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From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (12 articles)
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 07:29:18 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: 2AADBE73-BB33-42E8-A867-ED627EA4D8AD**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, October 24, 2014 at 7:29:02 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 (12 articles)
FIRED SCIENCE TEACHER DID NOT HAVE STATE LICENSE
Tags: us_CO, education, follow-up, injury, methanol
FORMER TEACHER CHARGED IN LAB EXPLOSION THAT INJURED STUDENTS
Tags: us_CO, laboratory, follow-up, injury, methanol
FIRE AT UI LAB PUT OUT QUICKLY; NO ONE HURT
Tags: us_IL, laboratory, fire, response, fire_extinguisher
OSHA CITES WALGREENS AFTER NEW HAVEN CHEMICAL SPILL; PROPOSES $77,000 IN FINES
Tags: us_CT, public, follow-up, injury, other_chemical
BEAUTIFUL VIDEOS OF CHEMICAL REACTIONS
Tags: China, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
CUB SCOUTS HURT IN CHEMICAL EXPLOSION GETTING BETTER
Tags: us_IL, public, follow-up, injury, antifreeze, metals
7 FIREFIGHTERS EXPOSED TO HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS AFTER BLAZE AT ABANDONED FACTORY: FDNY
Tags: us_NY, industrial, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
AFTER ROSEDALE DERAILMENT, NTSB CALLS FOR BAN ON PHONE USE IN VEHICLES
Tags: us_MD, transportation, follow-up, response, waste
DOES WHITE HOUSE MORATORIUM ON BIODEFENSE-RELATED RESEARCH HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH EBOLA?
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
TEMPLE: FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO WAL-MART HAZMAT INCIDENT
Tags: us_TX, public, release, response, ammonia
CAN BETTER DESIGN STOP EBOLA? HOW CREATIVE MINDS CAN HELP
Tags: education, discovery, environmental
CHEMISTRY LAB FIRE EVACUATES UD BUILDINGS
Tags: us_DE, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
---------------------------------------------
FIRED SCIENCE TEACHER DID NOT HAVE STATE LICENSE
Tags: us_CO, education, follow-up, injury, methanol
DENVER ‰?? Three weeks ago, Daniel Powell conducted a science experiment that went so wrong, four students were injured, one seriously. He has now been fired and state records show he did not have valid teaching license.
"It's a horrible, unfortunate incident and our hearts bleed for the families and for those students," Nora Flood, president of the Colorado League of Charter Schools, said.
Powell was a teacher at SMART Academy which is part of a network of charter schools called Strive Prep. He was trying to show students a chemistry experiment with fire and methanol when a fire started causing serious burns to one student.
"It could've been anybody at any school," Flood said.
In a search of the data base which shows records of teacher licenses, there is no listing of a Daniel Powell with a current Colorado teacher's license. Charter schools are not required to have licensed teachers in the classroom.
Flood says that's by design.
"There are always challenges in finding good teachers and so we're actually able to go outside the realm of the traditional teacher licensure program to try to find the best fit for our schools," Flood said. "It's one of the things we hold dear and that is, that it is up to the school to be able to determine for themselves whether they want to have that licensure piece."
Flood says that allows, for example, a science-based school to seek a professional engineer to teach students about engineering.
"You have to be an expert in the field you are going to teach," Flood said.
---------------------------------------------
FORMER TEACHER CHARGED IN LAB EXPLOSION THAT INJURED STUDENTS
Tags: us_CO, laboratory, follow-up, injury, methanol
DENVER (AP/CBS4) ‰?? Charges have been filed against a teacher who was fired after four students were burned, one seriously, when a fire erupted in a Denver high school chemistry laboratory.
According to Lynn Kimbrough with the district attorney‰??s office, Daniel Powell, 22, ‰??has been served with a summons charging him with four counts of third-degree assault, a Class 1 misdemeanor.‰??
Powell was conducting a demonstration with methanol when the explosion occurred on Sept. 15.
Three of the students are back in school and the fourth student, who was not identified, continues to improve.
‰??He has a long road ahead of him. We are providing counseling to students and faculty,‰?? said Lindsay Neil, spokeswoman for the Science, Math and Arts Academy charter school on Oct. 7.
Powell suffered minor injuries to his hands and declined medical treatment, Neil said after the accident.
---------------------------------------------
FIRE AT UI LAB PUT OUT QUICKLY; NO ONE HURT
Tags: us_IL, laboratory, fire, response, fire_extinguisher
URBANA ‰?? Nobody was hurt in a fire at a University of Illinois laboratory on Wednesday afternoon.
