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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, March 22, 2019 at 7:46:21 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)
CHEMICAL SPILL THAT LED TO BUILDING LOCKDOWN WAS SULPHURIC ACID, SAYS JOHOR ENVIRONMENT DEPT
Tags: Malaysia, laboratory, release, injury, sulfuric_acid
ITC DEER PARK BENZENE SCARE: COMMUNITY NEAR HOUSTON ADVISED TO TEST WELL WATER
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, environmental, benzene, toluene
METH LAB SHUTS DOWN CANBERRA STREET AS 39-YEAR-OLD MAN ARRESTED, EXPECTED TO BE CHARGED LATER TODAY
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, response, illegal, clandestine_lab
EGYPT: AT LEAST EIGHT KILLED IN CHEMICAL BLAST
Tags: Egypt, industrial, explosion, death, petroleum
CHEMICAL WEAPON DESTRUCTION TO BEGIN AT ARMY DEPOT
Tags: us_KY, industrial, discovery, environmental, mustard_gas, waste
TOXIC LESSONS CAN INFORM MICHIGAN PFAS POLICY, SAY EXPERTS
Tags: us_MI, public, follow-up, environmental
DEER PARK RESIDENTS TRY TO COPE WITH CONCERNS OVER AIR QUALITY
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, environmental, benzene
DOZENS KILLED AND HUNDREDS INJURED IN EXPLOSION AT CHINESE CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, death, flammables, pesticides
FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO POSSIBLE CHLORINE LEAK AT ARMED FORCES RETIREMENT HOME
Tags: us_MS, public, release, response, chlorine
CREWS WORKING TO CLEAN UP PAINT SPILL IN SOUTH SALT LAKE
Tags: us_UT, transportation, release, response, other_chemical
FBI INVESTIGATION FINDS CHEMICAL WARFARE AGENT INSIDE LAWTON HOM
Tags: us_OK, public, discovery, response, other_chemical
2 INJURED IN EXPLOSION WHILE TRYING TO EXTRACT MARIJUANA OIL IN ILLEGAL CANOGA PARK DRUG LAB: LAPD
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical, illegal
A JURY SAYS THAT A COMMON WEED-KILLER CHEMICAL AT THE HEART OF AN $80 MILLION LAWSUIT CONTRIBUTED TO A MAN‰??S CANCER
Tags: us_CT, public, discovery, environmental, pesticides
A CHEMICAL FIRE IN TEXAS HAS BEEN EXTINGUISHED, BUT QUESTIONS OVER SAFETY LINGER
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, toxics
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CHEMICAL SPILL THAT LED TO BUILDING LOCKDOWN WAS SULPHURIC ACID, SAYS JOHOR ENVIRONMENT DEPT
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2019/03/21/chemical-spill-that-caused-building-lockdown-was-sulphuric-acid-says-johor/1735162
Tags: Malaysia, laboratory, release, injury, sulfuric_acid
JOHOR BARU, March 21 ‰?? It was a spill of sulphuric acid that caused a lockdown at the Johor Department of Environment‰??s (DoE) building here, the authority confirmed today.
Johor DoE director Datuk Mohammad Ezanni Mat Salleh said the spilled chemical was concentrated sulphuric acid.
‰??Initial investigations revealed that the spilled chemical was only sulphuric acid and contained no other substances.
‰??The acid was in its pure form and considered highly hazardous if spilled.‰?? said Mohammad Ezanni when contacted by Malay Mail tonight.
Concentrated sulphuric acid is extremely corrosive and can cause serious burns when not handled properly. This hazardous chemical is capable of corroding skin, paper, metals, and even stone in some cases.
If sulphuric acid makes direct contact with the eyes, it can cause permanent blindness. If ingested, this chemical may cause internal burns, irreversible organ damage, and possibly death.
Mohammad Ezanni said the 30-year-old DoE technician involved in the incident is reported to be in stable condition after being treated at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA) here.
‰??He is recuperating after he lost consciousness in the laboratory, believed to be from the fumes,‰?? he said, adding that the incident was a minor incident.
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ITC DEER PARK BENZENE SCARE: COMMUNITY NEAR HOUSTON ADVISED TO TEST WELL WATER
https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/itc-fire/researchers-local-agencies-collecting-water-samples-from-galveston-bay-after-itc-fire/285-32a18b9d-d530-4ad9-8888-8bf38cfbbdb1
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, environmental, benzene, toluene
HOUSTON ‰?? The Environmental Defense Fund and Texas A&M University researchers said they will collect water samples from Galveston Bay to measure what pollutants might be flowing from the shipping channel near the ITC fire, according to the Associated Press.
