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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, February 23, 2022 at 6:47:36 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 (10 articles)
NO EVIDENCE YET OF HARM TO MARINE LIFE AFTER WEST COAST CHEMICAL CARGO DUMP
Tags: South_Africa, transportation, release, environmental, unknown_chemical
ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCIES INVESTIGATING SHEEN ON HURON RIVER TRIBUTARY NEAR FLAT ROCK
Tags: us_MI, public, release, response, petroleum
ENERGY-GUZZLING FUME HOODS PUT ON A DIET
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY'S ANALYSIS OF DIVERSITY IN ITS JOURNALS CONFIRMS AN 'IMBALANCE'
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2021 WORKSHOP ON LABORATORY SAFETY: ADVANCING SAFETY IN TEACHING AND RESEARCH LABORATORIES
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, discovery, environmental
FREIGHT TRAIN DERAILS IN ARIZONA; CREWS CONTAIN SOLVENT LEAK
Tags: us_AZ, transportation, release, response, solvent
CREW RESPONDED TO 'HAZARDOUS MATERIAL INCIDENT' IN SPARTANBURG CO.
Tags: us_SC, transportation, release, response, sodium_hydroxide
SEWER GAS LEAK AT PHANTOM FIREWORKS WAREHOUSE SENDS ONE MAN TO H
Tags: us_OH, industrial, release, injury, methane
FIRE GUTS WESTHAM SECONDARY SCHOOL'S SCIENCE LAB IN PHOENIX
Tags: South_Africa, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
WHAT FACTORS PREDICT PFAS CONTAMINATION IN GROUNDWATER?
Tags: laboratory, explosion, environmental, other_chemical
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NO EVIDENCE YET OF HARM TO MARINE LIFE AFTER WEST COAST CHEMICAL CARGO DUMP
https://mg.co.za/environment/2022-02-22-no-evidence-yet-of-harm-to-marine-life-after-west-coast-chemical-cargo-dump/
Tags: South_Africa, transportation, release, environmental, unknown_chemical
preliminary assessment has found that marine life was not harmed after contaminated cargo was dumped 250km off the West Coast near Saldanha, but a medium to long-term environmental study is still to be done.
'Current monitoring does not indicate any deleterious impacts at the moment, but further medium to long-term monitoring will be done to ascertain if there are any delayed or longer term impacts,' said Wouter Kriel, spokesperson for the Western Cape's MEC of local government, environmental affairs and development planning, Anton Bredell.
The department of forestry, fisheries and the environment said the longer term study is expected to start in mid-March or sooner.
The NS Qingdao bulk cargo ship was off-loading cargo at the Port of Saldanha when a chemical reaction took place, causing toxic fumes. After an urgent submission to the department of fisheries and the South African Maritime Safety Authorities (Samsa), the ship was given permission to dump the cargo.
The authorities gave the green light for about 1 450 tons of chemical cargo to be deposited in 3 000m deep water offshore.
'This was done to protect the integrity of the ship, and to prevent a full-scale disaster where the ship might have broken up due to an onboard fire, potentially polluting our coastline with its cargo as well as the fuel it carried,' according to the Western Cape government, which is overseeing the ongoing salvage operation.
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ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCIES INVESTIGATING SHEEN ON HURON RIVER TRIBUTARY NEAR FLAT ROCK
https://www.michiganradio.org/environment-climate-change/2022-02-22/environmental-agencies-investigating-sheen-on-huron-river-tributary-near-flat-rock
Tags: us_MI, public, release, response, petroleum
State and federal environmental agencies are investigating a chemical-like sheen on a tributary to the Huron River, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy said Tuesday.
The sheen is in the city of Flat Rock, in Metro Detroit's Downriver area. That city also suffered a chemical spill in its sewer system from a Ford plant last fall.
EGLE spokesperson Jill Greenberg agency said the spill, first reported by anglers on Monday evening, appears to be bubbling up from beneath the water. But for now, it's unclear what it is or where it's coming from. The U.S. EPA was onsite on Tuesday to take samples for testing, she said.
Greenberg said the sheen is about 500 feet long, and for now is well-contained by floating booms. She said this begins the 'containment phase' of the eventual clean-up operation, while authorities look for the cause and composition of the sheen.
