From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (11 articles)
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 09:51:27 +0000
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: EA36877B-162D-494D-B1AE-EC23B5EF56A5**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, November 14, 2014 at 9:51:06 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 (11 articles)

1 DEAD, RESIDENTS EVACUATED AFTER CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTED IN BUCKS COUNTY APT. COMPLEX
Tags: us_PA, public, release, death, carbon_monoxide

CHEMICAL FIRE AT BERTHONG STREET PROPERTY
Tags: Australia, public, fire, injury, zinc

BYU STUDENT ACCUSED OF HAVING METH LAB CLAIMS IT WAS SOAP
Tags: us_UT, public, discovery, response, other_chemical

CLEANING UP: SCSU FINED FOR STORAGE OF OLD CLASSROOM CHEMICALS
Tags: us_SC, laboratory, discovery, response, wastes

LESSON LEARNED VIDEO: AN ACID SPILL WITHOUT A LAB COAT
Tags: us_IL, laboratory, release, response, other_chemical

40 YEARS AFTER TOXIC MIX-UP, RESEARCHERS CONTINUE TO STUDY MICHIGANDERS POISONED BY PBB
Tags: us_MI, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical

EMERGENCY CREWS SEEK $70,000 AFTER STATELINE CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_WA, transportation, follow-up, response, other_chemical

REFRIGERANT LEAK PROMPTS KINGSTON MALL EVACUATION
Tags: us_MA, public, release, injury, hvac_chemicals

GAS PIPE BURSTS IN PIPER STREET
Tags: Australia, public, release, response, other_chemical

MONASH FREEWAY CLOSED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: Australia, public, release, response, other_chemical

GAS LEAK FORCES EVACUATION AT BUCKS COUNTY CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, natural_gas


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1 DEAD, RESIDENTS EVACUATED AFTER CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTED IN BUCKS COUNTY APT. COMPLEX
Tags: us_PA, public, release, death, carbon_monoxide

A hazmat situation was declared at a Bucks County apartment complex after one person was found dead and several people were evacuated.
The unidentified person was found dead inside the Regency Apartment complex on 70 Old Dublin Pike in Doylestown. Officials detected high readings of Carbon Monoxide inside the victim‰??s apartment.

Officials also detected CO readings throughout the complex and residents were evacuated. They were later allowed back inside the building after it was deemed safe.

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

CHEMICAL FIRE AT BERTHONG STREET PROPERTY
Tags: Australia, public, fire, injury, zinc

PASSERS-BY spotted a chemical fire at a private property across the road from the Cootamundra Showgrounds on Tuesday at 4.45pm.

A small pallet carrying the chemical zinc chloride self-combusted in the heat of the afternoon resulting in a small blaze and causing a chemical reaction which emitted a gas.

Cootamundra fire brigade set up a 200-metre exclusion zone around the Berthong Street property and as a precaution five houses were evacuated in Berthong, Wills and McConaghy streets with a total of 11 people leaving their homes.

Police, ambulance and fire crew attended the scene converging on the corner of Berthong and Wills Streets while firefighters investigated the blaze to determine the nature of the chemical.

‰??There were two different products, a pool salt and zinc chloride, and, zinc chloride was giving us the most grief,‰?? brigade captain Les Carr said.

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

BYU STUDENT ACCUSED OF HAVING METH LAB CLAIMS IT WAS SOAP
Tags: us_UT, public, discovery, response, other_chemical

PROVO ‰?? Was it soap or meth?

Provo police say they are sure that what they found in the Riviera Apartments next to the BYU campus over the weekend was a meth lab and not a soap-making operation.

"What gives this away that it was a meth lab is the fact it's a meth lab," said Provo Police Sgt. Brandon Post.

Wednesday, 21-year-old Bryce Cazier surrendered to police. An arrest warrant was issued for Cazier on Tuesday, charging him in 4th District Court with having precursors or equipment for a clandestine laboratory, a first-degree felony. He was booked into the Utah County Jail just after 11:30 a.m.

His attorney, Jere Reneer, said his client was never on the run. But there was a glitch in communication because of the Veterans Day holiday on Tuesday when most law offices were closed.

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

CLEANING UP: SCSU FINED FOR STORAGE OF OLD CLASSROOM CHEMICALS
Tags: us_SC, laboratory, discovery, response, wastes

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported in early August that various ‰??incompatible, highly reactive‰?? wastes that could be hazardous to human health and the environment were stored in South Carolina State University‰??s Hodge Hall.

But Craig Burgess, general counsel and vice president of operations, said last week that all the wastes have been removed and the institution is in the process of hiring a company and developing a plan to remove wastes on a regular basis.

‰??We have fully cooperated with DHEC and kept them informed,‰?? he said.

Burgess noted that the wastes were from the projects within the institution‰??s science departments and that the problem was not created recently.

‰??From my understanding, the university was not doing what it was supposed to be doing regarding wastes from those academic programs,‰?? Burgess said. ‰??It has not just happened. It has been happening over a number of years.‰??

S.C. State reported to DHEC in June that the wastes had been stored in Hodge Hall since 2009.