The samples will be collected Friday and will be tested for such chemicals as benzene and toluene.
Elena Craft, a senior health scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund, said the researchers will get real-time results for most pollutants. She said samples will also be collected to test for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl compounds, or PFAS, which are found in foam firefighters were using Thursday to prevent flare-ups at ITC in Deer Park.
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METH LAB SHUTS DOWN CANBERRA STREET AS 39-YEAR-OLD MAN ARRESTED, EXPECTED TO BE CHARGED LATER TODAY
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-22/meth-lab-closes-canberra-street-as-39-year-old-man-arrested/10929614
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, response, illegal, clandestine_lab
A 39-year-old man has been arrested and is expected to be charged later today with possessing and manufacturing illicit substances, after ACT police raided an alleged clandestine drug lab at a property in Canberra's south.
Officers executed a search warrant at the home on Wilkins Street in Mawson about 6:30am today, where they said they found a "clandestine laboratory" manufacturing methamphetamine.
The street was closed off after officers also discovered "dangerous items" ‰?? separate to the alleged drug lab ‰?? and called in ACT Fire and Rescue crews to help secure the site.
Detective Superintendent Scott Moller said the bomb squad had eliminated any danger to the public, but the way those items were sitting and the "wiring attached to them" had raised red flags.
---------------------------------------------
EGYPT: AT LEAST EIGHT KILLED IN CHEMICAL BLAST
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47651758#
Tags: Egypt, industrial, explosion, death, petroleum
At least eight people have been killed in an explosion at a chemical plant in Egypt, local security forces say.
Reuters news agency quoted them as saying that a further five people were injured as a tank exploded at a military-owned phosphates factory in the port of Ain Sokhna.
Civil defence forces cordoned off the area around the factory and the injured were taken to local hospitals.
State news agency Mena said the tank had exploded during testing.
It reported that 15 people were killed or injured.
Two medics told the AFP news agency that 10 bodies had been received at a morgue in Suez and families of victims had gathered outside.
Ain Sokhna is about 130km (80 miles) south-east of the capital Cairo. Popular with tourists, the Red Sea coastal town is also home to several petrochemical, ceramics and steel factories.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL WEAPON DESTRUCTION TO BEGIN AT ARMY DEPOT
https://lex18.com/news/covering-kentucky/2019/03/21/chemical-weapon-destruction-to-begin-at-army-depot/
Tags: us_KY, industrial, discovery, environmental, mustard_gas, waste
RICHMOND, Ky. (LEX 18)‰?? The project to destroy the stockpile of chemical weapons housed at the Bluegrass Army Depot will begin soon.
The stockpile has been stored there since World War II.
Since the 1940s, stockpiles of chemical weapons such as mustard gas, sarin, and VX have been stored in igloos like the one at Bluegrass Army Depot. In a few months, the workers there will begin to remove the weapons and take them to newly constructed plants where they‰??ll be neutralized. They‰??ll start first with mustard gas in June.
‰??After being involved with the program for approximately 35 years, I‰??m pretty excited about how close we are now,‰?? said Craig Williams, a member of the Governor‰??s Commission on Chemical Weapons Disposal.
The destruction requires precautions at every step to make sure it‰??s done safely. Williams, who works in many ways as a voice for the local community on the project, says he is impressed by what he‰??s seen.
---------------------------------------------
TOXIC LESSONS CAN INFORM MICHIGAN PFAS POLICY, SAY EXPERTS
https://www.mlive.com/news/2019/03/toxic-lessons-can-inform-michigan-pfas-policy-say-experts.html
Tags: us_MI, public, follow-up, environmental
LANSING, MI ‰?? Ask Francis ‰??Bus‰?? Spaniola about the current PFAS pollution crisis and he‰??ll likely respond with a Yogi Berra quote: ‰??It‰??s like dÌ©jÌ vu all over again.‰??
Spaniola, a former state representative from Corunna, successfully pushed for regulations lowering the amount of polybrominated biphenyl, or PBB, allowed in Michigan meat and dairy products following the infamous 1970s statewide chemical poisoning.
The Michigan Farm Bureau opposed the legislation, which sought to reduce human exposure to the toxic fire retardant, which was inadvertently mixed into livestock feed in 1973.
Today, Spaniola sees parallels in the pushback against proposed regulations to reduce exposure to PFAS from business groups, utilities and Republicans, who are blocking a Democrat-sponsored bill to establish a state drinking water standard of 5 parts-per-trillion (ppt).
