From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (13 articles)
Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2014 08:16:00 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, October 6, 2014 at 8:15:51 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 (13 articles)

UPDATE: EVACUATION OF HOMES NEAR MER ROUGE TRAIN DERAILMENT LIFTED
Tags: us_LA, transportation, release, response, argon

TARANAKI-DAILY-NEWS
Tags: New_Zealand, laboratory, release, response, xylene

AMERICAN RED CROSS: PREVENTING CHEMICAL ACCIDENTS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical

DAMAGE FROM WISCONSIN SCHOOL FIRE TOTALED $7.5M
Tags: us_WI, education, fire, response, unknown_chemical

CHEMICAL LEAK IN ADRIAN BRINGS OUT EMERGENCY CREWS
Tags: us_MI, industrial, release, response, biodiesel, methanol

FORMER BLACK LEAF CHEMICAL WAREHOUSE CATCHES FIRE
Tags: us_KY, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical

4-ALARM CHEMICAL FIRE BURNS IN SANTA FE SPRINGS COMMERCIAL BUILDING
Tags: us_CA, industrial, explosion, response, unknown_chemical

PREPARING PIRANHA ACID
Tags: laboratory, discovery, response, corrosives, hydrogen_peroxide, oxidizer, peroxide, sulfuric_acid

CHEMICALS TESTED FOR TOXICITY AFTER SPILL AT MOSMAN
Tags: Australia, transportation, release, injury, unknown_chemical

HAZMAT TEAM PLASTIC WRAPS CAR USED BY EBOLA PATIENT
Tags: us_TX, public, discovery, response, other_chemical

HAZMAT TEAM REMOVES CHEMICAL IN CROOKSVILLE HS LAB
Tags: us_OH, education, discovery, response, fireworks

NORWICH EMPLOYEES BACK TO WORK AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_NY, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical

1 IN 3 US CHILDREN ATTENDS SCHOOL IN CHEMICAL ?DANGER ZONES?
Tags: education, discovery, environmental


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UPDATE: EVACUATION OF HOMES NEAR MER ROUGE TRAIN DERAILMENT LIFTED
Tags: us_LA, transportation, release, response, argon

UPDATE 2:30 pm - The Morehouse Parish Sheriffs Department has confirmed to KTVE/KARD there is an liquid argon leak at the scene of the train derailment.

Our Taylor Thompson reports the Department of Environmental Quality is on scene.

Area homes are being evacuated for safety reasons.

The conductor of the train and another passenger are in serious condition.

We're told at least 15 cars derailed, and officials say it's the worse train derailment they've seen in Mer Rouge.

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TARANAKI-DAILY-NEWS
Tags: New_Zealand, laboratory, release, response, xylene

A volatile chemical spill at Taranaki Base Hospital sparked a full-scale callout by emergency services on Saturday.

Four fire engines and the New Plymouth command unit were called to the scene at about 8.20am.

Senior station officer Nick Burke said about five litres of xylene spilled inside one of the hospital's laboratories but was well contained.

TDHB chief operating officer Rosemary Clements confirmed no-one was injured.

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AMERICAN RED CROSS: PREVENTING CHEMICAL ACCIDENTS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical

Like it or not, chemicals are a part of our environment. Most of us use chemicals every day. They can be found everywhere ? in our kitchens, medicine cabinets, basements and garages. Chemical accidents can happen at home and in the community, but many of these accidents can be avoided.

You can be exposed to a noxious chemical in three ways:

By breathing a chemical.
By swallowing contaminated food, water or medication.
By touching a chemical, or coming into contact with clothing or things that have been touched by the chemical.
Most chemical accidents occur in our own homes. Home chemical accidents can result from trying to improve the way a product works by adding one substance to another, not following directions for use of a product, or by improper storage or disposal of a chemical. Fortunately, a few simple precautions can help you avoid many chemical emergencies:

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DAMAGE FROM WISCONSIN SCHOOL FIRE TOTALED $7.5M
Tags: us_WI, education, fire, response, unknown_chemical

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- A new report estimates damage from a Green Bay high school fire at $7.5 million, making it one of the costliest fires in the city's history.

The Green Bay Metro Fire Department on Wednesday released a report on the Aug. 8 gymnasium fire at Preble High School. The 36-page report includes the estimated loss of property and contents at the school.

Press-Gazette Media says most of the damage figure is from property loss. The fire destroyed about $100,000 in contents.

The fire department report lists the fire as "unintentional." The fire started by spontaneous combustion after workers refinishing the gym floor improperly disposed of chemical-soaked rags.

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CHEMICAL LEAK IN ADRIAN BRINGS OUT EMERGENCY CREWS
Tags: us_MI, industrial, release, response, biodiesel, methanol

Emergency responders dealt with a hazardous chemical problem Saturday at the W2Fuel bio-diesel plant on West Beecher Street.
A chemical mixture caused excessive pressure and heat to build up inside a container, said Lt. Jeff Betz of the Adrian Fire Department. Emergency crews were called in at 7:30 a.m. when a welded patch on the side of the container gave way, releasing a vapor from the mixture of methanol and sodium methylate, he said.
?It was a potentially very hazardous situation,? Betz said. ?It could have been a lot worse.?
Firefighters were able to cool the container by spraying water on the outside, he said.
Staff at the facility and members of the Lenawee County hazardous materials team guided firefighters on proper procedures to bring the situation under control, he said.
The escaping vapor was contained at the W2Fuel site, Betz said. There was no danger to residents in the area, he said, or to the Inergy plant next to the W2 Fuels facility.

