Check out Safety Emporium for your N95, N99, and face shield needs.
From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (19 articles)
Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 08:19:08 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: 90DBF1FC-DC16-41EC-9E0B-18A77570E524**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, October 13, 2014 at 8:19:04 AM
A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
All article summaries and tags are archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas
Table of Contents (19 articles)
SEATTLE?S TESORO RAIL FACILITY WAS LEAKING A FLAMMABLE OIL BYPRODUCT INTO STORMWATER SYSTEM
Tags: us_WA, transportation, discovery, environmental, flammables
LOS ALAMOS BLAMED FOR REPOSITORY FIRE
Tags: us_NM, industrial, follow-up, injury, radiation, waste
FIRST US EBOLA INFECTION RESULT OF 'PROTOCOL BREACH'
Tags: us_TX, public, release, response
HAZMAT CREWS COMPLETE "PHASE 1" OF CLEAN AT EBOLA PATIENT'S APAR
Tags: us_TX, public, discovery, response
CHEMICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT CONFIRMS EBOLA VICTIM'S BELONGINGS TO
Tags: us_LA, industrial, discovery, environmental, waste
MAN TREATED FOR ACID LEAK FROM CHEMICAL PLANT IN NOWRA
Tags: Australia, industrial, release, injury, sulfuric_acid
WOMAN JUMPS OFF CAB TO AVOID CHEMICAL SPRAY
Tags: Philippines, public, discovery, response, propane
WORKERS AT HIGH HEALTH RISK FOR TOXIC CHEMICALS
Tags: Bangladesh, industrial, discovery, environmental, toxics
UPDATE: STAFF MEMBER BURNED BY CHEMICAL LEAK AT ORPINGTON SORTING OFFICE (FROM NEWS SHOPPER)
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, injury, cleaners, sulfuric_acid
BERRY FARMS' NEIGHBORS FUMING OVER USE OF CHEMICAL
Tags: us_FL, public, discovery, response, ag_chems, pesticides
HAZARDOUS LEAK AT FACTORY ISOLATED
Tags: New_Zealand, industrial, release, response, ammonia
SUN CITY: SUBWAY RESTAURANT EVACUATED AFTER CHLORINE GAS SCARE
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, chlorine
IN FAIRFIELD'S WOODS, A BUNCH OF BOTTLES IS AN 'EMERGENCY' BUT NO THREAT
Tags: us_MI, public, discovery, response, other_chemical
TOXIC GAS LEAK AT EUREKA WASTEWATER PLANT CAPPED
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, sulfur_dioxide, water_treatment
FIGHTING EBOLA: A GRAND CHALLENGE FOR DEVELOPMENT
Tags: public, discovery, response
OSHA TALKS STRATEGIES TO PREVENT TOXIC CHEMICAL EXPOSURES
Tags: industrial, discovery, response
EASTMAN REPORTS ACCIDENTAL CHEMICAL DISCHARGE INTO HOLSTON RIVER
Tags: us_TN, public, release, environmental, acetic_anhydride
CHEMICAL LEAK FORCES EVACUATIONS IN SOUTH PHILADELPHIA
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical
OSHA LAUNCHES NATIONAL DIALOGUE ON HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL EXPOSURES AND PERMISSIBLE EXPOSURE LIMITS IN THE WORKPLACE
Tags: public, discovery, response
---------------------------------------------
SEATTLE?S TESORO RAIL FACILITY WAS LEAKING A FLAMMABLE OIL BYPRODUCT INTO STORMWATER SYSTEM
Tags: us_WA, transportation, discovery, environmental, flammables
Seventy miles north of Seattle, the Tesoro Anacortes rail facility?which daily offloads some 50,000 barrels of Bakken crude from tanker cars?was releasing a highly flammable oil byproduct into a stormwater system that lacked ?required controls? for at least a year before state regulators were made aware of the potential hazard.
