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Previous by Date: Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Compressed gases and sparking electronics Date: Wednesday, June 26, 2019 at 7:17:40 AM Author: Eugene Ngai <eugene_ngai**At_Symbol_Here**COMCAST.NET> |
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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, June 26, 2019 at 7:19:35 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 (13 articles)
BATTERIES CATCH FIRE INSIDE TRAILER, PROMPTING HAZMAT RESPONSE IN VANDALIA
Tags: us_OH, transportation, fire, response, batteries
BEACON HIGH CHEMISTRY TEACHER DEFLECTS BLAME FOR SETTING STUDENT ON FIRE, BUT ADMITS FOGGY MEMORY
Tags: us_NY, laboratory, follow-up, environmental, methanol
EVACUATIONS ORDERED AS CHEMICAL FIRE ERUPTS IN INDUSTRIAL BUILDING IN SIMI VALLEY, CA
Tags: us_CA, industrial, fire, response, nitric_acid
WHOA! ENORMOUS 'COTTON CANDY' EXPLOSION IN KIDS' CHEMISTRY LAB
Tags: Malaysia, laboratory, discovery, environmental
AMMONIA VAPOR AT VEOLIA FACILITY CLOSES PORTION OF INFIRMARY ROAD
Tags: us_OH, industrial, release, response, ammonia, waste
PHILLY REFINERY FIRE DIDN‰??T IMPACT PUBLIC HEALTH, OFFICIALS SAY
Tags: us_PA, industrial, follow-up, environmental
WHEN DOES A REDUCTION IN INJURY NUMBERS BECOME STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT?
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental
NO ONE REPORTED INJURED IN FAYETTEVILLE COMMERCIAL GAS LEAK
Tags: us_NC, public, release, response, natural_gas
TORRINGTON MAN EXPOSED TO ‰??TEAR GAS-LIKE AGENT‰?? AFTER HAZARDOUS MATERIAL SPILL
Tags: us_CT, public, release, injury, tear_gas
MASSIVE CRATER IN GERMAN CORNFIELD LIKELY CAUSED BY EXPLODING WWII BOMB
Tags: Germany, public, explosion, response, bomb
HERE‰??S WHY AQMD COMMITTEE CHOSE ENHANCED SAFETY MEASURES OVER A BAN ON MHF AT REFINERIES IN WILMINGTON AND TORRANCE ‰?? DAILY BREEZE
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, hydrofluoric_acid
INVESTIGATIONS OF PHILADELPHIA REFINERY FIRE TO INCLUDE POTENTIAL RELEASE OF DANGEROUS CHEMICAL
Tags: us_PA, industrial, explosion, response, petroleum
US EPA PROPOSES PARTIAL BANS ON FOUR PBTS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
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BATTERIES CATCH FIRE INSIDE TRAILER, PROMPTING HAZMAT RESPONSE IN VANDALIA
https://abc22now.com/news/local/hazmat-team-called-to-business-along-n-dixie-drive-in-vandalia
Tags: us_OH, transportation, fire, response, batteries
UPDATE: Firefighters and a hazmat team were called to a scene in Vandalia Tuesday morning that was reported as a semi trailer truck on fire.
What it turned out to be was a large skid of batteries that shorted, caught fire, melted down and began smoking.
Chad Follick, fire chief for the Vandalia Fire Department said at first crews weren't sure what was causing the smoke from the trailer and that's why hazmat was called in.
A passerby noticed the smoke coming from the trailer and alerted authorities.
Follick said once it was determined what was inside the trailer, crews went in and extinguished the smoke. They then worked to find a safe way to dispose of the mess.
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BEACON HIGH CHEMISTRY TEACHER DEFLECTS BLAME FOR SETTING STUDENT ON FIRE, BUT ADMITS FOGGY MEMORY
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-beacon-chemistry-teacher-testifies-20190625-obx3vgaxxrc7ne5fh6jgk4z3yy-story.html
Tags: us_NY, laboratory, follow-up, environmental, methanol
A Manhattan chemistry teacher who authorities say accidentally set her student on fire testified Tuesday that she wasn‰??t to blame.
Embattled educator Anna Poole struggled to explain why her testimony about the Jan. 2014 accident contradicted the recollection of Alonzo Yanes, the student disfigured in her Beacon High School classroom, as well as that of his classmates, experts, police officers and firefighters.
