Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, February 25, 2022 at 6:21:56 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 (17 articles)
TANKER SPILLS CO2 LIQUID FOLLOWING CRASH NORTH OF PUEBLO
Tags: us_CO, transportation, release, response, carbon_dioxide
LATEST UPDATE: POOL CHEMICALS MIXED MAKING HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS AT HAMPTON INN
Tags: us_NY, public, release, injury, chlorine, pool_chemicals
KOVILPATTI: FOUR KILLED IN FIREWORKS UNIT EXPLOSION IN TAMIL NADU
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, death, fireworks
FIRE AT PASIR GUDANG FACTORY, EXPLOSION CAUSED FIREBALL SEEN IN SINGAPORE ACROSS JOHOR STRAITS
Tags: Malaysia, industrial, fire, response, petroleum
HOMEMADE ROCKET FUEL EXPLOSION IN BYU DORM DISPLACES 22 STUDENTS
Tags: us_UT, public, explosion, response, unknown_chemical, illegal
OIL AND GAS FACILITIES COULD PROFIT FROM PLUGGING METHANE LEAKS, IEA SAYS
Tags: Europe, public, release, environmental, methane
HOMEOWNERS RE-FILE LAWSUIT AGAINST WESTSIDE CHEMICAL FACTORY
Tags: us_FL, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical
MEPA URGED TO ENSURE SAFETY OF WORKERS ENGAGED IN CLEARING TOXIC DEBRIS FROM X-PRESS DISASTER ' THE ISLAND
Tags: Sri_Lanka, transportation, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
SOURCE OF FLAT ROCK CHEMICAL SPILL REMAINS MYSTERY
Tags: us_MI, public, follow-up, response, benzene
FIREFIGHTERS BATTLING BLAZE IN PIERPONT
Tags: us_SD, public, fire, response, propane
EFFECT OF ZINC OXIDE ON THE THERMAL DECOMPOSITION OF DIMETHYL SULFOXIDE
Tags: Chile, laboratory, discovery, environmental, zinc, dmso
EUROPEAN REGULATOR MOVES TO BAN PFAS COMPOUNDS IN FIREFIGHTING FOAMS
Tags: Europe, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
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
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TANKER SPILLS CO2 LIQUID FOLLOWING CRASH NORTH OF PUEBLO
https://www.kktv.com/2022/02/24/hazmat-cleanup-underway-following-crash-north-pueblo/
Tags: us_CO, transportation, release, response, carbon_dioxide
PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV) - Hazmat crews have finished cleaning up CO2 liquid from the roadway after a crash involving a small tanker Thursday morning.
State Patrol tells 11 News a pickup driver inadvertently caused the Hazmat situation when they fell asleep and rear-ended the tanker on I-25 north of Pueblo. The tanker began leaking and pulled off onto the Young Hollow exit ramp (114).
The crash did not affect traffic outside of blocking the exit. No injuries were reported.
Hazmat crews wrapped up just after 11 a.m.
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LATEST UPDATE: POOL CHEMICALS MIXED MAKING HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS AT HAMPTON INN
https://wxhc.com/latest-update-pool-chemicals-mixed-making-hazardous-conditions-at-hampton-inn/
Tags: us_NY, public, release, injury, chlorine, pool_chemicals
Yesterday afternoon (February 23rd) around 1:50 pm the Cortland City Fire Department responded to the Hampton Inn on River Street for a reported hazardous condition.
According to an update from the city fire department pool chemicals were mixed and created a toxic chlorine gas in the hotel, and not cleaning supplies.
All employees and guests were evacuated. TLC Ambulance as a precaution, arrived to check on anyone not feeling well. One city fire fighter was evaluated at the hospital and was treated then released.
The city Hazmat unit respond as well. They continuously checked the buildings air quality.
The Cortland County Health Department, DEC, New York State Fire investigators also responded to the scene.
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KOVILPATTI: FOUR KILLED IN FIREWORKS UNIT EXPLOSION IN TAMIL NADU
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/4-killed-in-fireworks-unit-explosion-in-tn/articleshow/89813423.cms
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, death, fireworks
TUTICORIN: Four workers died in a cracker unit explosion in Thuraiyoor near Kovilpatti in Tuticorin district on Thursday. The explosion took place in one of the sheds of New Century Fireworks, a leading firecracker manufacturer.