A faulty pipe connection was the source of the problem, according to a Northwest Clean Air Agency enforcement report obtained via an open-records request. As a result of the flaw, hydrocarbon vapors were being produced in the rail facility?s stormwater system that could have ignited under the right conditions, experts say.
Tesoro officials insist there was no risk of fire.
Yet state regulators never inspected the rail facility to assess the fire risk because it appears those charged with ensuring public safety were caught up in a maze of Catch-22 rules that work against timely assessment of potential worker-safety and fire hazards.
NWCAA inspectors did not visit the rail facility until five months after Tesoro had disconnected the problematic pipe. Still, the agency?s enforcement report indicates that vapors containing ?volatile organic compounds? were still being released from numerous points in the company?s stormwater system, parts of which are located a stone?s throw from the crude-oil railcar staging area.
---------------------------------------------
LOS ALAMOS BLAMED FOR REPOSITORY FIRE
Tags: us_NM, industrial, follow-up, injury, radiation, waste
Failure of Los Alamos National Laboratory operators to properly package waste may have caused a fire and radioactive release early this year at the nation?s only operating underground nuclear waste storage facility, concludes a recent report. The incident in February injured several workers and shut down the Department of Energy?s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a Carlsbad, N.M., repository for transuranic waste from DOE nuclear weapons facilities including the Los Alamos lab. The repository is not expected to reopen until 2016.
In the report, DOE?s independent inspector general finds that incompatible or potentially incompatible materials?cellulose-based kitty litter sorbent and liquid acid neutralizers?were placed in drums with radioactive nitrate salt waste. This may have resulted in a chemical reaction that led to the fire, the report says, adding that the exact cause has not been determined. WIPP stores large volumes of transuranic waste consisting mostly of radioactive clothing, rags, tools, and other material, some of which is combustible. The shutdown will delay cleanups at many DOE facilities and will cost tens of millions of dollars, the report says.
---------------------------------------------
FIRST US EBOLA INFECTION RESULT OF 'PROTOCOL BREACH'
Tags: us_TX, public, release, response
(UPDATED) Top US health officials have said a breach of protocol was to blame for the new Ebola patient ? the second person infected outside Africa and the second diagnosed in the United States
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT CREWS COMPLETE "PHASE 1" OF CLEAN AT EBOLA PATIENT'S APAR
Tags: us_TX, public, discovery, response
DALLAS -
Hazmat crews spent much of Sunday inside the apartment of a health care worker who has tested positive for Ebola.
This is the 2nd Ebola case in the City of Dallas, and the first transmitted in the U.S.
The nurse's identity has not been released, but we know she lived at an apartment in the 5700 block of Marquita Avenue.
No one has been allowed to enter the complex with several separate apartments without protective gear.
Officials also knocked on every door in that block and reached out to everyone within a 4-block radius to explain that they are safe since the patient only came in contact with one other person while showing symptoms, and they are being monitored.
Zach Thompson with Dallas County Health and Human Services says he made it a priority to get on the ground pretty quick.
Fort Worth-based company "The Cleaning Guys" was sent to the apartment and conducted ?phase one? of the cleaning process. It is the same crew that cleaned the apartment where Thomas Eric Duncan stayed.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT CONFIRMS EBOLA VICTIM'S BELONGINGS TO
Tags: us_LA, industrial, discovery, environmental, waste
LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) -
The ashes of belongings of Thomas Eric Duncan, the Texas man who died from the Ebola virus, will be buried in a hazardous waste landfill in Carlyss, Louisiana.
Additional Links
State AG seeks to block Ebola waste disposal in Carlyss
Chemical Waste Management, Inc. confirms that it will accept incinerator ash from a Veolia Environmental (Veolia) Port Arthur, TX Facility, which had incinerated some decontaminated belongings from an Ebola patient's apartment located in Dallas, TX.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have acknowledged that ?Incineration as a waste treatment process is effective in eliminating viral infectivity.?
