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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, December 25, 2015 at 9:00:15 AM
A membership benefit of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
All article summaries and tags are archived at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__pinboard.in_u-3Adchas&d=BQIFaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=cArFR6rAhzL-bd6uOX-uf0GWQ_ocjUiCi4DtXqzn71w&s=dqbW63MNQ26ibka22fUBv5lgkTydb0bCfzz9iLWqXOE&e=
Table of Contents (8 articles)
SAFETY CULTURE: NUCLEAR INDUSTRY NO MODEL FOR BIOSAFETY
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, discovery, environmental
ACS CONSIDERS ADDING SAFETY CRITERIA TO FELLOWS NOMINATIONS
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, follow-up, response
PHOSPHORUS TRICHLORIDE LEAK CLEANED UP IN NW CHARLOTTE
Tags: us_NC, industrial, release, response, phosphorus_trichloride
CHEMICAL SPILL CAUSED HAZMAT SITUATION IN AURORA
Tags: us_CO, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical
CEDAR FALLS BUSINESS 'LUCKY' AFTER SMALL FIRE, CHIEF SAYS
Tags: us_IA, industrial, fire, response, other_chemical
3 HURT IN EXPLOSION AT TOP DRDO UNIT, ONE CRITICAL
Tags: India, laboratory, explosion, injury, explosives, solvent
POSTDOC DIES IN LAB FIRE AT TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY
Tags: China, laboratory, follow-up, death, gas_cylinders, hydrogen
TOOLS FOR THE MICROBIOME: NANO AND BEYOND
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, nanotech
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SAFETY CULTURE: NUCLEAR INDUSTRY NO MODEL FOR BIOSAFETY
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, discovery, environmental
I applaud Tim Trevan's call to reform lab biosafety, but disagree with his argument for using the nuclear industry as a model (Nature 527, 155‰??158; 2015).
Nuclear facilities are strictly regulated and ensure that potential hazards arising from process changes are engineered out (see go.nature.com/qyzoth). Yet scientists are not process-driven: being autonomous and creative, they need freedom to change and require a dynamic safety culture that can accommodate new challenges. These include the replacement of humans by technology, reduced supervision and declining safety competencies ‰?? none of which applies to the nuclear industry.
Chasing a 'zero harm' mantra can actually promote a poor safety culture because it is an outcome rather than a goal (for examples of alternative approaches, see go.nature.com/xgupio and go.nature.com/gcjqfl). As Trevan points out, an effective safety culture is measured through engagement, understanding and care for everyone's well-being.
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ACS CONSIDERS ADDING SAFETY CRITERIA TO FELLOWS NOMINATIONS
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, follow-up, response
The American Chemical Society Committee on Grants & Awards is considering adding safety criteria to nominations for ACS fellows, as well as allowing the society to revoke a national award or fellow designation.
At an ACS Board of Directors meeting on Dec. 14, current President Diane Grob Schmidt requested that the board review and reinforce its commitment to safety through its national awards and fellows program, as well as by adding safety to the society‰??s core values and strengthening references to safety in the Chemical Professional‰??s Code of Conduct.
‰??We don‰??t want to make it harder for people to nominate worthy candidates for awards,‰?? Schmidt says. ‰??But we need to take a more visible and stronger position on safety.‰??
In 2013, the society started requiring that national award nominators answer the question: ‰??Does the nominee employ and require good safety protocols and practices in his/her laboratory?‰?? ACS publishes C&EN.
The new proposals come after the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) announced on Nov. 16 that University of California, Los Angeles, chemistry professor Patrick G. Harran had been elected a AAAS fellow. After an outcry over Harran‰??s safety record, AAAS announced on Dec. 22 that it would not move forward with making Harran a fellow.
‰??On December 18, the AAAS Council approved the Chemistry Section steering group‰??s request to conduct a complete re-evaluation of Dr. Harran‰??s nomination after it became apparent that an initial review of nomination materials had not included all relevant information. Members of the nomination reviewing committee recently became aware of a 2008 case involving the death of a technician in the UCLA laboratory of Dr. Harran,‰?? AAAS said in a statement.
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PHOSPHORUS TRICHLORIDE LEAK CLEANED UP IN NW CHARLOTTE
Tags: us_NC, industrial, release, response, phosphorus_trichloride
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Emergency crews worked to cleanup HazMat situation in northwest Charlottte Wednesday evening.
Late-Wednesday afternoon, the Charlotte Fire Department's HazMat crew was called to 3030 Planters Place on reports of a possible HazMat incident.
NBC Charlotte's crew on scene at Charlotte Bay Trading learned there was phosphorus trichloride leaking from a barrel inside the warehouse.
There were people inside the building at the time of the leak; they called 911 and were subsequently evacuated.
The HazMat crew made entry, controlled the leak and cleared the scene in about three hours.