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ENERGY-GUZZLING FUME HOODS PUT ON A DIET
https://cen.acs.org/environment/sustainability/Energy-guzzling-fume-hoods-put-diet/100/i8
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental
Walls lined with humming fume hoods are a defining feature of many chemistry laboratories. These safety devices, part of a lab's overall ventilation system, suck hazardous airborne chemicals away from people running experiments and others in the lab.
Fume hoods are notorious energy hogs. But rapidly changing technologies are leading a number of US colleges and universities to shrink the energy and climate footprint of their spaces'particularly undergraduate chemistry laboratories that sport scads of hoods.
Beyond this, some lab ventilation specialists are raising questions about the need for large numbers of hoods in teaching labs. They are challenging instructors to consider changes in lab courses to allow for alternative, effective safety measures that are less energy intensive than standard fume hoods.
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AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY'S ANALYSIS OF DIVERSITY IN ITS JOURNALS CONFIRMS AN 'IMBALANCE'
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/american-chemical-societys-analysis-of-diversity-in-its-journals-confirms-an-imbalance/4015260.article
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental
The American Chemical Society's (ACS) first-ever diversity report on its authors, reviewers, editors and editorial advisory board (EAB) members shows some significant but not unexpected disparities. The organisation said it will use this benchmark data to implement changes that can address systemic issues in peer review, editor selection, accessibility and other factors affecting diversity in scientific publishing.
The ACS undertook a demographic survey last year that informed the new report and found that men make up the majority of these categories, often by at least two-to-one. 'The imbalance between the number of men and women in each stakeholder group is present at every stage of the publishing process for ACS publications journals,' the report concludes. 'Among all the authors, men have far greater representation than women or non-binary persons, in line with global trends on gender disparity in chemistry.'
The acceptance rate for all authors at ACS journals is essentially identical. However, women submit about 10% fewer manuscripts per person each year to ACS journals, and they are also less likely to be the corresponding author on a paper. Although women make up 32% of all authors on papers submitted to ACS journals, they represent only 24% of corresponding authors. Meanwhile, non-binary authors are less than 1.5% of all author groups.
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2021 WORKSHOP ON LABORATORY SAFETY: ADVANCING SAFETY IN TEACHING AND RESEARCH LABORATORIES
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.chas.2c00003
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, discovery, environmental
The University of California Center for Laboratory Safety held its fifth biennial Workshop on Laboratory Safety in May of 2021. The Workshops on Laboratory Safety provide a unique forum for researchers and safety professionals to exchange perspectives and ideas. The theme of this year's workshop was Advancing Safety in Teaching and Research Laboratories. Speakers emphasized the importance of an enlightened leadership style, the significance of integrating risk assessments into the science curriculum, and the impact of human factors on risk minimization. Furthermore, speakers discussed innovative programs to engage Principal Investigators in organizational safety culture and computational approaches for defining the toxicity of chemical compounds. Panels discussed two topics: student-led safety initiatives and the long-term impact of COVID-19 on academic life, research, and lab safety. Finally, 11 workgroups examined current safety topics over the 3 day course of the worksh!
op culminating in final presentations on their recommendations. This paper summarizes all presentations and lists key resources from each discussion.
---------------------------------------------
FREIGHT TRAIN DERAILS IN ARIZONA; CREWS CONTAIN SOLVENT LEAK
https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/chemical-leak-contained-20-union-pacific-cars-derailed-near-coolidge-officials-say
Tags: us_AZ, transportation, release, response, solvent
PHOENIX - HAZMAT crews in Pinal County were called to the scene of a train derailment involving multiple cars, according to officials with Union Pacific.
According to a brief Facebook post by the Coolidge Police Department, the derailment happened east of Highway 87, at Storey Road. In a separate statement, officials with Union Pacific say the derailment happened at around 11:50 a.m.
Union Pacific officials say HAZMAT crews were called to the scene because a tank car carrying cyclohexanone released material into the ground.
According to the website of The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Cyclohexanone can cause various irritations, headache, and even coma. It can also cause liver and kidney damage in animals. The chemical is listed on the National Library of Medicine's website as a chemical that is used to make nylon, or as a solvent.
Cyclohexanone was also being carried by a train that caught fire over Tempe Town Lake in July 2020. The fire resulted in the partial collapse of a rail bridge in the area.
"The tank car has been secured. Clean-up efforts have been begun," read a portion of the Union Pacific statement.
