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 (15 articles)
Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2017 12:56:52 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: 34B4CAD4-A4CF-49CE-B577-22CF71391048**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, November 20, 2017 at 12:56:43 PM
A membership benefit 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 (15 articles)
EMERGENCY SERVICES ARE RESPONDING TO A HAZMAT INCIDENT
Tags: Australia, industrial, release, response, chlorine
3 INJURED AFTER SMALL PLANE CRASHES INTO HOUSE IN SAN JOSE
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, other_chemical
CHEMICAL ALERT UPGRADED AT NSW RAAF BASE
Tags: Australia, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
LARGE-SCALE STUDY FINDS NO GLYPHOSATE-CANCER CONNECTION
Tags: us_IA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, ag_chems, pesticides
TROPICAL STORM HARVEY SPARKED HUGE HUFF OF AIR POLLUTION IN TEXAS
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, toxics
APARTMENT BUILDING EVACUATED AFTER CARBON MONOXIDE LEAK
Tags: us_IL, public, release, response, carbon_monoxide
SCIENTISTS URGE COORDINATED EFFORT TO STUDY PFOA DANGERS
Tags: us_OH, industrial, follow-up, environmental, waste
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR PROPOSES OVER $1.8 MILLION IN FINES AGAINST A WISCONSIN CORN MILLING FACILITY AFTER FATAL GRAIN DUST EXPLOSION
Tags: us_WI, industrial, follow-up, death, dust
POLICE SEARCH FOR MISSING CHEMICAL ‰?? THE SQUARE
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, other_chemical
STATE INVESTIGATING CHEMICAL LEAK INTO AIR AT CHEMOURS PLANT :: WRAL.COM
Tags: us_NC, industrial, follow-up, environmental, ether
CHESTER COUNTY CHEMICAL PLANT SPILLS SUBSTANCE IN LOCAL STREAM
Tags: us_SC, public, release, response, plastics
HAZMAT UNITS RESPOND TO CHEMICAL FIRE IN REGENTS LABORATORY
Tags: us_DC, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
LAB, COUNTY ASSURE SAFETY OF DRINKING WATER
Tags: us_NM, laboratory, follow-up, environmental, corrosives, toxics
HARRIS COUNTY SUES ARKEMA FOR HURRICANE HARVEY ENVIRONMENTAL AND SAFETY VIOLATIONS
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental
THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY MUST PLAN BETTER FOR SEVERE WEATHER, U.S. CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD SAYS
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, flammables, peroxide
---------------------------------------------
EMERGENCY SERVICES ARE RESPONDING TO A HAZMAT INCIDENT
Tags: Australia, industrial, release, response, chlorine
UPDATE 4.00pm: Aquazone says no members of the public were at risk during today‰??s chlorine gas leak.
Manager Ray Smith said last week sensors had alerted staff to the malfunctioning of the chlorination system, which led to them switching the system off and manually chlorinating the pool.
‰??Today a [chlorine] gas leak occurred while CFA officers and Aquazone staff were investigating the cause of the initial fault,‰?? Mr Smith said.
‰??To ensure everyone‰??s safety, the Aquazone car park was closed for about two hours from 11.30am to allow any gas to dissipate. The indoor pool was evacuated and as a precaution cars were unable to enter or leave the site.
‰??Patrons were provided with free food and drinks while they waited to be given the all-clear by the CFA.
‰??While this was certainly an inconvenience for some patrons, no members of the public were at risk.
---------------------------------------------
3 INJURED AFTER SMALL PLANE CRASHES INTO HOUSE IN SAN JOSE
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, other_chemical
Three people were injured Sunday after a small plane crashed into a house near Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose, according to fire officials.
The crash occurred about 3 p.m. at 2156 Evelyn Ave., which is just across the street from the airport, San Jose fire officials said.
Two men and one woman were transported to a hospital. One person suffered a major injury, and the other two were lesser injuries, fire officials said.