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FORMER BLACK LEAF CHEMICAL WAREHOUSE CATCHES FIRE
Tags: us_KY, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) - A vacant warehouse in Louisville caught fire tonight in the Park Hill neighborhood.
Fire crews responded to a call in the 1600 block of West Hill Street where the former Black Leaf Chemical Warehouse was located.

Officials say heavy smoke was coming out of the building when they arrived.

The concern was because of contaminated soil around the building.

Firefighters had to take a defensive approach to knock out the flames.

"We totally did defensive operation on this," assistant fire chief Lt. Col. Carroll Haueter said. "Nobody made entry. We were able to knock the fire out on the first floor pretty quickly with our master streams."

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4-ALARM CHEMICAL FIRE BURNS IN SANTA FE SPRINGS COMMERCIAL BUILDING
Tags: us_CA, industrial, explosion, response, unknown_chemical

SANTA FE SPRINGS (CBSLA.com) ? Crews are tackling a 4-alarm chemical fire Saturday located at a commercial building that manufactures epoxy and urethane systems.
According to fire officials, the blaze broke out at B.D. Classic Enterprises, Inc. located in the 12900 block of Sunshine Avenue near Shoemaker Avenue shortly before 5 p.m.
CBS2?s Jeff Nguyen spoke with officers on scene at the fire who said ?a series? of explosions have been reported by residents in the area.

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PREPARING PIRANHA ACID
Tags: laboratory, discovery, response, corrosives, hydrogen_peroxide, oxidizer, peroxide, sulfuric_acid

Piranha solutions are used to remove organic residues from substrates. Typically a 3:1 mixture of concentrated sulfuric acid to 30% hydrogen peroxide, it is highly corrosive and a powerful oxidizer. Simply mixing the solution is dangerous.
And mixing piranha begs the question: Add the acid to the peroxide, or the other way around? Everyone hopefully learned in chemistry labs to ?never cover an acid??that is, when diluting, always add acid to water, not the other way around. For piranha, however, best practice is to add the peroxide to the acid.
Robin Izzo, director of environmental health and safety at Princeton University, said this in an email to the ACS Division of Chemical Health & Safety e-mail list earlier this month:

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CHEMICALS TESTED FOR TOXICITY AFTER SPILL AT MOSMAN
Tags: Australia, transportation, release, injury, unknown_chemical

CHEMICALS from a garbage truck spill are still being tested for toxicity, while the remaining materials have been returned to a Mosman property.

Four people were taken to hospital earlier today after Sirius Cove Road was sealed off by emergency crews.

Two garbage workers were collecting rubbish as part of a council clean-up when they picked up bags filled with bottles containing chemicals.

Fire and Rescue NSW believe the containers broke inside the truck and the chemicals mixed together giving off a noxious smell.

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HAZMAT TEAM PLASTIC WRAPS CAR USED BY EBOLA PATIENT
Tags: us_TX, public, discovery, response, other_chemical

The car that transported Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan to the hospital is wrapped in plastic on Friday as a hazmat team prepared to clean the apartment in Dallas where he had been staying. Hazmat trucks pulled up outside the apartment, five days after he was admitted to the hospital and days after relatives, including children, were confined there by state officials.

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HAZMAT TEAM REMOVES CHEMICAL IN CROOKSVILLE HS LAB
Tags: us_OH, education, discovery, response, fireworks

ZANESVILLE ?A Hazmat crew responded Wednesday to Crooksville High School after staff reported finding a strange chemical in one of the laboratories.

The chemical was later determined to be pure potassium metal, an alkali that is highly reactive with water that is commonly used in chemical demonstrations as well as in fireworks.

"People use it all the time," Crooksville High School Principal Kevin Smith said. "We just wanted to make sure this never gets in kids' hands."

To make sure students were completely safe, Smith moved the potassium into the school's garage until the Crooksville Fire Department Hazmat team was able to remove it from school grounds.

Smith believes the potassium had been in the classroom for a long time as a remnant of demonstrations done in the past. Calls to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency after the event confirmed that the chemical is not overly dangerous.

Though students were not put on a lockdown of any kind, a call was sent out to Crooksville parents explaining the situation.

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NORWICH EMPLOYEES BACK TO WORK AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_NY, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical

Town of Norwich, NY (WBNG Binghamton) A spill inside a Norwich Pharmaceutical laboratory temporarily evacuated the building, according to an employee.
Chenango County emergency dispatchers confirmed the incident happened late Friday afternoon. Emergency crews declined to provide further details.
Fire departments from Chenango County responded to the scene as well as a hazardous material team.
Action News crews on the scene reported an employee said the building was deemed safe to return back to work shortly after.
Environmental Protection Services was also on the scene. According to Environmental Protection Services website, the company specializes in the disposal and recycling of transformers and electrical equipment and oils.

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1 IN 3 US CHILDREN ATTENDS SCHOOL IN CHEMICAL ?DANGER ZONES?
Tags: education, discovery, environmental

One in three children attend schools in areas vulnerable to chemical accidents from nearby facilities, according to a study released by the Center for Effective Government (CEG).

The "Kids in Danger Zones" report maps the locations of 122,968 public and private schools against areas susceptible to contamination from over 3,400 high-risk chemical facilities in the U.S. A vulnerability zone is the areas around each facility that would be affected if a chemical release or explosion occurred.

?If an explosion or chemical leak occurred at one of these facilities, the result could be catastrophic,? explains President and CEO Katherine McFate on the CEG website.

More than 19.6 million children in 48 states attend schools within the vulnerability zone of a hazardous chemical facility, according to the report, with California, Texas, Florida, Illinois, and New York having the largest number of students at risk.

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