---------------------------------------------
CREW RESPONDED TO 'HAZARDOUS MATERIAL INCIDENT' IN SPARTANBURG CO.
https://www.foxcarolina.com/crew-responded-to-hazardous-material-incident-in-spartanburg-co/article_68f7c5c6-9391-11ec-bbf7-67119914495c.html
Tags: us_SC, transportation, release, response, sodium_hydroxide
DUNCAN, SC (FOX Carolina)- The Reidville Fire Department said crews responded to an incident this afternoon at Spartanburg Tank Wash on Tucapau Road.
Officials were dispatched to the scene at around 1:20 p.m. When they arrived, they found a tanker vehicle that had smoke coming from it.
According to officials, they asked the HAZMAT team to investigate the situation out of caution. The team later determined that the smoke came from a reaction between tall oil and the sodium hydroxide that workers were using to clean the tanker.
Officials said they notified the Department of Health and Environmental about the incident.
---------------------------------------------
SEWER GAS LEAK AT PHANTOM FIREWORKS WAREHOUSE SENDS ONE MAN TO H
https://www.wfmj.com/story/45916110/sewer-gas-leak-at-phantom-fireworks-warehouse-sends-one-man-to-hospital
Tags: us_OH, industrial, release, injury, methane
An unlikely odor was allegedly to blame for one Phantom Fireworks employee being sent to the hospital and other workers being evacuated from a company warehouse.
Dominion Energy arrived at the building in Howland Township just before 12:30 p.m. Monday when first responders were told there was a possible gas leak. After spending 30 minutes at the warehouse, a Dominion representative said the smell was not natural gas.
It turns out the scent flowing throughout the storeroom was gas from sewer water, according to Phantom Fireworks Vice President Bill Weimer. The incident occurred while internal pipes were being flushed, Weimer said.
Howland Township Fire Captain Brian Pugh said the pipes were inside the facility's sprinkler system. Pugh added that there was stagnant water floating in a sump pump.
The stench caused one worker to pass out, reports said. He woke up soon after but was transported to a nearby hospital to be evaluated for any further treatment. Phantom Fireworks said the man is okay.
---------------------------------------------
FIRE GUTS WESTHAM SECONDARY SCHOOL'S SCIENCE LAB IN PHOENIX
https://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/news/kwazulu-natal/fire-guts-westham-secondary-schools-science-lab-in-phoenix-0579848b-b152-41c2-bbe6-4b039586a5c7
Tags: South_Africa, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
DURBAN - Pupils at Westham Secondary School in Phoenix are without a science laboratory after a fire ripped through the classroom on Sunday night.
Durban Fire Department Divisional Commander Jesse Yasudas said one classroom in a block consisting of that and two other classrooms caught alight.
Yasudas said the fire was contained and extinguished rapidly by firefighters, but the infrastructure including the roof was damaged.
He said there were no injuries, but the school equipment and school furniture were destroyed by fire.
'The cause of the fire is being investigated including allegations that it might have been an electrical fault,' he said.
---------------------------------------------
WHAT FACTORS PREDICT PFAS CONTAMINATION IN GROUNDWATER?
https://cen.acs.org/environment/water/factors-predict-PFAS-contamination-groundwater/100/web/2022/02
Tags: laboratory, explosion, environmental, other_chemical
An extensive analysis of water samples from wells across the eastern US links per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in groundwater to the presence of other chemicals and various land uses. The data could help create models to predict what regions are high risk for PFAS contamination (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2022, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c04795).
Exposure to PFAS has been linked to serious health conditions and is widespread. But identifying contaminated sites is slow and difficult because detecting the fluorinated compounds requires expensive instruments and specialized laboratory protocols to prevent sample contamination. To begin regulating PFAS as a drinking water contaminant, testing randomly sampled wells isn't enough, says Cindy Hu, a data scientist at the research firm Mathematica who was not involved in the study. 'We have to have a framework to know where to focus our resources.'
In the new study, conducted as part of the US Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Project, USGS scientists led by Peter B. McMahon collected 254 well samples from five aquifer networks in the eastern US and tested them for 24 PFAS and a host of other chemical species. They also obtained land-use information, such as the sites' proximities to urban and agricultural areas or to firefighter training sites, where PFAS-containing firefighting foams are commonly used. Using the massive amount of data, the researchers then built a model to find out how well various factors correlated to PFAS contamination.
The presence of tritium emerged as the unexpected top predictor of PFAS. The distance from each sampled well to a fire training site was the second-best predictor for contamination, followed by the amount of dissolved organic carbon, which could play a role in transporting PFAS in water.
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