This is the fourth major accident in firecracker units this year in which three or more lives have been lost in Virudhunagar and Tuticorin districts.
Thursday's explosion at Thuraiyoor was in a working shed with a concrete roof where fancy fireworks were being manufactured. The wall around it were razed.
The explosion took place around 2.10pm. The deceased have been identified as Jayaraj, 47, of Thottampatti, Thangavel, 43, of Kumarapuram, Kannan, 48, of Nalattinputhur and Ramar of Erachi. Their bodies have been sent to Kovilpatti government hospital for postmortem. No one was injured in the incident as many workers were out for lunch. Police registered a case against those in charge of the unit.
'Explosion after worker took 5kg of chemical into shed'
Tuticorin district fire officer (DFO) S Kumar told TOI that a worker was seen carrying a bucket with 5kg of chemical mixtures into the shed to fill it in the fancy firecrackers.
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FIRE AT PASIR GUDANG FACTORY, EXPLOSION CAUSED FIREBALL SEEN IN SINGAPORE ACROSS JOHOR STRAITS
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/fire-johor-pasir-gudang-factory-seen-singapore-2517516
Tags: Malaysia, industrial, fire, response, petroleum
PASIR GUDANG, Johor: A fire that broke out at a factory in Pasir Gudang in Johor resulted in a fireball that was spotted by people in neighbouring Singapore.
A spokesperson from Taman Pasir Putih police station told CNA that a fire at a Lotte Ube Synthetic Rubber (LUSR) plant at Tanjung Langsat on Thursday (Feb 24) afternoon led to "an explosion".
According to a report by Argus Media, the plant is jointly owned by South Korean petrochemical producer Lotte Chemical, and Japanese firm Ube Industries as well as Mitsubishi. Malaysia's Lotte Chemical Titan divested its 10 per cent shareholding in LUSR in December.
The spokesperson, who declined to be named, added that efforts to put out the fire were still ongoing as of 8.30pm.
Mr Ibrahim Omar, deputy head of fire operations at Pasir Gudang Fire and Rescue station, told CNA that his team had received a call at around 5.15pm to attend to a fire incident at the factory.
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HOMEMADE ROCKET FUEL EXPLOSION IN BYU DORM DISPLACES 22 STUDENTS
https://www.campussafetymagazine.com/news/homemade-rocket-fuel-explosion-in-byu-dorm-displaces-22-students/
Tags: us_UT, public, explosion, response, unknown_chemical, illegal
Provo, Utah ' A 22-year-old Brigham Young University (BYU) student trying to cook up some homemade rocket fuel in his residence hall kitchen caused a fireball to erupt on Sunday afternoon.
The flames engulfed the kitchen, and the heat from the fire tripped Heritage Halls' fire alarm system. When firefighters arrived at the scene, the building's sprinkler system was flooding the main floor, reports KUTV. They were able to quickly extinguish the flames.
The explosion led to 22 BYU students being displaced from their dorm rooms, reports CNN. No one was injured, and many student residents weren't on campus due to it being a holiday weekend.
'Keep your experiments in the lab and supervised by trained professionals,' BYU campus police told students in a Twitter post after the mishap.
Police are still investigating why the student responsible for the explosion tried to make homemade rocket fuel. Authorities say he is being very cooperative but that it's possible he could face criminal charges. The experiment was not a class assignment.
Needless to say, exploding homemade rocket fuel is a highly unusual occurrence in college dorms. BYU Police spokesperson Jeff Long told KUTV that the fire department usually responds to burned Pop Tarts in that building.
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OIL AND GAS FACILITIES COULD PROFIT FROM PLUGGING METHANE LEAKS, IEA SAYS
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/23/oil-and-gas-facilities-could-profit-from-plugging-methane-leaks-iea-says?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Tags: Europe, public, release, environmental, methane
Plugging methane from leaky oil and gas facilities would be free of cost almost everywhere in the world, and in many cases would produce a significant profit, at today's soaring gas prices, the International Energy Agency has found, suggesting that governments have few excuses for not taking action to curb emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas.
