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: May 29, 2013 7:40:11 AM EDT
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: <7C398D06-CCCF-46F4-AF0D-EC1800B411ED**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org>

Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, May 29, 2013 7:39:56 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 (12 articles)

CHEMICAL ALERT AT OXFORD FLAT
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, response, chlorine

CHEMICAL CARGO TRAIN HITS TRUCK, EXPLODES (VIDEO)
Tags: us_MD, transportation, explosion, injury, other_chemical

HOMELAND SECURITY NEWS WIRE
Tags: us_IL, public, discovery, environmental

LANES CLOSE AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL ON UNIVERSITY
Tags: us_FL, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical

WATER MAIN BREAK CREATES HAZMAT SITUATION IN NEW JERSEY
Tags: us_NJ, public, release, environmental, petroleum

HAZMAT CREWS CALLED FOR SOUTH SIDE CHLORINE LEAK
Tags: us_PA, public, release, response, chlorine, gas_cylinders

SC EYEING OREGON FOR SOLUTION TO METH LAB ÔEXPLOSION'
Tags: us_SC, public, follow-up, response, meth_lab

KOREA: DEATHS FROM CHEMICAL ACCIDENTS JUMP IN 2012
Tags: Republic_of_Korea, industrial, follow-up, death, chlorine

SMALL CHLORINE EXPLOSION IN RYE TOWNSHIP SENDS 1 PERSON TO HOSPITAL, CAUSES MINIMAL DAMAGE
Tags: us_PA, public, explosion, injury, chlorine

HIGHWAY 77 CHEMICAL LEAK SENDS FIREFIGHTERS TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_TX, transportation, fire, injury, chlorine

SUMMER MEANS A SPIKE IN CHEMICAL INJURIES TO KIDS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical

PESTICIDE CONTAINERS WASH ASHORE IN AUSTRALIA
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, response, pesticides


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CHEMICAL ALERT AT OXFORD FLAT
http://www.heart.co.uk/thamesvalley/news/local/chemical-alert-oxford-flat/
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, response, chlorine

There are warnings not to mix household chemicals after an attempt to unblock a sink turned toxic in Oxford.

Fire-fighters were called to the Ivy Flats yesterday afternoon, Monday 27th May, after a man suffered burns and was having breathing problems when the products reacted with each other.

The maintenance worker had poured a mixture of chemicals down the sink, to try to unblock it.

The previous evening another resident had also poured chemicals down the sink making the combination dangerous.

Four firefighters in breathing apparatus and gas tight suits entered the flat and were able to identify the three household substances that had been put into the sink.

A specialist Hazardous Materials and Environmental Protection Advisor discovered that by combining these three regular products a small quantity of chlorine gas had been created that still had the potential to cause harm to the other occupants.

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CHEMICAL CARGO TRAIN HITS TRUCK, EXPLODES (VIDEO)
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/transportation/chemical-cargo-train-hits-truck-explodes-video
Tags: us_MD, transportation, explosion, injury, other_chemical

A freight train containing chemicals, including flourocyclic acid, crashed into a garbage truck in Rosedale, Maryland, causing a fire and an explosion today (video below).

The huge explosion damaged several buildings and shook homes.

The truck driver, John Alban Jr., is in stable condition at the shock-trauma center of the University of Maryland, reports USA Today.

Three other people were also injured, but are in stable condition at the MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center.

An engineer and conductor aboard the 45-car train, which was traveling from Selkirk, New York to Waycross, Georgia, were not seriously injured.

---------------------------------------------

HOMELAND SECURITY NEWS WIRE
http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20130524-smartphone-turned-into-handheld-biosensor
Tags: us_IL, public, discovery, environmental

Scientists and physicians in the field could soon run on-the-spot tests for environmental toxins, medical diagnostics, food safety and more with their smartphones. Researchers have developed a cradle and app for the iPhone that uses the phone's built-in camera and processing power as a biosensor to detect toxins, proteins, bacteria, viruses, and other molecules.

Researchers and physicians in the field could soon run on-the-spot tests for environmental toxins, medical diagnostics, food safety and more with their smartphones.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers have developed a cradle and app for the iPhone that uses the phone's built-in camera and processing power as a biosensor to detect toxins, proteins, bacteria, viruses, and other molecules.

