From: Secretary ACS DCHAS <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] CHAS Tweets and Chemical Safety headlines (8 articles)
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2014 08:41:10 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: 427A3C5A-D55F-44D0-9E09-6E91591EB4CC**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


**At_Symbol_Here**ACSDCHAS and **At_Symbol_Here**LabSustain tweets and Chemical Safety Headlines
Links to the headlines below can be found at the http://www.dchas.org/newsflash

Table of Contents (8 articles)

1 DEAD, 5 OTHERS INJURED AFTER CHEMICAL EXPLOSION AT GENERAL MOTORS PLANT IN INDIANA
Tags: us_in, explosion, industrial, death, chlorine_dioxide

WOMAN, 72, HOSPITALIZED FOR CHEMICAL BURNS AFTER HER DELL LAPTOP EXPLODES
Tags: us_pa, explosion, public, response, acids

FIRE AT OHIO FRACKING WELL FORCED EVACUATIONS AND LIKELY CONTRIBUTED TO FISH KILL
Tags: us_oh, fire, industrial, followup, environmental

JESSUP FIREFIGHTERS WAIT TO SEE IF GEAR IS RUINED
Tags: us_pa, fire, industrial, followup, unknown_chemical

FARM EXPLOSION CLAIMS LIFE OF CENTRAL TEXAS MAN
Tags: us_TX, industrial, explosion, death, ag_chems

AMNESTY WANTS DOW CHEMICAL TO APPEAR BEFORE BHOPAL COURT THIS WEEK
Tags: India, industrial, follow-up, environmental

CHEMICAL WORRIES WON'T BE OVER
Tags: Bangladesh, public, discovery, response, formaldehyde

UPDATE: ACCIDENTAL CHEMICAL MIXTURE PROMPTED EAST DUBUQUE EVACUATIONS
Tags: us_IL, public, release, injury, chlorine


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1 DEAD, 5 OTHERS INJURED AFTER CHEMICAL EXPLOSION AT GENERAL MOTORS PLANT IN INDIANA

Tags: us_in, explosion, industrial, death, chlorine_dioxide

MARION, Indiana ? A chemical explosion Tuesday at a General Motors metal-stamping plant in Indiana killed a contractor and injured several others, authorities said.

The blast killed James L. Gibson, 48, Grant County Coroner Stephen Dorsey said.

Marion General Hospital was treating five other people with non-life threatening injuries, hospital spokeswoman Ann Vermilion told the Marion Chronicle-Tribune. However, GM issued a statement saying four employees were under observation for non-life-threatening conditions at the hospital and that four others were transported there, but required no treatment.

"The situation is contained. Everybody has been evacuated," GM spokeswoman Stephanie Jentgen said in a telephone interview.

The explosion involved a chlorine dioxide tank, and the chemical continued spilling out after the explosion, Marion Fire Chief Paul David said. A hazardous materials crew contained the spill, and firefighters were rinsing off the skin of everyone who may have come into contact with the chemical. If inhaled, the chemical can cause lung problems and can irritate the skin and eyes.

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WOMAN, 72, HOSPITALIZED FOR CHEMICAL BURNS AFTER HER DELL LAPTOP EXPLODES

Tags: us_pa, explosion, public, response, acids

Loretta Luff of Langhorne Manor, Pennsylvania was on her computer Sunday when it exploded
The 6-year-old Dell laptop blew back and sent battery acid around the 72-year-old woman's living room
Mrs Luff was able to douse the fire that started with water from her dogs' water bowl
She was taken to the hospital where she was treated for first- and second-degree burns to her face, arm and foot
Dell is investigating the incident, but says replaced batteries that come from a third party can increase the chance of a fire
Mrs Luff says she replaced the battery three years ago but isn't sure if it came from the company

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FIRE AT OHIO FRACKING WELL FORCED EVACUATIONS AND LIKELY CONTRIBUTED TO FISH KILL

Tags: us_oh, fire, industrial, followup, environmental

An explosive fire at an Ohio fracking well was likely the cause of a chemical leak into a stream that contributed to the death of fish as far as five miles away from the the fire?s site, Ohio officials said Monday.
Over the weekend, a mechanical malfunction sparked a fire on the well pad of a fracking operation in Monroe County, Ohio, a blaze that caused explosions and forced evacuations of people who lived within a mile of the well. The people were evacuated as a precaution ?because of the chemicals in the smoke, for breathing reasons,? Phillip Keevert, director of the Monroe County Emergency Management Agency, told the Columbus Dispatch.
?The plume of smoke overwhelmed the whole area, so you couldn?t really see the fire itself very well,? he said. ?The pad site is probably, I?m guessing, a 3-acre area.?
While crews were fighting the fire on Saturday, they flooded the well area, which likely sent fracking chemicals into a creek nearby the site. That spill in turn likely contributed to a ?major fish kill? in the creek that was reported Sunday. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency are investigating the fish kill, which resulted in dead crayfish, minnows and smallmouth bass. The Monroe County Health Department is also monitoring well water to ensure chemicals don?t show up in tests. No workers at the well site, owned by Statoil North America, were hurt.