Governments have been underreporting their emissions of methane to a dramatic extent, and those emissions are still rising fast, according to the Global Methane Tracker report from the IEA published on Wednesday. Using satellites and other new data, the energy watchdog found emissions were about 70% higher than national governments had suggested, showing the need for far greater monitoring, as well as efforts to staunch leaks.
Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA, a leading authority on energy economics, said: 'At today's elevated gas prices, nearly all of the emissions [of methane] from oil and gas operations worldwide could be avoided at no net cost. The IEA has been a longstanding champion of stronger action to cut methane emissions. A vital part of those efforts is transparency on the size and location of emissions, which is why the massive underreporting revealed by our Global Methane Tracker is so alarming.'
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HOMEOWNERS RE-FILE LAWSUIT AGAINST WESTSIDE CHEMICAL FACTORY
https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/local/homeowners-re-file-lawsuit-against-westside-chemical-factory-citing-vile-sickening-odors/77-9e5f4116-01ba-4154-bafe-0b1573d453ff
Tags: us_FL, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. ' (The video above is from a previous story)
Several Murray Hill homeowners have re-filed a lawsuit against a Westside chemical plant they blame for odors that they claim are destroying their quality of life and damaging their property values.
The plaintiffs' original class action lawsuit against IFF Chemical Holdings Inc. was tossed out by a federal judge last summer after he determined the court did not have jurisdiction, as the plaintiffs and the company were all Florida citizens.
The new filing makes similar claims, saying the fragrance factory's processes emit a 'sickly sweet turpentine smell' that floats into surrounding neighborhoods and lasts for three hours at a time.
The company has not yet filed a response in court but has previously has denied being the source of the odors.
The City of Jacksonville recently installed odor sensors around town in an attempt to verify the source of the awful smells. The odor has been the subject of hundreds of complaints, according to the city.
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MEPA URGED TO ENSURE SAFETY OF WORKERS ENGAGED IN CLEARING TOXIC DEBRIS FROM X-PRESS DISASTER ' THE ISLAND
https://island.lk/mepa-urged-to-ensure-protection-of-workers-engaged-in-clearing-toxic-debris-from-x-press-disaster/
Tags: Sri_Lanka, transportation, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
Nearly 70 people engaged in the cleaning and collecting of nurdles from the ill-fated X-Press Pearl Ship, which sank off the port of Colombo in May 2021, were at a severe risk due to being exposed to harmful chemical substances, warns a team of experts covering a wide spectrum.
Hemantha Withanage, Senior Advisor, Centre for Environmental Justice/Chairman, Friends of the Earth, told The Island yesterday that they had informed the Marine Pollution Prevention Authority (MEPA) of the carcinogenic effects and the potential disasters in waiting.
'There are some 70 odd women at work and they are exposed to higher risk and it is the paramount duty of MEPA to ensure their safety. This should be scientifically handled,' Withanage strongly believes.
Withanage said that going by the scientific evidence, the ship's chemical spill would have a negative impact for 500 years.
According to Withanage the International Maritime Organization's Maritime Safety Commission is currently discussing how to address the loss of plastic pellets at sea and better track containers lost at sea.
Sri Lanka has submitted a proposal to classify plastic pellets as hazardous substances, and Vanuatu has presented one addressing the reporting of containers lost at sea.
---------------------------------------------
SOURCE OF FLAT ROCK CHEMICAL SPILL REMAINS MYSTERY
https://www.wxyz.com/news/region/wayne-county/epa-and-egle-say-chemical-spill-in-flat-rock-is-contained-but-source-remains-mystery
Tags: us_MI, public, follow-up, response, benzene
FLAT ROCK, Mich. (WXYZ) ' The EPA collected more samples Wednesday and shipped them to an out-of-state lab. The goal is to find out what the oil-like chemical is that is seeping into a backchannel connected to the Huron River.