---------------------------------------------

LANES CLOSE AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL ON UNIVERSITY
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/article/315125/3/Lanes-close-after-chemical-spill-on-University-
Tags: us_FL, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Two lanes on University Boulevard were closed after a chemical spill Monday afternoon.

A tanker truck transporting a vegetable oil type substance from a local plant, was heading eastbound on University Blvd earlier around 4 p.m., according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Department.

The truck was near the intersection of Phillips Highway and University when a valve on the truck that was not properly secured started leaking, according to JSO.

According to JSO, an environmental contractor will take about 1-2 hours to clean up the lanes.

University is closed while crews clean up the spill.

---------------------------------------------

WATER MAIN BREAK CREATES HAZMAT SITUATION IN NEW JERSEY
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Water-Main-Break-Mineral-Oil-Pipe-New-Jersey-209141091.html
Tags: us_NJ, public, release, environmental, petroleum

Fire authorities and utility crews are working to contain a potentially hazardous mixture that bubbled up in some streets in a New Jersey town after a water main and an underground electrical pipe containing mineral oil broke Tuesday morning.

John Mauthe, fire chief in Bergen County's River Edge, said the mineral oil is used to cool the electrical pipe, which transmits more than 200,000 volts of electricity between substations. When that pipe broke, the mineral oil combined with the water spilling from the broken water main to send a hazardous ooze up into the streets, Mauthe said.

Crews are using sand and dirt to soak up the oily mix and authorities urge residents to avoid the liquid in the streets. Mauthe said most of the oily mixture was stopped up, but some did seep into the sewers.

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HAZMAT CREWS CALLED FOR SOUTH SIDE CHLORINE LEAK
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/05/28/chlorine-odor-in-south-side/
Tags: us_PA, public, release, response, chlorine, gas_cylinders

SOUTH SIDE (KDKA) - Hazmat crews were called to the scene of a chlorine leak in the South Side early Tuesday morning.

Around 3:30 a.m., crews responded to the Oliver Bath House, located at 38 South 10th Street.

People staying a block away at the Holiday Inn on South 10th Street reported smelling a strong chlorine odor.

Hazmat crews put on special suits and headed to the basement level of the bath house.

They discovered a 150 pound cylinder leaking chlorine.

After checking for other leaks, crews were able to turn off the cylinder and stop the leak.

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SC EYEING OREGON FOR SOLUTION TO METH LAB ÔEXPLOSION'
http://www.thestate.com/2013/05/20/2779813/sc-eyeing-oregon-for-solution.html
Tags: us_SC, public, follow-up, response, meth_lab

Making methamphetamine is as easy as shopping at a store where the highly addictive drug's ingredients - from cold medicine to batteries and soda bottles to "cook" the drug in - are available.

"If you can follow a Toll House chocolate chip recipe, you can make meth," Marshall Fisher, director of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, said at a round-table discussion in Columbia earlier this month.

Simplified cooking methods and easy access to ingredients, including a cold medicine that is key to making meth, have led to a spike in S.C. meth lab incidents, which increased more than 300 percent from 2010 to 2012, S.C. law enforcement leaders say. Efforts to curb the rising number of toxic meth labs are not working, they add.

The answer to the problem, they say, may lie in Oregon and Mississippi, states that say they have reduced the number of meth labs by enacting laws making cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine, the decongestant used to make meth, available by prescription only.

A bill sponsored by state Sen. Mike Fair, R-Greenville, would do the same in South Carolina.

By making pseudoephedrine products available by prescription only, Fair hopes to stifle the growing "cottage industry" of meth cooks who employ straw buyers Ñ "smurfers" Ñ to skirt state law that now limits the amount of pseudoephedrine products any one person now can buy over the counter.

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KOREA: DEATHS FROM CHEMICAL ACCIDENTS JUMP IN 2012
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2013/05/27/49/0302000000AEN20130527007300315F.HTML
Tags: Republic_of_Korea, industrial, follow-up, death, chlorine

SEOUL, May 27 (Yonhap) -- The number of deaths from chemical accidents soared nearly 40 percent in 2012 from a year earlier amid a spate of fires, explosions and gas leaks at industrial plants across the country, government data showed Monday.

A total of 98 people were killed in chemical accidents last year, up 38 percent from 71 a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

The number marked the highest level since 2008 when 112 such deaths were reported. The annual death toll from chemical accidents steadily declined from 2009-2011, ranging from 70 to 80 per year.