The plane, a single-engine Cessna 172, crashed into the house's garage, but no one in the home was hurt. About 40 gallons of fuel spilled from the plane, and hazmat personnel were on the scene to clean up, fire Capt. Mike Van Elgort said.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL ALERT UPGRADED AT NSW RAAF BASE
Tags: Australia, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
The Federal Government will extend blood testing, mental health services and other health support to more residents surrounding the RAAF Base at Williamtown in NSW.
The government has so far refused to offer the same support to Katherine residents despite calls from the NT Government.
Yesterday‰??s move followed a decision by NSW‰??s Environment Protection Authority‰??s to extend the PFAS contamination area around the base.
The PFAS chemicals were contained in the same firefighting foams used in training at the RAAF Base as has been used at the Tindal base.
Defence is conducting the same investigation in the Katherine region as has now been updated on this advice from Williamtown.
Katherine‰??s report is not expect until next year.
Updated PFAS test results from Williamtown show a wider and more serious PFAS problem around the base.
---------------------------------------------
LARGE-SCALE STUDY FINDS NO GLYPHOSATE-CANCER CONNECTION
Tags: us_IA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, ag_chems, pesticides
The latest data from a long-term study of the health of tens of thousands of people licensed to apply pesticides show no evidence of a link between exposure to the herbicide glyphosate and cancer (J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 2017, DOI: 10.1093/jnci/djx233). The data come at a critical time for Monsanto, maker of the widely used glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup. The company is being sued by hundreds of Roundup users who claim that exposure to the product caused them to get non-Hodgå-kin‰??s lymphoma. The study involves more than 54,000 pesticide applicators from North Carolina and Iowa who enrolled between 1993 and 1997. Initial data from the study were published in 2004 and documented 2,088 cancers through 2001 (Environ. Health Perspect. 2004, DOI: 10.1289/ehp.7340). The latest report finds 7,290 cancer cases through 2013 in Iowa and through 2012 in North Carolina. Neither study found any statistically significant associations between cancer and exposure to glyphosate. The resea!
rchers did find, however, a possible association between multiple myeloma and glyphosate exposure that they say should be investigated further.
---------------------------------------------
TROPICAL STORM HARVEY SPARKED HUGE HUFF OF AIR POLLUTION IN TEXAS
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, toxics
Refineries and petrochemical facilities along the Texas Gulf Coast shut down before Tropical Storm Harvey made landfall on Aug. 25. But even with a few days‰?? warning, such unplanned shutdowns can result in chemical emissions that exceed air pollution permit levels.
In all, 2.6 million kg of chemicals were released from Aug. 23 to Sept. 25, according to an interactive database published by Greenpeace and based on reports that companies provided to Texas environmental officials. Some 690,000 kg of emissions were deemed particularly hazardous by Greenpeace and include benzene, 1,3-butadiene, ethylbenzene, hexane, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, toluene, and xylenes.
Twelve companies emitted 90% of all pollution released, according to the data.
Ten companies released 90% of the most hazardous chemicals. Most of those ten were refineries, but one pipeline and distribution facility, Magellan Midstream Partners‰?? Galena Park terminal, emitted one-third of all hazardous chemicals.
Among hazardous chemicals released, nearly all emissions were beyond the amounts allowed under the companies‰?? air pollution permits.
Nearly all facilities are located in communities with above-average rates of poverty and with disproportionate shares of people of color, Greenpeace notes, citing data from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
---------------------------------------------
APARTMENT BUILDING EVACUATED AFTER CARBON MONOXIDE LEAK
Tags: us_IL, public, release, response, carbon_monoxide
High levels of carbon monoxide prompted an evacuation at a nine-story apartment building early Saturday in the South Shore neighborhood.
A Level 1 HazMat response was called at 3:07 a.m. at the building in the 7100 block of South South Shore, according to the Chicago Fire Department. It was upgraded to Level 2 HazMat at 3:22 a.m.
Carbon monoxide levels were recorded at 300 parts per million, according to CFD Cmdr. Curtis Hudson. Further investigation revealed that the elevated levels were caused by a boiler that wasn‰??t ventilating properly.
All of the building‰??s units were evacuated and all residents were brought down to the lobby, Hudson said. They were allowed back into their apartments by 5:06 a.m. after crews ventilated the building and repaired the problem with the boiler. No injuries were reported.