Trembling and stuttering, Poole insisted she‰??d properly conducted the ‰??rainbow experiment‰?? involving mineral salts, methanol and fire, just as she‰??d done for previous students. She said Yanes could not have been sitting a mere two and a half feet away from the demonstration, as he had testified.
‰??In your opinion did you perform the demonstration appropriately?‰?? city attorney Mark Mixson asked.
‰??Yes,‰?? Poole, 36, replied.
[More New York] City‰??s 911 dispatch center in the Bronx is crawling with bedbugs, NYPD operators say åÈ
But attorney Ben Rubinowitz confronted her with sworn testimony she gave in the case in 2017. During a deposition, Poole had said she had no memory of the moments prior to the near-deadly chemical reaction, or any recollection of other times she performed the demonstration.
‰??We were trying to find out what in the world happened on Jan. 2, 2014,‰?? Rubinowitz said.
‰??I‰??d like to know that, too,‰?? Poole replied.
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EVACUATIONS ORDERED AS CHEMICAL FIRE ERUPTS IN INDUSTRIAL BUILDING IN SIMI VALLEY, CA
https://sunnewsreport.com/evacuations-ordered-as-chemical-fire-erupts-in-industrial-building-in-simi-valley-ca/
Tags: us_CA, industrial, fire, response, nitric_acid
Simi Valley, CA ‰?? The Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) responded to a hazardous materials chemical fire in the Simi Valley industrial area, Tuesday, around 6:16 am, located off the 100-block of W Cochran Street.
According to the VCFD, several 75-gallon drums containing nitric acid were burning inside a building.
The fire has been contained and controlled.
Authorities said the majority of the fire was on the outside of the building, but the inside of the business was also impacted, triggering sprinklers.
Some residents in the surrounding area received a VC Alert to shelter inside their home and close all windows and doors.
Shelter-in-place orders have been subsequently lifted as of 12 pm and roads are expected to be open.
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WHOA! ENORMOUS 'COTTON CANDY' EXPLOSION IN KIDS' CHEMISTRY LAB
https://www.livescience.com/65793-cotton-candy-explosion-explained.html
Tags: Malaysia, laboratory, discovery, environmental
An instructor and two children pour three cups of powder into a bin of red liquid. Suddenly ‰?? poof ‰?? a cloud of what looks like cotton candy explodes toward the ceiling.
This popular video on Twitter comes courtesy of the Malay-language account w, which shares science content. But what is going on in the video?
It's a rather dangerous version of a classic chemistry demonstration, according to Brian Hostetler, an educator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. The reaction is typically known as "elephant's toothpaste," due to its foamy appearance, and it's commonly used in chemistry classrooms to explain catalysts, Hostetler told Live Science. [Elementary, My Dear: 8 Little-Known Elements]
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AMMONIA VAPOR AT VEOLIA FACILITY CLOSES PORTION OF INFIRMARY ROAD
https://www.whio.com/news/local/evacuation-underway-for-infirmary-road-residents-west-carrollton/hw8PChcdOlcNXlwlyCaP2I/
Tags: us_OH, industrial, release, response, ammonia, waste
WEST CARROLLTON ‰?? There‰??s no immediate danger to the public after hazmat crews were called Tuesday night to the Veolia Environmental Services off Infirmary Road.
‰??There is an ammonia vapor that is coming from the plant,‰?? West Carrollton police public information officer Maureen Flaute said.
Officials confirmed the leak to be ‰??all clear‰?? Wednesday morning just after 1 a.m.
Police and fire crews were in the parking lot of Veolia Environmental Services, 4301 Infirmary Road, investigating the source of fumes first reported shortly after 8:15 p.m. The company transports chemical waste.
In 2009, an explosion at Veolia Environmental Services caused $50 million in damages and four workers were hurt.
---------------------------------------------
PHILLY REFINERY FIRE DIDN‰??T IMPACT PUBLIC HEALTH, OFFICIALS SAY
https://whyy.org/articles/city-officials-to-convene-working-group-on-the-pes-refinery-fire-while-residents-rally-to-shut-the-plant-down/
Tags: us_PA, industrial, follow-up, environmental
Philadelphia, state and federal officials gathered Tuesday to assure city residents that the refinery explosion and fire that occurred Friday at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions complex did not result in any threats to the public health.
The city plans to form a working group that would include officials, residents, environmentalists, workers, and PES management to address issues at the plant. The city‰??s managing director Brian Abernathy said a public meeting will take place at the end of July.
