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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, April 19, 2019 at 7:55:52 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 (7 articles)
TOWARD FIRE SAFETY WITHOUT CHEMICAL RISK
Tags: Europe, public, discovery, environmental, plastics
WATER IN PARADISE, SITE OF WORST CALIFORNIA FIRE, CONTAMINATED WITH CANCER CHEMICAL
Tags: us_CA, public, follow-up, environmental, benzene
LONZA PLAGUED BY SUPPLY PROBLEMS AFTER CHINA PLANT EXPLOSION
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, environmental
CHEMISTRY TEST QUESTION INVOKES NAZI GAS CHAMBERS; CONTROVERSY ENSUES AFTER SATIRICAL NEWSPAPER MAKES IT PUBLIC ‰?? THE MIDDLEBURY CAMPUS
Tags: us_VT, education, discovery, environmental
FIRE BREAKS OUT AT FORENSIC LAB, DAMAGE YET TO BE ASCERTAINED
Tags: India, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
AT LEAST 21 HOSPITALIZED AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK AT NIRA PLANT
Tags: India, industrial, release, injury, acetic_anhydride
HOUSTON CHEMICAL FIRES WON‰??T SPUR NEW LAWS, FOR NOW
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, environmental, petroleum
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TOWARD FIRE SAFETY WITHOUT CHEMICAL RISK
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/364/6437/231
Tags: Europe, public, discovery, environmental, plastics
Recent research has drawn attention to human exposure to flame retardants in indoor environments such as homes, with children receiving greater exposure than adults (6). Furniture and electronics appear to be substantial sources of flame retardants in indoor dust and air, as well as in cars (6). Scientists are now increasingly investigating the importance of dermal absorption and inhalation as primary uptake routes compared with diet.
Policy and Regulations
The European Union (EU) issued bans on the production and use of PBDEs and HBCD starting in 2002. More recently, several frameworks and directives have been developed in Europe, including the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), the Restriction of Hazardous Substances, and the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directives. The current Community Rolling Action Plan of the European Chemicals Agency envisages further possible restrictions on a series of flame retardants, including TDCIPP. These are hopeful signs, but EU frameworks do not yet take account of mixture effects (7).
In 2004, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the manufacturers reached a voluntary phase-out agreement of PentaBDE and octabromodiphenyl ether (OctaBDE). Several U.S. states prohibited the use of these flame retardants in some products sold in their home states. In 2017, a group of organizations petitioned the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to restrict the use of additive, nonpolymeric, halogenated flame retardants in children's products, furniture, and electronics enclosures on the basis of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. This approach was unusual in that it requested a ban on an entire class of chemicals. The CPSC must now determine whether it considers halogenated flame retardants to be hazardous as a class. It is currently establishing a Chronic Hazard Advisory panel to make this determination.
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WATER IN PARADISE, SITE OF WORST CALIFORNIA FIRE, CONTAMINATED WITH CANCER CHEMICAL
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Water-in-Paradise-site-of-worst-California-fire-13779109.php
Tags: us_CA, public, follow-up, environmental, benzene
PARADISE (Butte County) ‰?? The drinking water in Paradise, where 85 people died in the worst wildfire in state history, is contaminated with the cancer-causing chemical benzene, water officials said.
Officials said they believe the contamination happened after the November firestorm created a ‰??toxic cocktail‰?? of gases in burning homes that got sucked into the water pipes as residents and firefighters drew water heavily, causing a vacuum in the system that sucked in the toxic fumes, the Sacramento Bee reported.
Officials say that may explain why benzene, which has been linked to anemia and leukemia, has been found in tests at various spots rather than from one source in Paradise, where 90 percent of buildings were decimated by the blaze.
Paradise Irrigation District officials say they have taken about 500 water samples around town, and they have found benzene 30% of the time.
‰??It is jaw-dropping,‰?? said Dan Newton of the state Water Resources Control Board. ‰??This is such a huge scale. None of us were prepared for this.‰??
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LONZA PLAGUED BY SUPPLY PROBLEMS AFTER CHINA PLANT EXPLOSION
https://www.fiercepharma.com/manufacturing/lonza-plagued-by-supply-problems-after-china-plant-explosion
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, environmental
An explosion at a chemical plant in China that killed 62 people not only exposed weaknesses in China‰??s safety oversight but it also exposed weaknesses in the global ingredient supply chain. The disruption from the blast has exacerbated shortages for Swiss pharma and chemical supplier Lonza.
In a ‰??qualitative look‰?? at its first-quarter results, which included almost no financial figures, Lonza‰??s new CEO Marc Funk said the company‰??s CDMO business is rolling along nicely, powered by biologics projects. The disruption from explosion in China, however, contributed to ‰??headwinds‰?? for the company‰??s specialty ingredient business.
Funk said all of its ingredient businesses face ‰??raw material shortages and supply-chain disruptions‰?? from China‰??s efforts to clean up chemical pollution in the country as well as by ‰??a major chemical plant explosion in China.‰?? He said the company is taking additional ‰??cost containment‰?? steps to overcome those headwinds.