---------------------------------------------
SCIENTISTS URGE COORDINATED EFFORT TO STUDY PFOA DANGERS
Tags: us_OH, industrial, follow-up, environmental, waste
More than three dozen scientists are urging key lawmakers to develop a comprehensive national plan to study the potential health dangers of exposure to C8 and similar chemicals. The recommendation was made in a peer-reviewed commentary published last week in the journal Environmental Health.
‰??Action is needed now to generate the information and evidence integration to enable regulatory decision making,‰?? the scientists said in the paper.
Perfluorooctanoate acid, or PFOA, was made and used at DuPont‰??s Washington Works plant south of Parkersburg as a processing agent to make Teflon and other nonstick products, oil-resistant paper packaging and stain-resistant textiles. It is also commonly known in the area as C8 and is part of a family of highly fluorinated chemicals also referred to as PFAS or PFCs.
DuPont and other companies have reduced their emissions and agreed on a voluntary phase-out of the chemical, but researchers are still concerned about a growing list of possible health effects and about the chemical‰??s presence in consumer products, as well as continued pollution from waste disposal practices. Significant concerns have also been raised about new chemicals being used as a replacement for C8.
The settlement of a class-action lawsuit in the Mid-Ohio Valley more than a decade ago already led to a landmark study of the health effects of C8 on more than 70,000 residents who drank water contaminated by DuPont‰??s emissions. But the new scientific commentary notes that millions of Americans have been exposed to drinking water that may contain unsafe amounts of these chemicals.
‰??Major sources include production, use, and disposal of PFAS at manufacturing sites, as well as military fire training areas, civilian airports, and wastewater treatment plants,‰?? the commentary said.
The commentary notes that ‰??the possible adverse health impacts are of great concern,‰?? with studies linking exposure to kidney and testicular cancer, decreased birth weight, thyroid disease, decreased sperm quality, high cholesterol, pregnancy-induced hypertension, asthma, ulcerative colitis and decreased response to vaccination.
---------------------------------------------
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR PROPOSES OVER $1.8 MILLION IN FINES AGAINST A WISCONSIN CORN MILLING FACILITY AFTER FATAL GRAIN DUST EXPLOSION
Tags: us_WI, industrial, follow-up, death, dust
CAMBRIA, WI ‰?? The U.S. Department of Labor‰??s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed $1,837,861 in fines against Didion Milling Inc. following a May 31, 2017, explosion that killed five workers and injured 12 others, including a 21-year-old employee who suffered a double leg amputation after being crushed by a railcar.
OSHA found that the explosion likely resulted from Didion‰??s failures to correct the leakage and accumulation of highly combustible grain dust throughout the facility and to properly maintain equipment to control ignition sources. OSHA cited Didion‰??s Cambria facility with 14 willful ‰?? including eight willful per-instance egregious‰?? and five serious citations, most involving fire and explosion hazards. The company has been placed in OSHA‰??s Severe Violator Enforcement Program.
‰??Didion Milling could have prevented this tragedy if it had addressed hazards that are well-known in this industry,‰?? said OSHA Regional Administrator Ken Nishiyama Atha, in Chicago. ‰??Instead, their disregard for the law led to an explosion that claimed the lives of workers, and heartbreak for their families and the community.‰??
The egregious willful citations were issued for violating OSHA‰??s Grain Handling standard by failing to perform required maintenance on operating equipment and implementing a housekeeping program to control dust accumulations. Willful citations were issued for failure to shut down ignition sources, prevent static electricity discharge, provide adequate personal protective equipment to employees, correct malfunctioning dust collection systems, maintain equipment safety controls, and have an emergency alarm system. Serious citations addressed hazards associated with fires and explosions, and the lack of employee training.
---------------------------------------------
POLICE SEARCH FOR MISSING CHEMICAL ‰?? THE SQUARE
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, other_chemical
(WINDSOR, ON) ‰?? On November 12, Windsor patrol officers were called to an apartment building, in the 100 block of Riverside Drive East, for a report of a stolen vehicle. Police were informed that a Toyota Rav4 had been parked in an assigned parking spot, around 4pm the previous day, but was discovered missing 10:30am Sunday morning.