‰??Nothing has changed. It‰??s the same old story,‰?? said Spaniola, 83, who served in the state House from 1974 to 1990. ‰??People don‰??t want to admit it‰??s a problem.‰??
‰??Some political courage is needed.‰??
Spaniola was among the group of legislators and staffers who gathered Thursday in Lansing to discuss policy lessons from the PBB crisis from a historian, public health expert and researcher who has been studying the long-term impacts of the mass poisoning.
---------------------------------------------
DEER PARK RESIDENTS TRY TO COPE WITH CONCERNS OVER AIR QUALITY
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Deer-Park-residents-try-to-cope-with-after-13707517.php
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, environmental, benzene
Shannon McDuff tasted something sweet in the back of her throat. She figured it was from the benzene.
While she has faith in those dealing with the aftermath of a chemical blaze at a Deer Park plant, McDuff said she cannot ignore concerns over the detection of the known carcinogen, which Thursday morning briefly triggered a shelter-in-place order in the city .
‰??I am scared, though,‰?? she said. ‰??I‰??m scared right now for my body.‰??
The 48-year-old sat among dozens of others waiting for screenings in the afternoon at Harris County Public Health‰??s mobile clinic at a Deer Park activity center on West 13th Street. Some seeking treatment at the clinic assumed that their symptoms were triggered by the fire that formed a plume of black smoke over the Houston area.
---------------------------------------------
DOZENS KILLED AND HUNDREDS INJURED IN EXPLOSION AT CHINESE CHEMICAL PLANT
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/22/dozens-killed-hundreds-injured-explosion-china-chemical-plant
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, death, flammables, pesticides
An explosion at a pesticide plant in eastern China has killed at least 47 people and injured more than 600, state media said, the latest in a series of industrial accidents that has sparked widespread public anger.
The blast occurred on shortly before 3pm on Thursday afternoon in Yancheng in Jiangsu province, north of Shanghai.
The fire was not brought under control until the early hours of Friday, state television said.
Survivors were taken to 16 hospitals with 640 people being treated for injuries. Thirty-two of them were critically injured, it said.
The explosion at the plant owned by Tianjiayi Chemical sent fire spreading to neighbouring factories. Children at a kindergarten in the vicinity were also injured in the blast, media reported.
The cause of the blast was under investigation, but the company ‰?? which produces more than 30 organic chemical compounds, some of which are highly flammable ‰?? has been cited and fined for work safety violations in the past, the China Daily said.
---------------------------------------------
FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO POSSIBLE CHLORINE LEAK AT ARMED FORCES RETIREMENT HOME
http://www.wlox.com/2019/03/20/firefighters-respond-possible-chlorine-leak-armed-forces-retirement-home/
Tags: us_MS, public, release, response, chlorine
GULFPORT, MS (WLOX) - Gulfport fire crews are currently at the Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH) in Gulfport to investigate a reported chlorine leak. It was reported a little after 3 p.m.
Gulfport Fire Chief Michael Beyerstedt described the leak as a hazmat incident. He says the leak is in an outbuilding at the facility. Beyerstedt said workers noticed a strong chlorine odor. When they went to check on it. the smell was too strong for them to enter the building.
Firefighters are putting on their level one hazmat suits to go into the building.
‰??Hopefully, it‰??s a matter of shutting off a valve to stop the leak,‰?? Beyerstedt said.
Residents watched everything from their balconies as the threat posed very little danger to them. A pair of firefighters were seen going into a fenced-in area where the chlorine tanks are. After the returned, they were scrubbed down.
---------------------------------------------
CREWS WORKING TO CLEAN UP PAINT SPILL IN SOUTH SALT LAKE
https://gephardtdaily.com/local/crews-working-to-clean-up-paint-spill-in-south-salt-lake/
Tags: us_UT, transportation, release, response, other_chemical
SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah, March 20, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) ‰?? Crews are cleaning up after more than 200 gallons of white paint spilled from a truck in South Salt Lake Wednesday afternoon.
South Salt Lake Police public information officer Sgt. Gary Keller told Gephardt Daily the incident occurred just before 12:10 p.m. when a contract truck for the Utah Department of Transportation was heading westbound on 3300 South in the area of 300 West.
The truck is used to paint lines on the road and has a 250 gallon tub of paint on either side, one yellow and one white, both contained in wire frames, Keller said.
The load shifted, causing a spigot to rip out of the tub on the right hand side of the truck, which was carrying white paint.
The truck, which was traveling in the lane next to the curb, then spilled paint from 300 West to 900 West, Keller said.
