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From: Ralph Stuart <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (7 articles)
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2022 06:17:30 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
Message-ID: 5A0FB181-48A5-4E27-AC24-E73B46A3E05A**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, April 13, 2022 at 6:17:07 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)
I-80 CRASH RESULTS IN CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_NV, transportation, release, injury, other_chemical
PIPE BURST LEADS TO CHEMICAL LEAK IN RYE BROOK
Tags: us_NY, public, release, environmental, unknown_chemical
UPL TOXIC CHEMICAL WASTE LEAKS ON TO DURBAN BEACHES AGA...
Tags: South_Africa, industrial, release, environmental, pesticides
STUDY SHOWS REGULAR BLOOD DONATION COULD REMOVE PFAS FROM FIREFIGHTERS' BODIES
Tags: Australia, industrial, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
SIX CHARRED TO DEATH AFTER BLAST AT INDIAN CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, death, petroleum
RADIATION DISCOVERED TO BE A MAJOR OVERLOOKED SOURCE OF NATURAL GAS GENERATION IN SHALES
Tags: Canada, laboratory, discovery, environmental, natural_gas, radiation
CONTRACTOR CHARGED AFTER DOZENS OF FISH KILLED IN WEST VANCOUVER
Tags: Canada, public, release, environmental, unknown_chemical
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I-80 CRASH RESULTS IN CHEMICAL SPILL
https://www.kolotv.com/2022/04/12/i-80-crash-results-chemical-spill/
Tags: us_NV, transportation, release, injury, other_chemical
RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - Nevada State Police is investigating a crash on Interstate 80 that resulted in a hazmat situation. Investigators say a pickup blew a tire on westbound I-80 between Lockwood and Vista Boulevard early Monday with a semi right behind it. The semi rear-ended the pickup, causing the semi to leak fumaryl chloride.
Both drivers sustained only minor injuries. One was taken to the hospital.
A hazmat team was called to the scene to clean up the spill.
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PIPE BURST LEADS TO CHEMICAL LEAK IN RYE BROOK
https://bronx.news12.com/pipe-burst-leads-to-chemical-leak-in-rye-brook
Tags: us_NY, public, release, environmental, unknown_chemical
An unknown chemical leak has now been contained in Rye Brook after fire officials were on scene at Bind Brook Tuesday morning.
The manager of The Pointe, a residential building, called in authorities after noticing an odd color in the water. The leak was determined to be due to a pipe in the Port Chester Middle School area, across from the brook.
Hazmat crews were on scene at the school to determine what type of chemical and the exact location of the spill. Officials tell News 12 the situation is not a direct threat to the public.
"As of right now, there's no hazard to any humans. This is more of an environmental, waterway hazard,' Rye Brook Fire Department Chief Herbie Bocchino said.
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UPL TOXIC CHEMICAL WASTE LEAKS ON TO DURBAN BEACHES AGA...
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-04-12-upl-toxic-chemical-waste-leaks-on-to-durban-beaches-again-in-heavy-rains/
Tags: South_Africa, industrial, release, environmental, pesticides
A 'pollution control dam' designed to safely capture toxic and hazardous waste residue from the gutted UPL pesticide warehouse in Durban has overflowed, releasing an unspecified quantity of chemically contaminated wastewater into the Umhlanga River and adjoining beaches north of Durban.
It is understood that the makeshift dam started to overflow just after 6pm on 11 April at the height of the rainstorm that caused havoc in KwaZulu-Natal.
City officials in Durban have not responded to queries on the estimated volume of wastewater that spilled from the dam, nor whether the city will close swimming beaches as a precaution against toxic chemical hazards. However, all Durban beaches are now closed due to heavy seas, debris and pollution generated from several rivers.
UPL, an Indian-owned pesticide and farm poisons supplier, insisted in a media statement on 12 April: 'recent levels of metals and contaminants of concern in the pollution control dam were very low' and 'no further impacts on the [Umhlanga] estuary or beaches or [safety] exclusion zone are envisaged'.
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STUDY SHOWS REGULAR BLOOD DONATION COULD REMOVE PFAS FROM FIREFIGHTERS' BODIES
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-11/firefighter-blood-donation-study-toxic-chemical-pfas/100982330
Tags: Australia, industrial, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
A world-first study involving hundreds of Victorian firefighters shows regular blood donations could reduce the level of potentially harmful chemicals in their bodies.
Key points:
Firefighters have historically had high exposure to PFAS chemicals
During a trial, levels of the potentially harmful chemicals dropped in those making regular blood and plasma donations
Plasma donation was most effective, resulting in a 30 per cent reduction in PFAS levels
The trial, conducted by Macquarie University over 12 months, measured the effect of blood donation on levels of per-fluoroalkyl and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the body.