Officers learned that the vehicle contained 10 half-pound containers of unmixed Tannerite, used in firearm target practice.
On its own, Tannerite is not explosive, but can be combined with other products to cause an explosion when triggered by a high velocity projectile. Windsor Police are advising residents that it is not a threat to public safety.
On Wednesday, a man sleeping in an unplated vehicle was reported to police. Patrol officers investigated the report and discovered the missing Rav4, unoccupied, in the 900 block of Windsor Avenue. The Tannerite was not in the vehicle.
---------------------------------------------
STATE INVESTIGATING CHEMICAL LEAK INTO AIR AT CHEMOURS PLANT :: WRAL.COM
Tags: us_NC, industrial, follow-up, environmental, ether
RALEIGH, N.C. ‰?? State regulators are investigating a reported chemical leak into the air at the Chemours plant in Bladen County, where officials have already threatened a key company permit over liquid discharges into the Cape Fear River.
These chemicals are related to GenX, and officials believe they would have "dispersed fairly rapidly with the prevailing winds and that they would not have caused any health effects as a result of inhalation," state Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Jamie Kritzer said in an email Friday.
Chemours, a chemical manufacturer, told the state Wednesday morning that it found a leak in its vinyl ether manufacturing area and that it believed that leak lasted about 13 hours, DEQ said in a news release Friday. The leak came from a condensation tower, and the company said it repaired a valve believed to be the source, the department said.
Now, DEQ officials are looking into whether the release constitutes a violation of the company's air permit. They {{a href="blogpost-17119686"}}}began proceedings this week{{/a} to revoke Chemours' wastewater discharge permit over an unreported spill in October, the latest in a saga over chemical releases into the river, which feeds municipal drinking supplies in and around Wilmington.
---------------------------------------------
CHESTER COUNTY CHEMICAL PLANT SPILLS SUBSTANCE IN LOCAL STREAM
Tags: us_SC, public, release, response, plastics
RICHBURG, SC (FOX 46 WJZY) - A milky stream could be seen behind Specialty Polymers in Chester County on Friday after a tank overflowed, spilling an acrylic-based product into the water.
The pictures a viewer sent us are even worse, showing very cloudy water on Hooper Creek.
‰??Corporately we certainly have an issue we need to resolve, and we will,‰?? said Specialty Polymers sales manager Steve Dobson.
Dobson admitted specialty polymers messed up last Saturday when a tank overflowed, spilling a product made of an acrylic emulsion, which Dobson says is non-hazardous; it‰??s the same material you'd see in water based house paint.
Company officials say the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control let them know on Monday that the spill had reached beyond their property. They say they immediately began cleanup and letting neighbors know what's going on
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT UNITS RESPOND TO CHEMICAL FIRE IN REGENTS LABORATORY
Tags: us_DC, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
Emergency, fire and hazmat units responded to a chemical fire in a Regents Hall science laboratory Friday evening.
The fire involved a ‰??small amount of a chemical‰?? and occurred in a ‰??controlled environment,‰?? according to a spokesperson for D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services. The incident was declared ‰??all clear‰?? by the university at 10:22 p.m.
The fire was extinguished by university staff soon after it started around 8:30 p.m., according to D.C. Fire and EMS. Fire units arrived minutes later. Three staff members were taken to the hospital for medical checkups, and community members were advised to avoid the area.
Hazmat units prepared to enter the building by 9:30 p.m. as firefighters conferred with university officials to identify the materials possibly involved in the fire. Hazmat units remained on the scene to assist university staff with cleanup, with the last units clearing out by 10:22 p.m.
Opened in 2012, Regents houses five floors of research laboratories and the university‰??s chemistry, biology and physics departments. The labs feature ‰??technologically advanced instrumentation and environmental controls necessary to conduct sensitive experiments and research,‰?? according to the university website.
---------------------------------------------
LAB, COUNTY ASSURE SAFETY OF DRINKING WATER
Tags: us_NM, laboratory, follow-up, environmental, corrosives, toxics
Los Alamos County officials and the Department of Energy‰??s Environmental Management office issued a statement Monday assuring residents of the safety of the county‰??s drinking water.