Veolia operates a permitted hazardous waste incinerator in Port Arthur, TX, which the appropriate governmental officials regulate. Veolia has been a long-term CWM-LC customer of good standing. CWM-LC was informed that all of the patient's belongings were treated and decontaminated prior to being received at the Veolia facility, and then belongings were incinerated in the high temperature incinerator (2100 degrees Fahrenheit). The resulting ash presents no risk to human health or the environment.
---------------------------------------------
MAN TREATED FOR ACID LEAK FROM CHEMICAL PLANT IN NOWRA
Tags: Australia, industrial, release, injury, sulfuric_acid
A worker from south Nowra has suffered minor burns as a result of a chemical spill.
An ambulance and four fire trucks were sent to the Nowra Chemicals plant in south Nowra shortly before seven o'clock Monday morning to treat a man with suspected burns to his head.
Fire and Rescue media says two to three litres of sulphuric acid leaked out.
The man was decontaminated on site then transported to Shoalhaven Hospital in a stable condition.
He was discharged from hospital later in the morning.
The owner and manager of the factory, John Lamont, says the spill was due to a pipe rupture.
---------------------------------------------
WOMAN JUMPS OFF CAB TO AVOID CHEMICAL SPRAY
Tags: Philippines, public, discovery, response, propane
MANILA -- A woman jumped off a moving taxi after she allegedly felt bad due to a chemical sprayed inside the car.
According to the 27-year-old female victim, she boarded "Angel of J" taxi at a mall in Makati City at around 8:40 p.m. Friday. She was supposed to go to Pasig City.
The victim said she immediately noticed that the plate number and other details painted on the taxi's door were erased. This prompted her to ask the driver for information. The driver then told her that the taxi's plate number is PXF-966.
While they were plying the flyover, the woman said she felt dizzy and found it difficult to breathe.
When they reached Buendia area, she told the driver to pull over so she can get off the cab. The driver, however, ignored her and continued driving instead.
The driver also allegedly refused to unlock the taxi's door. She then jumped off the cab through the door on the left side which was apparently left unlocked.
The woman said the driver then alighted the cab to collect P200 for her fare. The driver insisted that what she smelled was the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) inside the trunk.
---------------------------------------------
WORKERS AT HIGH HEALTH RISK FOR TOXIC CHEMICALS
Tags: Bangladesh, industrial, discovery, environmental, toxics
The rampant use of toxic chemicals at almost every workplace is putting the huge number of the country's workforce at high health risk, as according to a survey, at least 21 people die in Bangladesh every month due to use of such chemicals.
"Indiscriminate use of chemicals at almost every workplace is a common phenomenon in our country. Hundreds of people die annually thanks to their hazardous work, particularly in ship-breaking, tannery and chemical industries as well as farming, which are in the top death ranks," said National Expert on Chemical Safety Shahriar Hossain.
According to a survey conducted recently by Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation (OSHE), at least 21 people die in Bangladesh due to toxic chemicals each month.
As per an International Labour Organisation (ILO) report, about two million people die annually across the world due to chemical related diseases while about 160 million people are affected by such diseases.
---------------------------------------------
UPDATE: STAFF MEMBER BURNED BY CHEMICAL LEAK AT ORPINGTON SORTING OFFICE (FROM NEWS SHOPPER)
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, injury, cleaners, sulfuric_acid
A staff member suffered burns after a highly acidic chemical from a parcel leaked onto his leg at an Orpington sorting office.
The male staff member, who does not want to be named, was injured by the unknown package received through the post on Friday (October 10).
It is thought to have contained drain cleaner which is 91 per cent sulphuric acid.
He was taken to hospital suffering from burns to his leg but has since been discharged.
Police and the London Fire Brigade confirmed they were called at around 1.30pm to reports of a chemical leak at a business premises in Vinson Close.
---------------------------------------------
BERRY FARMS' NEIGHBORS FUMING OVER USE OF CHEMICAL
Tags: us_FL, public, discovery, response, ag_chems, pesticides
DOVER ? Country dwellers in eastern Hillsborough County have for generations embraced the strawberry farms that dot their community. But a rancid-smelling pesticide some of the farmers used this year and last threatens to rupture that relationship.
