From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (8 articles)
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 07:29:18 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, August 29, 2014 at 7:29:07 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 (8 articles)

ACADEMIC LAB SAFETY: ONE CHEMIST?S OBSERVATIONS
Tags: laboratory, follow-up, response, other_chemical

OLD BATTERIES CAUSE OF CAR FIRE IN NELSON
Tags: Canada, public, fire, response, batteries, waste

WAKE FOREST: HAZMAT TEAM CONTAINS FORMALDEHYDE LEAK IN WAKE FOREST
Tags: us_NC, industrial, release, response, formaldehyde, methanol

57 STUDENTS HURT AS SCIENCE PROJECTS EXPLODES AT ST JOHN?S ROMA SCHOOL
Tags: Australia, education, explosion, injury, sodium_hydroxide

CREWS RESPOND TO SACRAMENTO PROPANE TANK FIRE
Tags: us_CA, industrial, explosion, response, propane, waste

CHLORINE LEAK CONTAINED ON GANSON STREET
Tags: us_NY, industrial, release, response, chlorine

SHELTER-IN-PLACE ORDER LIFTED AFTER HAYWARD HAZMAT SITUATION AT CHEMICAL COMPANY
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, waste

ANOTHER HAZMAT SPILL DRAWS RESPONDERS
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, injury, hydrochloric_acid


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ACADEMIC LAB SAFETY: ONE CHEMIST?S OBSERVATIONS
Tags: laboratory, follow-up, response, other_chemical

Contributed by Brenna Arlyce Brown, who received her PhD in chemistry in 2013 and is currently working in business development for a research funding organization. She is working on setting up a safety consulting business.
A few weeks ago, when reading about the deal that prosecutors made with University of California, Los Angeles, chemistry professor Patrick Harran regarding the lab fire that led to researcher Sheharbano Sangji?s death, I commented on Twitter about how the case affected my graduate research group: ?My old PhD boss was sure this can?t happen in our lab-then he found out that I used tBuLi-things soon changed .? This of course sparked questions: ?What changed?? ?Why didn?t he know that you were using the chemical?? Twitter?s 140 characters were just not enough to answer fully.

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OLD BATTERIES CAUSE OF CAR FIRE IN NELSON
Tags: Canada, public, fire, response, batteries, waste

Discarded batteries were the cause of a vehicle fire in Nelson on Wednesday morning.

At about 10:45 a.m. Nelson Fire Rescue responded to a report of a fire with batteries exploding.

Upon arrival at the Nelson Leafs Recycling Depot, crews noted that the fire had been substantially knocked down by people in the area using two dry chemical extinguishers.

Firefighters encountered a small amount of fire still in the vehicle that was quickly extinguished once they were able to access the interior.

The fire appears to have originated in a bag of lithium watch style batteries that were being transported to be recycled at a different facility. The interior of the vehicle sustained fire damage in the front area and smoke damage throughout.

No injuries were reported as a result of this incident. Damage is estimated at $5,500. The cause of the fire was the lithium batteries shorting out.

Nelson Fire Rescue has had a number of instances where batteries have been stored in a drawer and something as simple as a paper clip has shorted it out and caused a fire. Batteries should be kept in their original packaging until required. Proper battery storage in a dry, cool area with sufficient ventilation can extend the lifespan of most chemical batteries. Old batteries which have lost their charge should be discarded separately from regular household trash, much like other chemical substances such as household cleaners, paint and solvents.

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WAKE FOREST: HAZMAT TEAM CONTAINS FORMALDEHYDE LEAK IN WAKE FOREST
Tags: us_NC, industrial, release, response, formaldehyde, methanol

WAKE FOREST ? Firefighters and a hazmat team were called to an old factory building Thursday morning after a liquid began spilling from a severed pipe.

Just before 10:15 a.m., firefighters arrived at the old Burlington Mills factory at 9701 Capital Blvd. after a crew working in the building cut into a one-inch pipe, according to Wake Forest Fire Chief Ron Early.