Urbana Fire Marshal Phil Edwards said firefighters were called to Roger Adams Laboratory (600 S. Mathews Ave.) at 4:13 p.m.
‰??We got a call that somebody reported smoke and flames coming from a closet in one of the rooms,‰?? Edwards said. ‰??The person who saw it first grabbed a fire extinguisher, but he decided to pull the fire alarm and call 911.‰??
By the time firefighters arrived, the building‰??s sprinkler system had already put out the fire, he said.
Since the fire took place in an electrical closet, firefighters believe that electrical problems may have been the cause.
Everybody was evacuated from the building as a precaution.
---------------------------------------------
OSHA CITES WALGREENS AFTER NEW HAVEN CHEMICAL SPILL; PROPOSES $77,000 IN FINES
Tags: us_CT, public, follow-up, injury, other_chemical
NEW HAVEN >> The Walgreens pharmacy on York Street has been cited for three violations by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration after the store was inspected twice following a July chemical spill that sent four employees to the hospital.
The chemical spill occurred July 9 in the pharmacy area at the 88 York St. store and involved technicians working there, city officials said at the time.
PHOTOS: New Haven hazmat team responds to York Street Walgreens
OSHA has proposed fines totaling $77,220 as a result of the two repeat violations and one serious violation found during the inspections, which took place in July and August.
Walgreens by Oct. 30 must pay the fines and agree to abate the violations, schedule an informal conference about the violations or contest the violations.
---------------------------------------------
BEAUTIFUL VIDEOS OF CHEMICAL REACTIONS
Tags: China, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
Aside from its depiction in the hit series Breaking Bad, chemistry has long gotten a bad rap as the least sexy of the sciences. A new digital media project aims to change all that, starting with a series of eerily alluring videos that capture what happens when two chemical substances combine.
The scientists behind the project, which they've aptly named Beautiful Chemistry, used a special camera to zoom in on some of the most common chemical reactions ‰?? and provide a new perspective on what's really going on inside those beakers.
Say, for example, a researcher were to run a typical precipitation reaction ‰?? a run-of-the-mill test typically used to uncover a hidden element in a solution. Here's what she'd normally see in her test tube: A clear solution would turn cloudy when a few drops of another solution were added.
Snore.
So, Chinese researchers thought, what would happen if someone were to take that everyday reaction and run it outside of a test tube, with a camera lens that could zoom in on all the action taking place at a super small scale?
That's precisely what they did, and the results are stunning.
---------------------------------------------
CUB SCOUTS HURT IN CHEMICAL EXPLOSION GETTING BETTER
Tags: us_IL, public, follow-up, injury, antifreeze, metals
RAYMOND ‰?? The three Cub Scouts injured in a chemical explosion in Montgomery County on Monday night are improving.
Dan O‰??Brien, Scout executive and CEO for the Abraham Lincoln Council in Springfield, said Wednesday that two of the Scouts were released from Springfield-area hospitals Tuesday and the third is expected to be released Wednesday.
‰??Full recovery is expected on all three of them,‰?? O‰??Brien said.
A parent who was an observer also was taken to a Springfield hospital for burns but was not admitted, O‰??Brien said.
The Scouts and the parent were outside of a building in Raymond conducting an experiment that involved mixing boric acid and Heet antifreeze in a metal fire pit to produce a green flame when the substance exploded about 7:20 p.m. Monday, police said.
The three Scouts and the parent suffered burns to their faces, hands and arms. The Scouts were flown to both Memorial Medical Center and St. John‰??s Hospital. The parent was transported to Springfield by ambulance, police said.
Raymond Mayor Denny Held said Tuesday that neither the Scouts nor the adult were wearing eye protection. He said they had tried the experiment twice before but were unable to see any flames, so they may have moved closer to the fire pit and used more of each substance to try to produce a better result.
No further information was available Wednesday on what caused the accident.
---------------------------------------------
7 FIREFIGHTERS EXPOSED TO HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS AFTER BLAZE AT ABANDONED FACTORY: FDNY
Tags: us_NY, industrial, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
Fire officials say that seven firefighters were taken to the hospital in serious condition after being exposed to potentially hazardous chemicals during a blaze at an abandoned factory in Brooklyn early Thursday.
An unknown substance in a kiln stove caught fire in the two-story factory on Belmont Avenue in East New York at about 1:15 a.m., according to the FDNY.