DHEC carried out three inspections of Hodge Hall in late March and early April following a complaint by the S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

The agency reported that the wastes, which were incompatible with each other, were stored near each other with no separating dike, wall or other device to prevent accidental ignition. Additionally, it found that the institution had not filed proper reports concerning the wastes and had failed to maintain the facility in a manner to prevent harm to human life and the environment.

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

LESSON LEARNED VIDEO: AN ACID SPILL WITHOUT A LAB COAT
Tags: us_IL, laboratory, release, response, other_chemical

‰??I probably would not have thought to go to the hallway right away, if someone wasn‰??t there to point me in the direction. I probably would have run around the lab trying to remember where the shower is, knowing full well that there wasn‰??t one in there.‰??
‰??It was a freak accident in terms of it shouldn‰??t have shot out at me. But if I would have been wearing my lab coat, probably almost 99% chance it would have never contacted my skin, just would‰??ve had to get the lab coat off really quickly.‰??
‰??I remember in undergrad, it was a huge thing: Always wear your lab coat, that‰??s what I was taught. It was definitely something I was taught here as well during training and all that. It‰??s what I started doing. But as time went on and I looked at different people in lab and other labs, there‰??s actually a number of people who don‰??t wear their lab coats, actually a much greater number than I was ever expecting, which is not something I was used to at all. So at times, especially during the summer when it got really hot, there was times when I knew what I was doing so I just wouldn‰??t put it on. I sweat very easily and that just made it worse. It‰??s just one of the things. Especially at the end of the day, I just didn‰??t think to use my lab coat and I thought I‰??d be really quick. But clearly no matter what I‰??m doing in the lab I should‰??ve been wearing it, as everyone should.‰??

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40 YEARS AFTER TOXIC MIX-UP, RESEARCHERS CONTINUE TO STUDY MICHIGANDERS POISONED BY PBB
Tags: us_MI, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical

More than 40 years ago, people in Michigan were poisoned. Researchers are still following those people today.

In 1973, a fire-retardant chemical called PBB, polybrominated biphenyl, accidentally got mixed into livestock feed. It took a year to discover the accident.

Studies estimate 70-90% of people in Michigan had some exposure to PBB from eating contaminated milk, meat and eggs. The MDCH says the "overwhelming majority of those who were exposed to PBB received very low levels."

Other people had higher levels of exposure.

Researchers at Emory University in Atlanta are studying the long-term health effects of exposure to PBB. The team was in Michigan this past weekend to continue the study.

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

EMERGENCY CREWS SEEK $70,000 AFTER STATELINE CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_WA, transportation, follow-up, response, other_chemical

SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. ‰?? Emergency crews are moving forward, seeking reimbursement costs after the Stateline chemical leak in September.

Officials submitted their paperwork to the trucking company asking for more than $70,000.

The Spokane Valley Fire Department has been taking the lead for the last several months to get reimbursement for all those agencies that responded to the leak.

Authorities said more than a dozen state and local agencies responded to Stateline, where up to eight gallons of dangerous anhydrous trimethylamine leaked from a tanker truck. It forced I-90 to shut down for more than 19 hours.

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

REFRIGERANT LEAK PROMPTS KINGSTON MALL EVACUATION
Tags: us_MA, public, release, injury, hvac_chemicals

KINGSTON, Mass. ‰??A Kingston mall is evacuated Tuesday night and several people were brought to hospitals after a refrigerant leak was reported in the food court.

Officials said several people in the food court started to complain about having difficulty breathing and other respiratory irritations about 4:30 p.m.

"We were eating, then we started coughing and my friend started complaining about the smell and her head started to hurt," Emily Jasmin, of Plymouth, said.

Within minutes someone called 911 and triggered the fire alarm inside the Independence Mall. Everyone was urged to evacuate from the mall's stores to the movie theater.

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

GAS PIPE BURSTS IN PIPER STREET
Tags: Australia, public, release, response, other_chemical

FIRE crews averted a possible emergency situation in upper Piper Street after a gas pipe was ruptured on Tuesday morning.

Firefighters from NSW Fire and Rescue attended the scene, along with their Hazmat (Hazardous materials) unit, after receiving a triple-0 call at 9.47am.

Station officer at Bathurst Station Sandy Collins said the caller alerted authorities to the situation after a gas pipe was damaged after being hit by a lawn mower.

Station officer Collins said when fire crews arrived, two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus dispersed the built-up gas with a hose line, before clamping the damaged gas pipe.

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

MONASH FREEWAY CLOSED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: Australia, public, release, response, other_chemical

The Monash Freeway has reopened after a day of traffic chaos sparked by a chemical spill.

The freeway was closed in both directions on Wednesday morning after the chemical spill involving a drum of leaking aviation fuel.

"Although the freeway is now open, drivers need to be prepared for ongoing delays," VicRoads Director of Road Operations Dean Zabrieszach said.

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

GAS LEAK FORCES EVACUATION AT BUCKS COUNTY CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, natural_gas

A gas leak at a Bucks County chemical plant forced the evacuation of two buildings late Tuesday afternoon.
The leak occurred at the Rohm-Haas chemical plant on 350 George Patterson Boulevard in Bristol Township around 4:45 p.m. Two buildings within the plant were evacuated due to a strong odor of natural gas.
Officials were able to contain the leak and the workers were allowed back inside. No one was injured in the incident.

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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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