‰??This incident sharpened a number of questions around the refinery,‰?? Abernathy said. ‰??Is the refinery safe? Does PES have appropriate measures in place to prevent a catastrophic failure? Was our response and the response of PES adequate and appropriate?‰??
---------------------------------------------
WHEN DOES A REDUCTION IN INJURY NUMBERS BECOME STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT?
http://www.safetydifferently.com/when-does-a-reduction-in-injury-numbers-become-statistically-significant/
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental
Those who‰??ve been around safety (and particularly safety differently) long enough, know that LTI (Lost Time Injuries) is a lousy safety measure. LTI, after all, was once instituted as a productivity measure, not a safety measure. But LTI is actually quite a silly measure too. This blog shows just how silly it gets, and how foolish (or statistically meaningless) any claims about LTI reduction really are.
We were working with a company with 85 employees once that was very proud of their safety record. Over the past four years, their injuries dropped from 19, to 7, to 4, and then to 1. What a marvelous accomplishment! Managers were understandably glowing. Of course, any reduction in actually hurting people is a good thing. Any reduction in honesty around reporting, or not calling injuries for what they are (rather than creatively case-managed instances of ‰??light duties‰??) is of course not a good thing. But that didn‰??t seem the issue as much here.
The issue was how the managers felt about their own interventions and actions. They‰??d done a bunch of things (like putting up posters telling everybody else to be more careful out there, and affixing stickers on bathroom mirrors telling that you were looking at the person most responsible for your safety) that they believed were responsible for this amazing reduction. They also did some more training of their people, and reminded them of the appropriate protective equipment to wear with various tasks.
....
There is a 92% probability that the injury reduction is just random noise. In other words, a fat chance (very fat: 92% fat) that the managers had nothing, absolutely nothing to do with the reduction.
---------------------------------------------
NO ONE REPORTED INJURED IN FAYETTEVILLE COMMERCIAL GAS LEAK
https://www.fayobserver.com/news/20190624/no-one-reported-injured-in-fayetteville-commercial-gas-leak
Tags: us_NC, public, release, response, natural_gas
The first-arriving firefighters in the area of Legend and Skibo roads learned that members of a construction crew struck a gas line.
No one was reported injured late Monday morning when Fayetteville firefighers and the fire department‰??s hazmat units responded to a commercial gas leak on Legend Avenue.
At approximately 11:30 a.m., the first-arriving firefighters on location in the area of Legend and Skibo Road learned that members of a construction crew had struck a gas line.
Hazmat units and Piedmont Natural Gas responded to the scene.
‰??One business near the leak was evacuated,‰?? a news release said, referring to the Caliber Collision auto repair and paint shop on Skibo Road. ‰??Hazmat crews were able to stop the leak.‰??
Employees later returned to the business, the fire department said.
---------------------------------------------
TORRINGTON MAN EXPOSED TO ‰??TEAR GAS-LIKE AGENT‰?? AFTER HAZARDOUS MATERIAL SPILL
https://www.courant.com/breaking-news/hc-br-torrington-hazardous-material-tear-gas-20190625-jp4wnnka7negpj7hdlhv7zmuxi-story.html
Tags: us_CT, public, release, injury, tear_gas
A Torrington man was treated for exposure to a ‰??tear gas-like agent‰?? after calling in a hazardous material spill Monday afternoon.
Officials later determined the liquid could have been chloropicrin, a chemical commonly used in fumigation and agriculture but also can be harmful to humans in high concentrations and was deployed as a poison gas in World War I.
The man reported the spill just before 3 p.m. Monday at 45 Water Street, where a vial of liquid broke when he was opening a safe in the building, Deputy Fire Chief David Tripp, Jr. said.
Firefighters arrived just a few minutes later and donned full protective hazardous materials gear before they entered the building and found the man experiencing symptoms consistent with a kind of tear gas, Tripp said.