South Salt Lake Fire Battalion Chief Shane Conrad told Gephardt Daily that tub lost approximately 225 gallons of paint. The paint is water based, he said, so crews are not dealing with a Hazmat situation.
---------------------------------------------
FBI INVESTIGATION FINDS CHEMICAL WARFARE AGENT INSIDE LAWTON HOM
http://www.news9.com/story/40170458/fbi-investigation-finds-chemical-warfare-agent-inside-lawton-home
Tags: us_OK, public, discovery, response, other_chemical
Unsealed FBI documents show traces of a chemical warfare agent were inside an Oklahoma home.
The suspect, Phillip Heath, was arrested in January after police responded to his Lawton apartment to investigate a domestic disturbance.
Police say it was a plea for help that led to the discovery of a chemical that can inflict immediate pain and even death.
---------------------------------------------
2 INJURED IN EXPLOSION WHILE TRYING TO EXTRACT MARIJUANA OIL IN ILLEGAL CANOGA PARK DRUG LAB: LAPD
https://ktla.com/2019/03/20/authorities-responding-to-explosion-at-commercial-building-in-canoga-park-2-people-injured/
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical, illegal
Two men were critically injured Wednesday in an explosion at a one-story commercial building in Canoga Park where they appear to have been running an illegal narcotics lab, Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Jeff Collado told KTLA .
The explosion happened at around 11:00 a.m. on the 7000 block of North Alabama Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The two unidentified men were transported to a nearby hospital in critical condition, according to authorities.
Witnesses told KTLA they saw the door being blown off and two men running out of the building with visible burns on their clothes and bodies.
Fire officials said there was no fire at the site of the explosion when they arrived, but reported possible structural damage to the building.
---------------------------------------------
A JURY SAYS THAT A COMMON WEED-KILLER CHEMICAL AT THE HEART OF AN $80 MILLION LAWSUIT CONTRIBUTED TO A MAN‰??S CANCER
https://www.nhregister.com/technology/businessinsider/article/There-s-even-more-evidence-that-the-main-13260631.php
Tags: us_CT, public, discovery, environmental, pesticides
Tuesday ushered in another landmark verdict in the wave of lawsuits against Monsanto, the agrochemical giant behind the popular herbicide, Roundup, which has been accused of causing cancer.
On March 19, a federal jury ruled that Roundup was a "substantial" contributor to 70-year-old Edwin Hardeman's cancer diagnosis in 2015. Hardeman used the weed-killer to tend his property for more than two decades. He is one of thousands of plaintiffs who have filed similar claims against Monsanto, which was recently acquired by Bayer.
Read more: The weed-killing chemical involved in a Monsanto lawsuit was found in Cheerios and Quaker Oats products. Here's how worried you should be.
In August 2018, a judge ordered Monsanto to pay $289 million in damages to a groundskeeper who attributed his cancer to Roundup. (The damages were later reduced to nearly $80 million.) Unlike the Hardeman verdict, the judge ruled that Monsanto had intentionally withheld information about Roundup's potential harm, but did not make any claims about whether it contributed to the plaintiff's cancer.
The recent court battles have generated questions about whether glyphosate, a widely-used agricultural pesticide and the active ingredient in Roundup, poses a danger to human health.
---------------------------------------------
A CHEMICAL FIRE IN TEXAS HAS BEEN EXTINGUISHED, BUT QUESTIONS OVER SAFETY LINGER
https://psmag.com/news/a-chemical-fire-in-texas-has-been-extinguished-but-questions-over-safety-linger
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, toxics
The chemical fire consuming a Deer Park, Texas, plant this week was so big that it made its own weather. It drew comparisons to a wildfire, and the thick, dark plume of smoke traveled miles from the Intercontinental Terminals Company in Deer Park. But despite appearances, the public officials and Texas' environmental regulator have assured the public that the air is safe to breathe.
The fire was extinguished on Wednesday, but questions about safety linger. On Monday, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said in a statement that it "had not detected any immediate health concerns at ground level."
The fire burned for four days, but officials said its direction mitigated potential health risks. The smoke rose thousands of feet into the air, where Jeff Lindner, Harris County's staff meteorologist, said it would not harm nearby communities, the Houston Chronicle reports. Even so, at least one company sent its workers home, and several school districts nearby canceled classes.
Chemicals fires like this one can release toxic chemicals into the air that are harmful to human health. According to the Chronicle, some of the tanks that were still on fire early Wednesday contained a blend of gasoline, xylene, naphtha, and pyrolysis gasoline. So what do we know about the possible lingering health risks?
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