Public concern was raised over early November press reports stating that Los Alamos National Laboratory officials weren‰??t sure of the extent of a decades-old toxic chemical spill in Mortandad Canyon.
The revelation was reportedly made at a hearing held between state lawmakers and LANL officials about the status of a toxic chemical cleanup operation in Mortandad Canyon. The spill is decades old and involves hexavalent chromium, an anti-corrosive agent that was flushed regularly into the canyon from the cooling towers of a LANL power plant from the early 1950s into the mid 1970s.
The chemical is known to cause cancer in humans.
LANL has been working to contain the spill, which is thousands of feet underground and threatens a regional aquifer, from reaching drinking water wells in Los Alamos County and the San Ildefonso Pueblo.
---------------------------------------------
HARRIS COUNTY SUES ARKEMA FOR HURRICANE HARVEY ENVIRONMENTAL AND SAFETY VIOLATIONS
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental
Arkema, the French chemicals company whose plant was the site of multiple explosions during and after Hurricane Harvey, has become the subject of a lawsuit Thursday by Harris County, Texas.
The explosions and chemical fires resulting from the hurricane‰??s flooding released toxic emissions into the nearby residential neighborhood that left several residents and first responders ill. The county‰??s lawsuit seeks a $1 million penalty and would force Arkema to undergo an independent audit of its disaster preparedness plans and implement any recommendations of that assessment.
For the county, the priority is more on making sure such a public health emergency does not reoccur.
"We're not so much interested in the penalties as we are in the audit and emergency response plan so that it‰??s prepared for flooding in the future,‰?? Assistant County Attorney Rock Owens, who handles environmental cases for Harris County, told International Business Times. ‰??We‰??d like to see Arkema consider hardening their storage facilities so that there‰??s not such a risk of uncontrolled chemical ignition. That created a lot of dangerous possibilities.‰??
Owens told IBT that the suit was brought with the full support of the Harris County Commissioners Court because everyone involved wants to make sure that the county does not become ‰??another West, Texas,‰?? referring to the 2013 West Fertilizer Company explosion that left 15 people dead and well over 100 injured.
---------------------------------------------
THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY MUST PLAN BETTER FOR SEVERE WEATHER, U.S. CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD SAYS
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, flammables, peroxide
In light of the impact of Tropical Storm Harvey on an Arkema chemical plant and the greater Houston area, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board is urging companies, emergency planners, and regulators to quickly reassess the chemical industry‰??s preparedness for hurricanes and floods. The board, an independent federal investigator, made the recommendation Nov. 15 as part of an update of its ongoing investigation into the fires that occurred in late August at the Arkema facility in Crosby, Texas.
[+]Enlarge
Flammable organic peroxides at Arkema's flooded plant in Crosby, Texas, ignited amid rising floodwaters.
Credit: Adrees Latif/Reuters/Newscom
‰??Harvey shows that companies can‰??t rely on past experience‰?? when it comes to emergency planning, says CSB investigator Mark Wingard. ‰??More severe weather events are possible, and we need to be thinking about what can happen and how to prepare for it. Companies need to test past assumptions.‰??
Arkema manufactures and uses organic peroxides, which must be refrigerated for stability, at the Crosby site. The plant lost primary electricity and its generators as it flooded because of Harvey. As its cold-storage warehouses lost power, the company shifted the peroxides to nine refrigerator truck trailers. But soon, three trailers caught fire and eventually Arkema officials deliberately burned the remaining trailers.
The company considered neutralizing the peroxides, but it had 158,757 kg held in 15,000 individual containers, making such actions difficult, CSB investigator Wingard says.
CSB officials say floods, high winds, and hurricanes are becoming more frequent and industry and regulators must be prepared. CSB will look at the adequacy of assumptions in current emergency preparedness requirements as well as approaches of different U.S. federal agencies and those of other countries as it prepares its report on Arkema, Wingard says.
---------------------------------------------
---
For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional secretary at secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas
Previous post | Top of Page | Next post