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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, April 22, 2019 at 7:31:12 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 (8 articles)
HAZMAT SPILL ON BELTWAY 8 AT BRIAR HILL CLOSES TOLL LANES
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, response, petroleum
THREE CHILDREN HOSPITALISED AFTER SUSPECTED CHEMICAL LEAK AT LETTERKENNY SWIMMING POOL
Tags: Ireland, public, release, injury, pool_chemical
BOSTON FIRE CREWS RESPONDING LEVEL 3 HAZMAT SITUATION ON DEER ISLAND ‰?? BOSTON NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS
Tags: us_MA, industrial, discovery, response, waste
ARIZONA FIREFIGHTERS RUSHED TO HOSPITALS AFTER EXPLOSION AT BATTERY FACILITY
Tags: us_AZ, industrial, explosion, injury, batteries
WARNINGS, DISPOSAL AT ISSUE IN LAWSUIT OVER FATAL STEEL DRUM EXPLOSION
Tags: us_IN, public, follow-up, death, flammables
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
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HAZMAT SPILL ON BELTWAY 8 AT BRIAR HILL CLOSES TOLL LANES
https://abc13.com/traffic/hazmat-spill-on-beltway-8-at-briar-hill-closes-toll-lanes/5263853/
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, response, petroleum
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- An 18-wheeler with a ruptured fuel tank has closed toll lanes on Beltway 8 southbound at Briar Hill.
The hazmat spill began early Monday morning and is blocking all four toll lanes.
In the past, this has allowed even non-EZ tag users to use the toll road for free.
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THREE CHILDREN HOSPITALISED AFTER SUSPECTED CHEMICAL LEAK AT LETTERKENNY SWIMMING POOL
https://www.thejournal.ie/letterkenny-hospital-incident-4600701-Apr2019/
Tags: Ireland, public, release, injury, pool_chemical
FIVE PEOPLE INCLUDING three children have been taken to hospital following an incident at an indoor swimming pool in Letterkenny, Co Donegal.
It‰??s understood they became ill at around 12pm following a suspected chemical leak at the Aura Leisure Centre in the town.
The alarm was raised and emergency services including local fire and emergency services and the HSE were called to the scene.
The five individuals were subsequently taken to Letterkenny University Hospital, where their conditions are not thought to be life threatening.
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BOSTON FIRE CREWS RESPONDING LEVEL 3 HAZMAT SITUATION ON DEER ISLAND ‰?? BOSTON NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS
https://whdh.com/news/boston-fire-crews-responding-level-3-hazmat-situation-on-deer-island/
Tags: us_MA, industrial, discovery, response, waste
BOSTON (WHDH) - Boston fire crews are responding to a reported Level 3 hazmat situation on Deer Island.
The incident on Taft Avenue involved an over-pressurized 55-gallon drum that was filled with hazardous waste products.
No additional information was immediately available.
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ARIZONA FIREFIGHTERS RUSHED TO HOSPITALS AFTER EXPLOSION AT BATTERY FACILITY
https://www.foxnews.com/us/arizona-firefighters-rushed-hospital-hazardous-explosion-battery-facility
Tags: us_AZ, industrial, explosion, injury, batteries
Eight firefighters, from two separate agencies, were hospitalized Friday after an explosion at an Arizona Public Service facility in Surprise, where utility-sized lithium batteries used in the storage and distribution of solar energy are housed.
Four firefighters from the Peoria Fire-Medical Department were seriously injured. One firefighter was in critical condition after being knocked unconscious. Two others were in serious condition, Capt. Ken Wier told FOX 10 of Phoenix.
Three of the most seriously hurt firefighters were airlifted to Maricopa County Medical Center's burn unit in Phoenix while the fourth was transported to a West Valley hospital, Michael Selmer, a spokesman for the department, told AZCentral.com.
Four additional firefighters from the city of Surprise were taken to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, Battalion Chief Julie Moore of the Surprise Fire Department told AZCentral.
Fire teams from Peoria and Surprise both responded to APS McMicken Energy Storage facility around 6 p.m. after someone passing by spotted spoke, Moore said. Firefighters began inspecting a utility-size lithium battery for hazardous chemical levels. An explosion occurred as a Peoria Fire hazmat team attempted to enter the facility.
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WARNINGS, DISPOSAL AT ISSUE IN LAWSUIT OVER FATAL STEEL DRUM EXPLOSION
https://www.courierpress.com/story/news/local/2019/04/19/warnings-disposal-lawsuit-fatal-fritchley-steel-drum-explosion-warrick-county/3484627002/
Tags: us_IN, public, follow-up, death, flammables
EVANSVILLE ‰?? Late on a Sunday afternoon, John Fritchley II stood in front of the garage at his home near Boonville, Indiana with a blowtorch and began to cut the end off of an empty 55-gallon steel drum that he planned to use for burning trash.
The resulting explosion on Feb. 11, 2018, instantly killed Fritchley, 46. The force of the explosion hurtled the drum's lid 40 feet.
The drum itself, scorched nearly black by the blast, came to rest 10 feet from Fritchley. Neighbors reported hearing the explosion.
Arriving sheriff's deputies reported finding Fritchley on his back with the blowtorch still in his hand and a chemical smell in the air.
"It was almost like a bomb went off," said Warrick County Sheriff's Detective Jarrett Busing, who led the investigation.
The drum had contained heptane isopropanol, a highly flammable liquid solvent, according to its label. It didn't take long for investigators to determine how the explosion happened. Although empty of liquid, chemical residue left behind was still releasing volatile vapors.
Plugs that might have helped vent the vapors were still in place, said Lt. Bryan Flowers, another sheriff's detective who worked the scene.
The fatal explosion might have been avoided with better warnings about the dangers of such empty chemical drums, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Fritchley's wife, Samantha Labno-Fritchley.
It's a preventable tragedy that happens far more often than people realize, said attorney Terry Noffsinger, who represents her. He said he was surprised to find out how prevalent such incidents were.
"I probably found 50 or 60 incidents just by looking on the internet," he said.
The lawsuit names several businesses involved in the chain of distribution of the drum, which contained a chemical solvent commonly used for cleaning automotive brakes.
It accuses Indianapolis-based manufacturer Superior Solvents and Chemicals, Inc., as well as Evansville-based companies Busler Enterprises and Kenny Kent Toyota (Evansville Automotive LLC) of negligence and product liability causing the wrongful death of Fritchley.
Attorneys for all three companies have denied the claims in their own court filings. The companies place the fault with a man, not a defendant in the lawsuit, who resold the empty drum, and on Fritchley who was modifying it to use as a burn barrel.
The case was transferred to Vanderburgh Circuit Court where it is currently slated for a July 2020 jury trial.
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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.
---------------------------------------------
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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