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CHEMISTRY TEST QUESTION INVOKES NAZI GAS CHAMBERS; CONTROVERSY ENSUES AFTER SATIRICAL NEWSPAPER MAKES IT PUBLIC ‰?? THE MIDDLEBURY CAMPUS
https://middleburycampus.com/44073/news/chemistry-test-question-invokes-nazi-gas-chambers-controversy-ensues-after-satirical-newspaper-makes-it-public/
Tags: us_VT, education, discovery, environmental
A question posed on a chemistry midterm last month asked students to calculate ‰??a lethal dose‰?? of the gas ‰??Nazi Germany used to horrific ends in the gas chambers during The Holocaust.‰?? The test question was brought to public attention last Friday through an article in the student-run satirical newspaper The Local Noodle. The question has garnered widespread condemnation while The Noodle‰??s article has sparked controversy over the use of satire to respond to such incidents.
Chemistry Professor Jeff Byers, who has taught at Middlebury since 1986, posed the question in early March. Several students reported it to the administration the week before spring break. According to Dean of Faculty Andi Lloyd, the administration responded immediately by reaching out to Byers.
‰??My reaction was that the question was completely inappropriate and deeply problematic, and that follow-up was needed,‰?? Lloyd said. ‰??We‰??ve been focusing on the situation within the class itself, and that culminated in an apology to the class by Professor Byers last week.‰??
In an email to The Campus, Byers said he would not comment further on the incident, which he called an ‰??unfortunate error on my part.‰??
Several students in the class said they were disturbed by the way the question was framed. One Jewish first-year, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the question was distressing to read, especially in the middle of a test.
‰??I was pretty rattled when I saw the question, as the Holocaust is not something to make light of, especially since I am Jewish and the problem involved us calculating how much poisonous gas you would need to kill people in a room,‰?? she said.
Most students outside of the class did not know about the incident until The Noodle‰??s article was published online on April 5. The article, which circulated widely on social media, prompted the Community Bias Response Team (CBRT) ‰?? a group that responds to bias incidents involving students on campus ‰?? to send an all-school email on Sunday, April 7.
In its email, the CBRT condemned the test question, stating, ‰??The use of this exam question failed to provide any critical engagement with the historical contexts and atrocities of the Holocaust. It asked students to engage in problem solving that mirrors calculations used to implement systematic genocide. Our students should never have been put in this position.‰??
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FIRE BREAKS OUT AT FORENSIC LAB, DAMAGE YET TO BE ASCERTAINED
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/fire-breaks-out-at-forensic-lab-damage-yet-to-be-ascertained/articleshow/68934807.cms
Tags: India, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
KOLKATA: A fire broke out in a second-floor room of the forensic science laboratory at Belgachhia around 3.20pm on Wednesday afternoon, triggering panic among the officials. The laboratory holds crucial forensic samples. None was injured. The extent of the damage and the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
The fire broke out inside a room on the second-floor ballistics section that had chemical and other materials stacked inside it. The laboratory had its own fire safety measures, which the staff used to douse the fire within 30 minutes. Two fire tenders, however, reached the spot.
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AT LEAST 21 HOSPITALIZED AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK AT NIRA PLANT
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/at-least-21-hospitalized-after-chemical-leak-at-nira-plant/articleshow/68930476.cms
Tags: India, industrial, release, injury, acetic_anhydride
PUNE: At least 21 workers were hospitalized, one with severe burn injuries, after a chemical leak from a tank inside a plant at Nira-Nimbut in Purandar taluka on Wednesday, police said.
Local villagers, however, claimed there was an explosion at the plant and pegged the number of affected workers at more than 40. They said three workers were critical. The affected workers have been admitted to different private hospitals in Nira and Lonand.
‰??Around 4.30pm, the chemical overflowed from the tank. As per our information, 21 people were initially admitted to hospital. One of them, with severe burn injuries, is in a serious condition,‰?? Pune rural superintendent of police Sandip Patil said. The plant authorities immediately shut the valve and contained the leak, police said.
Nira village has a population of 20,000, some of whom work at the plant. After the incident, word quickly spread with differing reports of the severity.
The affected workers complained of breathing difficulty, burning sensation in the eyes, nausea and dizziness, villagers said. ‰??Around 4.30pm, a tank was overfilled with acetic anhydride, which caused a pressure build-up inside, leading to the explosion. Around 35-40 workers were rushed to the hospital,‰?? said Vaibhav Konde, a resident of the village.
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HOUSTON CHEMICAL FIRES WON‰??T SPUR NEW LAWS, FOR NOW
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/Houston-chemical-fires-won-t-spur-new-laws-for-13776094.php
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, environmental, petroleum
After three chemical fires ignited in a three-week period in the Houston area ‰?? spewing plumes of noxious black smoke into the air for days, shutting down schools and sending entire cities indoors to shelter in place ‰?? lawmakers say it‰??s too soon to know whether new laws are needed to improve prevention or emergency response.
Instead, state Sen. Carol Alvarado and Reps. Ed Thompson and Mary Ann Perez will wait on the results of investigations by agencies such as the Harris County Fire Marshal and U.S. Chemical Safety Board. The fire marshal‰??s office has said it‰??s too early to guess how long the inquiries may take. In five weeks, the legislative session ends.
‰??We can speculate all we want, but I want to see the report and then try to make whatever changes I view are necessary to keep the constituents safe,‰?? said Perez, D-Pasadena, whose district includes some of Deer Park, where a petrochemical storage facility caught fire on March 17.
Still, environmental advocates say the lawmakers should be doing more to support existing bills that would increase accountability for polluters ‰?? and to quash bills the advocates say would decrease oversight of chemical companies and restrict local governments‰?? abilities to take them to court.
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