Dozens of those residents have hired a lawyer to fight against use of the fumigant Paladin, a man-madesulfur-containing compound they think is causing them repeated bouts of bronchitis, shortness of breath, chemical burns in their noses, severe headaches and the need to use inhalers.
The fumigation period for strawberries is over, but that has not slowed the volume of complaints over Paladin's use. And those who think they were affected are demanding answers and action.
---------------------------------------------
HAZARDOUS LEAK AT FACTORY ISOLATED
Tags: New_Zealand, industrial, release, response, ammonia
An ammonia leak at a Hamilton meat factory has been successfully isolated following a mass emergency services response involving up to 40 firefighters this morning.
Firefighters from 10 brigades, including Hazmat and water tankers, were called to the Goodman Fielder meat processing factory in the industrial area of Frankton after the smell of ammonia was reported about 10.15am.
Fire Service Waikato Area Commander Roy Breeze said there was initially a "reasonably strong" reading of the gas leaking from the annex of the main storage building at the rear of the grounds.
It had been reported by a Goodman Fielder contractor at the site Sunday morning. No one else had been in the grounds at the time, said Breeze.
''We have been working to establish how big the leak is for about an hour and a half now and we have just had reports that it has been isolated and we are starting to get the system bled. From here we will work out the best way to ventilate it.''
---------------------------------------------
SUN CITY: SUBWAY RESTAURANT EVACUATED AFTER CHLORINE GAS SCARE
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, chlorine
Three people at a Subway sandwich shop in Sun City were sickened and hospitalized Friday, Oct. 10, when chemicals were accidentally mixed, releasing chlorine gas, officials said.
Riverside County Environmental Health's hazardous-materials unit responded to 26926 Cherry Hills Blvd. just before noon when several people reported becoming ill because of a strong chemical odor.
Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department determined that someone was using a concentrated sulfuric acid-based cleaner to clear a floor drain. At the same time, an ice machine drain was being cleaned using household bleach. The substances combined in a floor drain, creating the chlorine gas.
The shop was evacuated, and three people were taken to Menifee Valley Medical Center.
The drain was flushed with water, and the air was cleared by giant fans. Employees were told to throw out all food not inside closed containers such as refrigerators.
---------------------------------------------
IN FAIRFIELD'S WOODS, A BUNCH OF BOTTLES IS AN 'EMERGENCY' BUT NO THREAT
Tags: us_MI, public, discovery, response, other_chemical
Police, fire and state bomb squad personnel descended on the Cascades area of the Lake Mohegan open space last Friday afternoon to investigate a "suspicious" discovery in the woods.
But the assemblage of plastic soda bottles and heavy-duty tape turned out to be harmless, police said.
The discovery -- 16 plastic bottles attached to a piece of cardboard with black electrical tape -- was determined by emergency responders to pose no threat, and possibly was someone's abandoned attempt to fashion a small raft. One side of the cardboard was covered with duct tape.
However, "You cannot be too careful in this day and age," police Lt. James Perez told the Fairfield Citizen about the investigation.
The object was removed from the town-owned woods and tested with pH strips and a hand-held chemical detector by Assistant Fire Chief Eric Kaliper.
Those tests were all negative, but police called in the state bomb squad to make sure it was OK to dispose of the object.
---------------------------------------------
TOXIC GAS LEAK AT EUREKA WASTEWATER PLANT CAPPED
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, sulfur_dioxide, water_treatment
Local fire and Hazmat officials were able to quickly shut off a small toxic gas leak at the Eureka Wastewater Treatment Plant on Friday afternoon with no injuries or exposure reported, according to Humboldt Bay Fire Chief Ken Woods.
"There's no more leak and there's no more hazard," Woods said at the scene.
Humboldt Bay Fire received the first report around 3:30 p.m. of a sulfur dioxide leak at the plant located on the 4300 block of Hilfiker Lane. Three Humboldt Bay Fire incident command cars, two fire engines and one engine from the Humboldt/Del Norte Hazardous Materials Response Authority (Hazmat) responded.