Firefighters arrived on scene afterward and let the blaze burn itself out because of the possibility that dousing the substance with water could cause an explosion. The fire was brought under control at about 2 a.m.
A hazardous materials crew was then brought to the scene to identify the substance that caught fire, according to the FDNY.
While investigating, EMS workers with the HAZMAT crew determined that the seven firefighters who had been exposed to the chemicals should be taken to Kings County Hospital.
---------------------------------------------
AFTER ROSEDALE DERAILMENT, NTSB CALLS FOR BAN ON PHONE USE IN VEHICLES
Tags: us_MD, transportation, follow-up, response, waste
The freight train derailment and explosion that caused millions of dollars in property damage in Rosedale last year spurred National Transportation Safety Board officials on Wednesday to call for new laws banning the use of hands-free cellphone devices by drivers.
John Alban Jr., who was driving a commercial waste truck that collided with the train and forced the derailment, was using such a device at the time, the NTSB found. He had received a call 18 seconds prior to the collision.
"Current laws may mislead people to believe that hands free is as safe as not using a phone at all," acting NTSB chairman Christopher A. Hart said in a statement. "Our investigation has found over and over that distraction in any form can be dangerous behind the wheel."
---------------------------------------------
DOES WHITE HOUSE MORATORIUM ON BIODEFENSE-RELATED RESEARCH HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH EBOLA?
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
The White House recently announced a moratorium on federal funding for research studies which involve altering disease pathogens, such as viruses and bacteria, to make them even deadlier either by increasing their transmissibility or virulence.
Research studies designed to enhance the transmissibility and virulence of disease pathogens are called gain-of-function studies in official US circles. GOF studies have an essential dual purpose nature because the results are equally applicable for medical and bioweapons purposes.
The US government released a statement Friday asking all researchers in the field to stop ongoing GOF studies while the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Department of Health and Human Services set up a "deliberative process" to assess the risks and benefits of GOF experiments and to work out a consistent policy for safety in future and ongoing research work.
---------------------------------------------
TEMPLE: FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO WAL-MART HAZMAT INCIDENT
Tags: us_TX, public, release, response, ammonia
TEMPLE (October 22, 2014) Firefighters responded to a hazmat incident Wednesday at the Wal-Mart distribution center in Temple involving a small anhydrous ammonia leak from the center‰??s cooling system.
The leak, which was in a valve in a stand-alone equipment room was reported just after 9 a.m. at the center at 9605 NW H.K. Dodgen Loop, did not require the evacuation of the center.
Once the leak was stopped, the area was ventilated and a crew remained on the scene while repairs were made.
---------------------------------------------
CAN BETTER DESIGN STOP EBOLA? HOW CREATIVE MINDS CAN HELP
Tags: education, discovery, environmental
On just one day‰??s notice, almost 200 people crowded an auditorium at Columbia University‰??s engineering school on a Thursday evening in early October. Engineers, designers, and public health researchers were there to learn and brainstorm, and do so quickly. Every week has meant hundreds of new cases of Ebola in West Africa. Soon, that number could be thousands.
There are clearly no simple fixes to the Ebola outbreak. At a very basic level more money, gear and equipment, and medical workers are needed, and at the most high-tech, drug companies are now racing to test potential treatments and vaccines. But lower-level innovation is also in order--the kinds of simple design and engineering ideas that can make inroads quickly.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMISTRY LAB FIRE EVACUATES UD BUILDINGS
Tags: us_DE, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
A small fire in a University of Delaware chemistry lab evacuated three campus buildings on Wednesday morning.
The fire broke out at 11:40 a.m. in a piece of lab equipment in Room 108 on the first-floor of Drake Hall on Academy Street, said John H. Farrell IV, spokesman for Aetna Hose Hook and Ladder Co. Firefighters used two fire extinguishers to put out the fire.
The incident triggered a response by the New Castle County HAZMAT team and UD‰??s own HAZMAT unit.
‰??There are lots of chemicals in the building,‰?? UD spokesman John Brennan said, noting that UD works with area fire departments to notify them of where chemicals and other dangerous substances are kept. ‰??As soon as they know it‰??s a lab, they send everybody.‰??
Farrell said the lab was labeled with chemical and radiological warnings.
‰??Obviously, we entered with due care and caution,‰?? he said. ‰??We were very judicious with the number of people who went in.‰??
Even though air quality tests came back normal, all the firefighters who entered the lab went through a decontamination process afterward, Farrell said.
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Ralph Stuart
secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Secretary
Division of Chemical Health and Safety
American Chemical Society
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