---------------------------------------------
MASSIVE CRATER IN GERMAN CORNFIELD LIKELY CAUSED BY EXPLODING WWII BOMB
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/wwii-bomb-explodes-german-cornfield_n_5d113840e4b07ae90da202be?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAACKrUn8IeG9HCoJr0kDMKCySBinvH_N5OQIztxREZIWKCTSq5yJjQhHmEuWuPYWIdq3zamKogDKJ5Xm0YGQSbmTyeqXKaYrNFZlnY_0R9XZ_S_LbyWyWYZiOqf3_d_M80H16j8CqZRWvG_tGVgY8b5TWUbHCD50todXQd2UmKDf7
Tags: Germany, public, explosion, response, bomb
A 33-foot wide, 13-foot deep crater that appeared in the middle of a German cornfield this weekend was likely caused by the detonation of a World War II-era bomb, police say.
Residents in the western town of Ahlbach described the sound of a strong explosion and earthquake-like shaking around 3:50 in the morning on Sunday, apparently when the ordnance finally exploded more than seven decades after it was dropped.
---------------------------------------------
HERE‰??S WHY AQMD COMMITTEE CHOSE ENHANCED SAFETY MEASURES OVER A BAN ON MHF AT REFINERIES IN WILMINGTON AND TORRANCE ‰?? DAILY BREEZE
https://www.dailybreeze.com/2019/06/24/heres-why-aqmd-committee-chose-enhanced-safety-measures-over-a-ban-on-mhf-at-refineries-in-wilmington-and-torrance/
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, hydrofluoric_acid
Improved safety systems at two South Bay refineries are preferable to a phase-out and eventual ban of modified hydrofluoric acid, a subcommittee of the region‰??s air pollution watchdog has recommended.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District voted 3-2 over the weekend to recommend to the agency‰??s governing board they should support the option of signing a memorandum of understanding with each refinery in Torrance and Wilmington that will pave the way for more mitigation systems to reduce the risk of an accidental release of the toxic chemical.
A vote on the issue by the full AQMD governing board could come later this year.
That mirrors what the committee said in April 2018 when it rejected a ban of the chemical because of a lack of current alternatives to MHF.
‰??Everything we do in life has risks and what we try to do is manage that risk the best we can through training, through technology improvements,‰?? committee chairman Larry McCallon, who is also mayor of the San Bernardino County community of Highland, said before the vote at the end of the all-day meeting.
---------------------------------------------
INVESTIGATIONS OF PHILADELPHIA REFINERY FIRE TO INCLUDE POTENTIAL RELEASE OF DANGEROUS CHEMICAL
https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2019/06/24/investigations-of-philadelphia-refinery-fire-to-include-potential-release-of-dangerous-chemical/
Tags: us_PA, industrial, explosion, response, petroleum
Investigators from the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board who are investigating Friday‰??s refinery fire in South Philadelphia say their report will include recommendations aimed at preventing future incidents.
Kristen Kulinowski, interim executive of the independent agency, said staff will be interviewing people involved and poring over documents to present a ‰??detailed and fact-based report‰?? of the fire at Philadelphia Energy Solutions.
Kulinowski said those recommendations could be aimed at the company or regulators.
‰??Wherever we see a gap that could have contributed to the incident or exacerbated the consequences of that incident we try to close that gap with a recommendation,‰?? she said.
The explosion and fire took a day and a half to extinguish and destroyed the alkylation unit that turned crude oil into gasoline. The former Sunoco refinery includes two facilities, Point Breeze and Girard Point, which together had the combined capacity of processing 335,000 barrels of crude oil a day.
---------------------------------------------
US EPA PROPOSES PARTIAL BANS ON FOUR PBTS
https://chemicalwatch.com/79133/us-epa-proposes-partial-bans-on-four-pbts
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
The US EPA has proposed to ban most uses of two flame retardants, a fuel and lubricant additive, and a substance used in rubber manufacturing as part of its effort to address persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) substances that were subject to fast-tracked action under the 2016 revisions to TSCA.
The 2016 Lautenberg Act directed the EPA to take "expedited" action on certain PBTs by skipping conducting risk evaluations for them, and instead proceeding directly to risk management efforts.
The five substances, which were first identified in October 2016, are:
decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE), a flame retardant;
phenol isopropylated phosphate (3:1), also known as PIP (3:1), used as a flame retardant in consumer products and as a lubricant and hydraulic fluid;
2,4,6-tris(tert-butyl) phenol (2,4,6-TTBP), an additive in fuels and lubricants;
pentachlorothiophenol (PCTP), used to make rubber more pliable; and
hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD), used as a solvent and as a hydraulic, heat transfer or transformer fluid.
The law says the agency must address the risk they pose to human health or the environment, and reduce exposure to them "to the extent practicable".
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