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JESSUP FIREFIGHTERS WAIT TO SEE IF GEAR IS RUINED

Tags: us_pa, fire, industrial, followup, unknown_chemical

JESSUP ? The color purple doesn?t bother Joseph Fetcho. Potentially ruined fire gear does.

Four days after the streets ran purple outside a massive fire that destroyed an industrial container refurbishing facility in Jessup, borough firefighters are waiting to see if 10 sets of fire gear have been rendered useless by chemicals in concentrated purple dye.

Mr. Fetcho, Jessup?s first assistant fire chief, sent the stained gear to a cleaner, Lion Total Care, which recommended the department take the gear out of service pending the results of chemical tests..

?If it comes back and everything?s normal, the color is not going to bother us,? Chief Fetcho said.

The bill may run to $30,000

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FARM EXPLOSION CLAIMS LIFE OF CENTRAL TEXAS MAN

Tags: us_TX, industrial, explosion, death, ag_chems

CORYELL COUNTY (June 30, 2014) Charl Wynard Swart, 55, of McGregor, died and two other men were injured when a storage tank filled with an agricultural chemical exploded in a workshop Sunday evening on a Coryell County farm, authorities said Monday.

Swart was pronounced dead a little after 6:15 p.m. Sunday at Huffman Farms at 5601 Mother Neff Parkway, just inside the Coryell County line, Coryell County Chief Deputy Sheriff Joe Blakley said Monday.

An autopsy was ordered.

A 50-year-old man who was injured in the explosion was at Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest Medical Center in serious but stable condition Monday and a 24-year-old man was flown to the Parkland Hospital in Dallas for treatment of burns, Blakley said.

Blakley said it was not clear if the man's burns were thermal or chemical.

The names of the two injured men weren?t released.

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AMNESTY WANTS DOW CHEMICAL TO APPEAR BEFORE BHOPAL COURT THIS WEEK

Tags: India, industrial, follow-up, environmental

WASHINGTON, JULY 1:
Amnesty International has called on the Dow Chemical Company (Dow) to appear before a Bhopal court this week to explain why its subsidiary Union Carbide Company repeatedly ignored summons in the 1984 gas leak case.

The industrial accident, the worst in Indian history, led to the leak of poisonous methyl isocyanate, claiming thousands of lives in the Madhya Pradesh capital. Hundreds of thousands of others had suffered chronic health problems.

The toxic leak has led to environmental contamination at the former plant site, claim activists.

?Dow should not hide from the summons. Why is Dow afraid to face the courts in Bhopal?? asked T Kumar, International Advocacy Director at Amnesty International USA and an expert on global human rights.

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CHEMICAL WORRIES WON'T BE OVER

Tags: Bangladesh, public, discovery, response, formaldehyde

The culprits behind formalin in foods are to be jailed for life and slapped with Tk 20 lakh fine under a law, the draft of which was approved by the cabinet yesterday.
The government move came following reports of rampant use of formalin in fish, milk, fruits and vegetables by a wide range of traders to increase the shelf life and fresh look of food items.
Both legal and health experts hailed the government's bid to enact a law to control the use and sale of formalin but stressed its implementation. There are hundreds of laws in the country but not many of them are enforced.
Two credible tests recently found that formalin is one of at least two dozen chemicals used by unscrupulous traders in food items, creating huge concern over public health. Controlling the abuse of formalin alone will not ensure safe food, they said.

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UPDATE: ACCIDENTAL CHEMICAL MIXTURE PROMPTED EAST DUBUQUE EVACUATIONS

Tags: us_IL, public, release, injury, chlorine

EAST DUBUQUE, Ill. ? Two homes and one business were evacuated this morning after authorities learned of a potentially dangerous chemical release downtown.
One person was taken to the hospital after the accidental mixture of chlorine and fluoride, according to East Dubuque Assistant Fire Chief Tom Lange. The person, whom Lange declined to name, was treated and released without serious injuries.

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