?A clear liquid came out of the pipe,? Early said. ?The workers smelled something unusual and called 911.?

A hazmat team from the Raleigh Fire Department contained the leak, Early said. The team determined the liquid was Formalin, a mixture of methanol and formaldehyde, a toxic substance.

?It?s more of an irritant than anything,? Early said. ?It?s not dangerous unless you ingest it or get it on the skin.?

No injuries were reported.

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57 STUDENTS HURT AS SCIENCE PROJECTS EXPLODES AT ST JOHN?S ROMA SCHOOL
Tags: Australia, education, explosion, injury, sodium_hydroxide

A SCIENCE project gone wrong at a western Queensland school has resulted in 57 students and four teachers requiring treatment.

St John?s School Roma released a statement saying a total of 37 children from Years 1 and 2 were transported to Roma Hospital after being exposed to sodium hydroxide, with the remainder being treated on site.

Most suffered minor eye and skin irritations but a QAS spokesperson confirmed two children had needed treatment for significant injuries.

?One student remains in outpatient observation and all others have been released,? the school?s statement said.

It is believed the project, which formed part of National Science Week celebrations, had involved mixing sodium hydroxide with another chemical.

An explosion occurred at an all-school assembly about midday.

According to the statement, the school?s principal Nicholas Lynch contacted families of the school?s students.

Several parents linked to the school took to Facebook to express their discontent.

Among them was Mel Thornthwaite, who commented: ?My daughter got wet and I am not impressed about how long it took to be notified!! Not good enough St John?s!!!?

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CREWS RESPOND TO SACRAMENTO PROPANE TANK FIRE
Tags: us_CA, industrial, explosion, response, propane, waste

Sacramento City Fire Department responded to a propane tank fire Wednesday morning in the area of N. 12th Street and N. B Street.

The explosion happened near a recycling center, causing the center to be evacuated according to Sacramento City Fire Department's spokesman Roberto Padilla.

The tank exploded on a bus that was scheduled to be scrapped. The bus itself did not explode, said Padilla.

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CHLORINE LEAK CONTAINED ON GANSON STREET
Tags: us_NY, industrial, release, response, chlorine

A chlorine leak caused a brief evacuation of the ADM Milling Co., 250 Ganson St., shortly after 6 a.m. Wednesday, Buffalo Fire officials said.

The elevated level of chlorine gas was detected in a chlorine storage room, and the system automatically shut down, said Jackie Anderson, company spokeswoman.

The leak sparked an alarm which evacuated the plant, said Anderson.

Once the air quality in the storage room was restored to safe levels, workers were allowed to return and operations resumed.

No injuries were reported.

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SHELTER-IN-PLACE ORDER LIFTED AFTER HAYWARD HAZMAT SITUATION AT CHEMICAL COMPANY
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, waste

HAYWARD (CBS SF) ? A hazmat situation at a Hayward chemical company has ended after nearby residents and businesses were ordered to shelter in place within a one-mile radius.
The incident was reported at 2:08 p.m. at 3130 Depot Road, according to Alameda County fire officials.
The company is in the process of going out of business and workers were mixing chemicals in large quantities that produced the gas, according to Don Nichelson of the Hayward Fire Department.
Juan Torres, an employee at nearby Filter Recycling Services at 3200 Depot Road, said their company was told to shut all windows and turn off their air conditioning.

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ANOTHER HAZMAT SPILL DRAWS RESPONDERS
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, injury, hydrochloric_acid

For the second time in as many months, hazmat workers in protective full-body suits were in Brownfield to control a dangerous situation on the railroad tracks just a block from downtown.

Dispatchers were alerted to the situation at 10:43 a.m. when callers reported chemicals spewing from a rail car and injured persons.

Fire Chief Dennis Rowe said responders found one man with burns to his arms and legs and saw another man jump from the top of the rail car.

The pressurized contents of the rail car could be seen spraying more than 20 feet into the air and carried northward by slight winds from the south.

Similar to July?s spill near the same site, the chemical was hydrochloric acid -- a potentially deadly substance commonly transported and used in the oilfield.

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