Though he described the leak as "very small," Woods said that the exposure of the gas poses an "inhalation and absorption risk" to human health. No one was injured during the incident.
---------------------------------------------
FIGHTING EBOLA: A GRAND CHALLENGE FOR DEVELOPMENT
Tags: public, discovery, response
Fighting Ebola: A Grand Challenge for Development
Every day, in hot, humid, and extremely difficult environments, health care workers in Ebola-affected countries are performing critical tasks that save lives and prevent the spread of the virus. Personal protective equipment (PPE) offers critical protection, but also is the greatest source of discomfort and stress for the workers. While PPEs protect health care workers, they cannot be worn for more than 40 minutes in hot climates, severely limiting the time health care workers can care for their patients.
In response to this challenge and the unprecedented Ebola outbreak, USAID is partnering with the White House Office of Science and Technology, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, other U.S. agencies and the Government of Sweden to launch Fighting Ebola: A Grand Challenge for Development to help health care workers on the front lines provide better care and stop the spread of Ebola.
---------------------------------------------
OSHA TALKS STRATEGIES TO PREVENT TOXIC CHEMICAL EXPOSURES
Tags: industrial, discovery, response
WASHINGTON?The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is launching a national dialogue with chemical manufacturers and users on methods to prevent illnesses caused by workplace exposure to hazardous substances, the agency has announced.
OSHA Administrator David Michaels unveiled the program in a teleconference Oct. 9. Further details of the program?including a 180-day comment period?will be released in a notice soon to be published in the Federal Register, Michaels said.
Tens of thousands of airborne substances exist in U.S. workplaces, according to Michaels. But only about 500 have permissible exposure limits set by OSHA, and most of those are dangerously out of date, he said.
---------------------------------------------
EASTMAN REPORTS ACCIDENTAL CHEMICAL DISCHARGE INTO HOLSTON RIVER
Tags: us_TN, public, release, environmental, acetic_anhydride
KINGSPORT, Tenn. -
Eastman Chemical Company reported a discharge of acetic anhydride into the South Fork Holston River on Friday morning.
Company officials tell WCYB it was an accident. No employees were injured, but approximately 15 to 20 dead fish were found in the river.
Eastman does not expect this release to have any further adverse impact on the River. All appropriate government agencies have been notified.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL LEAK FORCES EVACUATIONS IN SOUTH PHILADELPHIA
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical
SOUTH PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Employees were evacuated after dozens of gallons of chemicals leaked from a plant in South Philadelphia.
It happened just after 7:00 p.m. at the Ashland Chemical Company in the 2800 block of South Christopher Columbus Boulevard.
Authorities say approximately 100 gallons of a non-toxic oil based chemical, with a temperature of 550 degrees, sprayed from a broken pump.
About 10 employees were evacuated from the building. No injuries were reported.
---------------------------------------------
OSHA LAUNCHES NATIONAL DIALOGUE ON HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL EXPOSURES AND PERMISSIBLE EXPOSURE LIMITS IN THE WORKPLACE
Tags: public, discovery, response
WASHINGTON ? The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced it is launching a national dialogue with stakeholders on ways to prevent work-related illness caused by exposure to hazardous substances. The first stage of this dialogue is a request for information on the management of hazardous chemical exposures in the workplace and strategies for updating permissible exposure limits.
OSHA's PELs, which are regulatory limits on the amount or concentration of a substance in the air, are intended to protect workers against the adverse health effects of exposure to hazardous substances. Ninety-five percent of OSHA's current PELs, which cover fewer than 500 chemicals, have not been updated since their adoption in 1971. The agency's current PELs cover only a small fraction of the tens of thousands of chemicals used in commerce, many of which are suspected of being harmful. Substantial resources are required to issue new exposure limits or update existing workplace exposure limits, as courts have required complex analyses for each proposed PEL.
---------------------------------------------
Previous post | Top of Page | Next post