This is happening in Flat Rock, a community still traumatized by a benzene leak at the Ford Flat Rock Assembly Plant in September. The past event forced many to leave their homes for weeks due to safety concerns.
Now residents want to know what is in the river their community is built around.
'Everybody loves the river,' said Jamie Warren, Atwater Street Tacos Manager Trainee.
Tricia Edwards with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says they can see a substance that appears to be some kind of oil bubbling up from the water, just downstream from a bridge over a back channel that fortunately does not rapidly flow into the river.
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FIREFIGHTERS BATTLING BLAZE IN PIERPONT
https://www.aberdeennews.com/story/news/local/2022/02/23/firefighters-battling-blaze-pierpont/6911541001/
Tags: us_SD, public, fire, response, propane
Day County firefighters are working on putting out a fire in Pierpont today.
Firefighters were called Full Circle Ag around 11:30 a.m. for a report of a fire, Day County Emergency Management Director Bryan Anderson said.
No injuries have been reported, he said, and the cause is unknown as firefighters from five departments work to extinguish flames. The fire has spread from one of two storage buildings to the office building, he said.
Fire departments from Pierpont, Webster, Andover, Bristol and Langford are on scene, and the Britton fire department is on standby in case additional water is needed, Anderson said.
State Highway 27 is blocked, and traffic is being directed around the area, Anderson said.
The fire originated in the chemical shed, and smoke is rising up about 1,000 feet before moving to the southeast, he said. That means toxic fumes from the chemicals are not a concern at this time, he said.
Materials in storage are not combustible, Anderson said, and the nearby propane tank has been turned off and is being monitored.
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EFFECT OF ZINC OXIDE ON THE THERMAL DECOMPOSITION OF DIMETHYL SULFOXIDE
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.oprd.1c00275
Tags: Chile, laboratory, discovery, environmental, zinc, dmso
Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is widely used in the chemical industry. However, it has a non-neglectful thermal runaway risk due to the nature of self-accelerating decomposition near the boiling point. Under the background that zinc oxide (ZnO) may extend the isothermal induction period of thermal decomposition of DMSO, this article conducts an in-depth study for the phenomenon with the techniques such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), accelerating rate calorimetry (ARC), gas chromatography'mass spectrometry (GC'MS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray diffractometry (XRD). After being mixed with ZnO, the maximum decomposition rate of DMSO was significantly reduced and the adiabatic induction period of DMSO decomposition was extended by 3.27 times, indicating that the thermal decomposition intensity of DMSO was obviously reduced. It was experimentally demonstrated that ZnO did not change the decomposition pathways of DMSO, but it could promote the dec!
omposition of methanethiol, which was a decomposition intermediate of DMSO and could potentially serve as a promoter on the decomposition of DMSO.
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EUROPEAN REGULATOR MOVES TO BAN PFAS COMPOUNDS IN FIREFIGHTING FOAMS
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/european-regulator-moves-to-ban-pfas-compounds-in-firefighting-foams/4015276.article
Tags: Europe, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
The European Chemicals Agency (Echa) has proposed an EU-wide ban on all per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in firefighting foams, to prevent further groundwater and soil contamination. Based on a review of the environmental and health dangers posed by the use of these chemicals in firefighting foams, the agency announced on 23 February that restriction throughout Europe is justified because the risks posed by PFAS ' a controversial class of persistent, highly mobile and potentially toxic compounds ' are not adequately controlled.
The agency's proposal would ban the sale, use and export of all PFAS in firefighting foams after use or specific transition periods that would allow time for industry to replace these foams without compromising fire safety. During the transition phase, companies still using PFAS-based foams would have to ensure that environmental release is minimised, and that expired foams and related waste are appropriately disposed of.
The restriction, if adopted, could reduce the release of PFAS into the environment by more than 1000 tonnes over 30 years, Echa estimates. The agency calculates the associated costs of the proposal at approximately ‰?Â7 billion (å£5.8 billion) over the same period, including the price of modifying equipment for using PFAS-free foams, cleaning equipment to remove residues, and the cost difference between PFAS and alternative foams.
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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.
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Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
Membership Chair
American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Health and Safety
membership**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
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