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CHEMICAL SPILL CAUSED HAZMAT SITUATION IN AURORA
Tags: us_CO, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical
AURORA - There was a hazmat incident at 12401 E. 17th Ave. in Aurora Wednesday morning.
According to authorities, the Aurora Fire Hazmat Team cleaned up a chemical spill in the Leprino lab building which is a separate office building near the University of Colorado Hospital.
The first three floors of that building were temporarily closed due to the spill cleanup. They were reopened shortly after noon.
There are no injuries reported currently, and the spill only affected the Leprino building.
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CEDAR FALLS BUSINESS 'LUCKY' AFTER SMALL FIRE, CHIEF SAYS
Tags: us_IA, industrial, fire, response, other_chemical
CEDAR FALLS | An early morning fire at a business in northern Cedar Falls could have been much worse, authorities said.
Firefighters were called before 6 a.m. to Power Pavers, 1911 Lincoln St., when employees reporting for work found the building full of smoke.
Authorities determined that some paint booth filters disposed of in a 40-gallon trash can has spontaneously combusted and smoldered overnight.
Employees tried to douse the fire, which had burned itself out by the time authorities arrived.
Fire Chief John Schilling said the 40-gallon trash can was leveled to a mess about 4 1/2 inches high by 3 feet in diameter. The fire was confined to the container, Public Safety Director Jeff Olson said.
"They were incredibly lucky that can wasn't near anything else combustible, or they might have had a lot bigger mess than what they have to clean up," Schilling said, noting the number of combustible items that can be found in a painting operation. The filters are used inside a spray booth to catch paint fumes and vapor and are discarded when they become full.
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3 HURT IN EXPLOSION AT TOP DRDO UNIT, ONE CRITICAL
Tags: India, laboratory, explosion, injury, explosives, solvent
Three contractual workers have received severe burn injuries in an explosion which led to a fire in the Igniter Complex of the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL), a premier research laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) located in Pashan. The incident took place around Tuesday noon.
The condition of one of the injured, who received 75 per cent burn injuries, is critical, according to doctors.
An inquiry has been ordered to probe the causes of the incident, officials said.
A press release issued by the HEMRL through the Defence PRO said, ‰??An accident has taken place in Igniter Complex of HEMRL Tuesday, around noon, during a mixing operation. The operation was being carried out under the supervision of HEMRL officials. Three contract workers got burn injuries. of the three, two were involved in the mixing operation and had more than three years of experience in this field. The third person went to hand over a solvent bottle to them. All the three workers were taken to medical emergency room immediately for preliminary treatment and afterwards they were shifted to a hospital in the city. HEMRL officials stated that prima facie all safety norms were adhered to. However, to find out the exact cause of accident, DRDO HQ has ordered an inquiry committee.‰??
....
In a similar incident in 2002 at the facility, six persons, two lab technicians and four contract workers, were killed in a blast in the solid rocket propellant section.
In another accident in 2009, ceiling of one of the labs was completely blown away after an explosion.
HEMRL one of the premier laboratories of DRDO where research and development on high energy materials like propellants and high-power explosives and on pyrotechnics is carried out. The laboratory has played a key role in development of the missile systems of India ranging from Prithvi, Agni, Akash, Nag and many others. The lab also carries out testing of prototypes of the missiles for test use of propellants. The laboratory is spread over 800 acres of the land in Pashan and Sutarwadi area.
---------------------------------------------
POSTDOC DIES IN LAB FIRE AT TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY
Tags: China, laboratory, follow-up, death, gas_cylinders, hydrogen
A postdoctoral chemist has died following an explosion on 18 December in the chemistry department of Tsinghua University in Beijing.
The researcher, Meng Xiangjian, died after a hydrogen storage cylinder unexpectedly exploded at 10.10 a.m. local time, according to a police report shared on the university's official Weibo social-media account. Images shared on social media showed black smoke billowing out of the window of the second floor of the red-brick Ho Tim building, in the centre of the university's Beijing campus; the fire was extinguished and other personnel evacuated, the university stated.
The university has not yet responded to requests for comment, but stated on Weibo that it had stopped using hydrogen gas cylinders of the same type and manufacturer, and had organized an expert committee to investigate the safety vulnerabilities of its campus and laboratories, particularly regarding the storage of dangerous chemicals. A police investigation is ongoing.
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TOOLS FOR THE MICROBIOME: NANO AND BEYOND
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, nanotech
The microbiome presents great opportunities for understanding and improving the world around us and elucidating the interactions that compose it. The microbiome also poses tremendous challenges for mapping and manipulating the entangled networks of interactions among myriad diverse organisms. Here, we describe the opportunities, technical needs, and potential approaches to address these challenges, based on recent and upcoming advances in measurement and control at the nanoscale and beyond. These technical needs will provide the basis for advancing the largely descriptive studies of the microbiome to the theoretical and mechanistic understandings that will underpin the discipline of microbiome engineering. We anticipate that the new tools and methods developed will also be more broadly useful in environmental monitoring, medicine, forensics, and other areas.
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