PFAS is a broad name for 4,700 chemicals that have widespread use in everyday life, from non-stick cookware to carpets and clothing.
Historically, PFAS have also been used in firefighting foams, meaning firefighters are the most occupationally exposed cohort to the chemicals.
Previously there was no way to reduce the amount of PFAS in the body.
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SIX CHARRED TO DEATH AFTER BLAST AT INDIAN CHEMICAL PLANT
https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2022/04/11/2694425/six-charred-to-death-after-blast-at-indian-chemical-plant
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, death, petroleum
TEHRAN (Tasnim) ' A massive blaze touched off by an explosion at a chemicals plant in India's western state of Gujarat charred to death at least six people before it was brought under control, authorities said on Monday.
The blast on Sunday night took place in a hub for chemical and petrochemical manufacturing units at the state's Dahej industrial estate, but its cause was not immediately clear, Reuters reported.
"The factory has been completely gutted," said Rajendrasinh Gohil, a police officer in Dahej. "Six people were charred to death."
Fire officials said they had brought under control the flames at the Om Organic manufacturing plant, about 230 km (140 miles) south of the state's commercial city of Ahmedabad.
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RADIATION DISCOVERED TO BE A MAJOR OVERLOOKED SOURCE OF NATURAL GAS GENERATION IN SHALES
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/radiation-discovered-to-be-a-major-overlooked-source-of-natural-gas-generation-in-shales/4015495.article
Tags: Canada, laboratory, discovery, environmental, natural_gas, radiation
A substantial fraction of shale gas ' potentially more than 25% in some regions ' has been produced by radioactive decomposition of organic matter, a mechanism that had been dismissed as unimportant, researchers claim. They believe the discovery could prove crucial for monitoring emissions near fracking sites to ensure that the potent greenhouse gas methane is not inadvertently released into the atmosphere.
The mixture of methane and smaller quantities of ethane, propane and butane that makes up 'natural gas' has traditionally been extracted from oil wells. However, as these run out and prices rise, new technologies have been developed to extract gas from other sources. The most controversial is hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. This involves horizontal drilling deep into shale rocks before injecting pressurised water to crack open the shales and release hydrocarbons. Among many environmental objections is the potential for methane to leak from buried sediments into the atmosphere, and the petroleum industry is therefore required to monitor 'fugitive emissions'.
One complication is that surface methane emissions can occur without fracking, as microbes can produce methane from carbon dioxide or acetic acid. Like all living organisms, microbes preferentially take up carbon-12 over other, heavier isotopes of carbon, so the methane they subsequently emit is isotopically light. Three processes are known to produce subterraneous natural gas: microbial, thermal decomposition of organic matter under pressure and inorganic reactions between rocks. The latter two cause less isotopic fractionation, so the isotopic composition of methane emissions from soils is used to infer their origins.
In the new work, however, researchers in France, Switzerland and Canada found that many deep shales from around the world, which are rich in radioactive elements such as thorium and especially uranium, also emitted isotopically light natural gas. The researchers turned to previous laboratory reports that irradiation of organic matter could produce gaseous hydrocarbons and, based on those reports, they calculated that such hydrocarbons would be isotopically light. 'The difference is that, basically, microbes produce only methane, whereas radiolytic gases have a lot of ethane, propane and heavier,' says Maria Naumenko-D̬zes of the French Geological Survey in Orl̩ans, France.
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CONTRACTOR CHARGED AFTER DOZENS OF FISH KILLED IN WEST VANCOUVER
https://www.nsnews.com/local-news/highway-contractor-charged-in-devastating-2018-west-vancouver-fish-kill-5248921
Tags: Canada, public, release, environmental, unknown_chemical
A Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure contractor is now facing charges almost four years after a job-site chemical spill nearly wiped out the fish population of a West Vancouver creek.
On April 30, 2018 crews from Keller Foundations Inc. were working on a highway project near Horseshoe Bay when water from their cement operation discharged into Larson Creek, killing upwards of 80 cutthroat trout.
After an investigation by Environment and Climate Change Canada's enforcement branch, the Crown swore two federal Fisheries Act charges against Keller Foundations on Tuesday (April 5).
Documents filed in North Vancouver provincial court, where the case will be heard, show two counts of depositing a deleterious substance in water frequented by fish. One charge is for cement leachate. The other is for grout spoils.
West Vancouver Streamkeepers Society past president John Barker, who had been in touch with federal investigators almost every month since the incident, said he is pleased to see the process of accountability move forward.
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