUY CONTAMINATED PROPERTIES NEAR MILITARY BASES
https://cen.acs.org/environment/persistent-pollutants/Australia-should-ban-firefighting-foams/96/web/2018/12
Tags: australia, public, discovery, release, environmental
Australia‰??s government should ban the use of firefighting foams that contain certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and collect and destroy remaining stocks of such foams, a report from Parliament recommends.
The report targets for this treatment older formulas of foams containing three PFAS: perfluorooctane sulfonate, perfluorooctanoic acid, and perfluorohexane sulfonate. All are environmentally persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic.
The report also suggests the Australian government restrict use of PFAS foams containing shorter-chain fluorocarbons called fluorotelomers to essential applications only, such as high-risk firefighting situations. Fluorotelomers with six-carbon chains, used in these foams since early this century, have low toxicity and bioaccumulation potential but can biodegrade to persistent chemicals.
---------------------------------------------
BOOM GOES THE HONEY POT: SUSPECTED MARIJUANA-OIL LAB EXPLODES IN SANTA ROSA
https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Suspected-marijuana-lab-explodes-santa-rosa-13442357.php
Tags: us_CA, public, explosion, response, butane, illegal, clandestine_lab
An explosion at a Santa Rosa home suspected of being a clandestine lab for making concentrated marijuana oil led to the arrest of a 64-year-old man, authorities said Tuesday.
The explosion occurred at 10:30 p.m. Sunday in the Larkfield neighborhood, 3 miles northwest of downtown Santa Rosa, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff‰??s Office.
Deputies arrived to find the home‰??s resident, Thomas Tuttle, ‰??wet, disheveled and confused from the blast,‰?? said Sgt. Spencer Crum, a sheriff‰??s spokesman.
Authorities found marijuana, butane canisters and laboratory equipment that led them to believe Tuttle was operating an illegal lab in his garage to process ‰??honey oil,‰?? or concentrated marijuana, Crum said. A refrigerator had been blown apart by the blast, along with a damaged fence.
Tuttle was arrested and booked on suspicion of manufacturing a controlled substance, officials said. He and three other residents of the home on the 5700 block of Corbett Circle were not injured.
---------------------------------------------
PRINTER INK SPILL LEADS TO HEADACHES, HAZMAT RESPONSE AT DOMINO'S FARMS
https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2018/12/dominos_farms_hazmat_incident.html
Tags: us_MI, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
ANN ARBOR TOWNSHIP, MI - Exposure to printer ink fumes at Domino's Farms sent 19 people to emergency rooms Tuesday evening, officials said.
The Washtenaw County Hazardous Materials Team cleaned up a substance found spilled atop a package that was delivered to the office park Tuesday morning, Dec. 4, Ann Arbor Township Fire Chief Mark Nicholai said.
The substance was later determined to be printer ink, Nicholai said.
Exposure to fumes from the ink led to numerous complaints of headaches and other minor ailments, Nicholai said.
There were no apparent life-threatening injuries.
Four patients were transported from the scene to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital and 15 went to the University of Michigan hospital, according to Matt Rose of Huron Valley Ambulance.
---------------------------------------------
MYSTERY PERSISTS OVER INTEL HAZMAT SCARE
https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2018/12/mystery-persists-over-intel-hazmat-scare.html
Tags: us_OR, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
Investigators remain ‰??befuddled‰?? over a pair of hazardous materials scares that prompted Intel to evacuate part of its Ronler Acres campus in Hillsboro and sent 21 people to local hospitals.
Intel closed down a 400,000-square-foot manufacturing support building Monday due to a second health scare in just four days, and the facility remained closed Tuesday. The company said workers reported ‰??respiratory irritation‰?? and ‰??minor breathing difficulty.‰??
Emergency responders treated at least three dozen people in Monday‰??s incident, only six of whom went to the hospital. None were reported to have experienced serious health problems, and Washington County officials have said there is no indication of any hazardous material exposure outside the building.
Intel said it doesn‰??t expect the incident or the closure will have a material impact on its Oregon production. The company said it continues to investigate.
Nathan Leek, division chief with the Hillsboro Fire Department, said neither his experts nor Intel‰??s have been able to determine what caused the workers‰?? symptoms.
‰??What we are being told is they have detected nothing that has shown up on their detectors as a concern,‰?? Leek said. ‰??They were a little befuddled as what could have caused this irritant.‰??
---------------------------------------------
FORT SMITH POLICE DEPARTMENT LOBBY CLOSED DUE TO UNKNOWN RESIDUE. HAZMAT TEAM IS ON SCENE.
https://www.4029tv.com/article/former-sen-bob-dole-offers-emotional-salute-to-former-president-george-hw-bush/25399169
Tags: us_AR, public, release, injury, sodium_hydroxide
The Fort Smith Police Department lobby was closed Tuesday morning due to the chemical lye, according to PIO Aric Mitchell.
Mitchell said hazmat teams and the fire department were on the scene, but left by noon.
He also said the lobby will remain closed while the department continues to clean up, but is expected to be open later today. According to Mitchell, a man came into the lobby overnight wearing only a coat and covered in lye.
He requested help from the department. He had extensive burns, but they were not life-threatening. He and a deputy were taken to the hospital. The deputy was OK.
Highland Dairy alerted police about a breakin involving chemicals consistent with what the individual had on him.
---------------------------------------------
NO INJURIES REPORTED IN HAZMAT SITUATION IN WEST RENO
https://www.kolotv.com/content/news/No-injuries-reported-following-hazmat-situation-in-North-Reno-501887691.html
Tags: us_NV, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical
RENO, Nev. (KOLO) The Reno Fire Department says no one was hurt in a hazmat situation late Monday, December 3, 2018.
Crews responded to Garlock Printing and Converting on Woodland Avenue in west Reno just before 11:15 p.m.
A battalion chief tells us something went wrong during a chemical process and vapors were released inside the building. We're told air scrubbers inside helped keep the situation under control.
Reno Fire says 18 employees were inside the building at the time. They were checked by paramedics at the scene, but no one was taken to a hospital.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMCHINA PLANT LEAK IS IDENTIFIED AS CAUSE OF BLAST THAT KILLED 23 IN CHINA
https://cen.acs.org/safety/industrial-safety/ChemChina-plant-leak-identified-cause/96/web/2018/12
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, death, vinyl_chloride
After some initial confusion, investigators have identified a vinyl chloride leak at a ChemChina facility as the cause of a huge blast that killed 23 in the northern China city of Zhangjiakou. Most victims of the explosion were sitting in trucks that were waiting outside the factory, run by Hebei Shenghua Chemical Industry, a subsidiary of state-owned ChemChina.
‰??This is a relatively new facility,‰?? says David S. Jiang, president of the Beijing-based chemical industry consulting firm Sinodata, noting that he visited the plant recently.
The Chinese media initially reported that the spontaneous ignition of a truck delivering acetylene to a nearby facility was behind the Nov. 28 disaster. An investigation led by China‰??s Ministry of Emergency Management later identified the vinyl chloride leak as the cause. Shenghua uses the intermediate to produce polyvinyl chloride.
In a contrite statement on its website, ChemChina said ‰??the occurrence of this accident reflects serious problems in our safety management.‰??
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