The number of people injured in chemical accidents also gained 13.1 percent on-year to 1,113 last year.

The rise in the death and injury counts was attributed to a string of deadly accidents at chemical factories last year. Among the deadliest was an eight-ton toxic acid leak at a plant in the southeastern city of Gumi in September, which killed five workers and injured 16 others.

This year's casualties are feared to rise even further as the country has already suffered several chemical accidents so far this year.

In January and May, three separate fatal gas leaks killed six workers and injured seven others in total. In March, nearly 200 people received medical treatment after a chlorine gas leaked at another chemical factory in Gumi.

---------------------------------------------

SMALL CHLORINE EXPLOSION IN RYE TOWNSHIP SENDS 1 PERSON TO HOSPITAL, CAUSES MINIMAL DAMAGE
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/05/small_chlorine_explosion_in_ry.html
Tags: us_PA, public, explosion, injury, chlorine

A small chlorine explosion in Rye Township sent one man to the hospital Sunday afternoon and caused minimal damage inside a home, according to Marysville Second Assistant Fire Chief Rob Richmond.

At about 4:30 p.m. Sunday, a chemical reaction caused the small explosion at the home on Ridge Road, but Richmond said there isn't an indication yet as to what exactly caused the explosion.

One man who was near the explosion when it occurred was transported to an area hospital for precautionary measures. His wife, who was in the home at the time, did not seek medical treatment.

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HIGHWAY 77 CHEMICAL LEAK SENDS FIREFIGHTERS TO HOSPITAL
http://www.valleycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=902287#.UaNbMdIce5I
Tags: us_TX, transportation, fire, injury, chlorine

A Saturday evening chemical spill thirty miles north of Raymondville sent three firefighters to the hospital.

The Kenedy County firefighters were taken to a hospital in Corpus Christi because of the chemical exposure.

According to Kennedy County officials, all three men are in stable condition.

The southbound lanes of Highway 77 were shut down overnight due to the spill.

Authorities said a truck, carrying the load of multiple chemicals, caught fire as it was heading to Brownsville.

Officials were able to extinguish the flames, but chlorine tablets and calcium hypochlorite leaked out.

These chemicals are not considered dangerous when separated, but when mixed they are considered extremely hazardous, according to officials.

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SUMMER MEANS A SPIKE IN CHEMICAL INJURIES TO KIDS
http://www.hazmatmag.com/news/summer-means-a-spike-in-chemical-injuries-to-kids/1002343958/?ref=rss&ctid=1002343958
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical

Hydrocarbons found in household items such as cleaning products or gasoline are among the top 10 causes of pediatric poisoning deaths in the U.S., a new study has found.

The Central Ohio Poison Center and the Center for Injury Research and Policy, both at Nationwide Children's Hospital, found poisoning deaths are most likely to occur during months when the weather is warm and are associated with activities such as mowing lawns, use of Tiki torches and use of lighter fluid for outdoor cooking.

According to the study, published online May 6, 2013, and in the June 2013 print issue of Pediatrics, 31 per cent of hydrocarbon exposure incidents were reported during the summer with 17 to 19 per cent being reported during winter months.

"Inquisitive children mistakenly identify hydrocarbons as a food or beverage and attempt to ingest the poison, which is the most common way children are exposed to the chemical," explained study co-author Lara McKenzie, PhD, MA, principal investigator in the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's. "The changing seasons should remind parents to ensure proper storage of hydrocarbons in their original containers."

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PESTICIDE CONTAINERS WASH ASHORE IN AUSTRALIA
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/toxic-chemical-container-threat-mystery/story-fnii5s3y-1226651473193
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, response, pesticides

TWO more toxic chemical-containing canisters have washed up on NSW beaches, the latest in a number that have mysteriously turned up along the eastern coastline over a period of months.

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) said the canisters were discovered on Newcastle's Stockton Beach and south of Birubi Surf Club at Port Stephens on Friday and Saturday.

The silver containers are suspected of holding potentially fatal aluminium phosphide, which is used as rat poison.

Similar canisters have also been discovered further north at Kingscliff and Failford, further south at Warriewood and Batemans Bay, as well as along the Queensland, Tasmanian and South Australian coastlines.

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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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