From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (17 articles)
Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2015 05:25:07 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: 806955F4-AB0F-4B8F-A668-645C81E6F386**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, October 23, 2015 at 5:24:50 AM

A membership benefit of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
All article summaries and tags are archived at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__pinboard.in_u-3Adchas&d=BQIFaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=RAJUtWqu9uHYnFveotMSLMuSDIquuBU9DcMCnZR4ZEM&s=OwYvfhA23vYJ-5eHd17-NuoR-PtoB293OQZNKHkAbWI&e=

Table of Contents (17 articles)

2 WORKERS TREATED BY PARAMEDICS (FROM YORK PRESS)
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, release, response, bleach, phosphoric_acid

NEW DETAILS RELEASED ON MEDICAL WASTE SPILL
Tags: us_AR, transportation, release, response, waste

HAZMAT SITUATION REPORTED AT NAPERVILLE NORTH HIGH SCHOOL
Tags: us_IL, education, release, injury, pepper_spray

HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO LEAKING FUEL TANKER IN SINKING SPRING
Tags: us_PA, transportation, release, response, ethanol, gasoline

RUMFORD MILL REPORTS INADVERTENT DISCHARGE INTO RIVER
Tags: us_ME, industrial, release, environmental, other_chemical

RINGS OF FIRE: NEW EXPLOSIVES PROVIDE ENHANCED SAFETY, HIGH ENERGY
Tags: us_NM, laboratory, discovery, environmental, explosives

MAGLAB FAMILY IN 'DEEP GRIEF'
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, discovery, death, unknown_chemical

HAZMAT CALLED TO TRACTOR-TRAILER FIRE & SPILL ON ROUTE 22
Tags: us_PA, transportation, fire, response, ammonium_hydroxide

CHEMICAL RUNOFF LIKELY KILLED HUNDREDS OF FISH IN MARSH CREEK, OFFICIALS SAY
Tags: us_CA, public, discovery, environmental, unknown_chemical

U-M RESEARCHER TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER SMALL EXPLOSION IN CHEMISTRY LAB
Tags: us_MI, laboratory, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical

9 KILLED IN BLAST AT CHEMICAL PLANT IN EASTERN CHINA
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, death, explosives

BLAST AT CHEMICAL FACTORY IN CHINA LEAVES 2 INJURED
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical

MAN CHARGED FOR METH LAB EXPLOSION AT BOZEMAN MOTEL
Tags: us_MT, public, explosion, injury, illegal, meth_lab

CORNELL CHEMISTRY CLUB EXPLODES PUMPKINS FOR SCIENCE EXPERIMENT
Tags: us_IA, education, explosion, response, acetylene, calcium_carbide, hydrogen_peroxide

SIGALERT: TRUCK FIRE CAUSES EXPLOSION AND CHEMICAL SPILL...
Tags: us_CA, transportation, explosion, response, freon

77 SANTEE SCHOOL STUDENTS TREATED IN CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, bleach

FIRE THAT SHUT DOWN US 95 CALLED HOT, POWERFUL
Tags: us_NV, industrial, fire, response, radiation, waste


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2 WORKERS TREATED BY PARAMEDICS (FROM YORK PRESS)
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, release, response, bleach, phosphoric_acid

A North Yorkshire brewery had to be evacuated and two workers needed medical treatment after chemicals were accidentally mixed.

The North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service HAZMAT team put up a 100-metre cordon around the Molson Coors brewery off Station Road, Tadcaster, after a spillage inside the building at about midday on Thursday.

A spokeswoman for the fire service said sodium hypochlorite used in the cleaning of lines within the brewery process had mixed with phosphoric acid, causing a reaction that left two men in need of treatment by paramedics at the scene. Nobody was believed to be seriously injured.

North Yorkshire Police were also called.

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

NEW DETAILS RELEASED ON MEDICAL WASTE SPILL
Tags: us_AR, transportation, release, response, waste

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.(KTHV)-The medical waste spill that happened on Markham has now been turned over to police.

On Wednesday morning, medical waste including bloody gauze, disposable gloves, used needles and surgical masks were found throughout yards.

Clean up crews said two bags of medical garbage fell off a dump trunk.

Captain Edwin Woolf with the Little Rock Fire Department says it happened following a pickup at a medical facility.

"Hazmat came in and everybody confirmed it was indeed from medical waste, so we were able to call in a professional company to come in do the clean-up for us."

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

HAZMAT SITUATION REPORTED AT NAPERVILLE NORTH HIGH SCHOOL
Tags: us_IL, education, release, injury, pepper_spray

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (STMW) - Six people were taken to hospitals after teenagers discharged pepper spray as a prank Thursday morning at a west suburban high school.

About 7:10 a.m., four students and two staff members at Naperville North High School at 899 Mill St. in Naperville began experiencing breathing problems and other symptoms in a small common area, according to Naperville police.

Four students and two staff members were taken to Edward Hospital in Naperville as a precaution, police said.

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

HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO LEAKING FUEL TANKER IN SINKING SPRING
Tags: us_PA, transportation, release, response, ethanol, gasoline

SINKING SPRING, Pa. -
A leaking fuel truck prompted a hazardous materials response in Berks County on Thursday.

Crews were dispatched around 2:15 p.m. to the Sunoco Logistics station in the 1200 block of Columbia Avenue in Sinking Spring.

A truck carrying 1,100 gallons of ethanol struck a pole, rupturing the truck's tanker.

Approximately 700 gallons of ethanol, which is 98 percent ethanol and two percent gasoline, spilled from the truck, officials said.

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

RUMFORD MILL REPORTS INADVERTENT DISCHARGE INTO RIVER
Tags: us_ME, industrial, release, environmental, other_chemical

RUMFORD ‰?? About 15,600 gallons of hot water and pulp fiber were accidentally discharged from the Catalyst Paper mill into the Androscoggin River on Thursday afternoon, mill spokesman Tony Lyons said.

Lyons said a malfunctioning meter that measures water clarity allowed water to be released into the river when it should have remained within the mill's treatment facilities.

"This was non-contact cooling water that typically goes into this particular sewer, but in this case it had come into contact with some paper fiber and normally when it goes into the sewer there is a turbidity meter that at the point of discharge determines whether it is clear water or not clear water," Lyons said. "The turbidity meter in actuality was not functioning so it actually discharged this water with paper fiber in it to the river."

Lyons said the mill notified the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the agency determined the spill was "non-emergency" in nature.

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

RINGS OF FIRE: NEW EXPLOSIVES PROVIDE ENHANCED SAFETY, HIGH ENERGY
Tags: us_NM, laboratory, discovery, environmental, explosives

LANL News:
Los Alamos National Laboratory explosives chemist David Chavez has synthesized a pair of novel molecules, one possessing a unique fused three-ring structure. These materials could usher in a new class of explosives that provide high-energy output with enhanced safety.
"There is a general trend that the higher the performance of an energetic material, the more sensitive the material is to insults such as impact, spark and friction," Chavez said. "The Laboratory is interested in creating and understanding the science of 'outlier' materials which do not follow this trend."
The research is published as the cover article in today's issue of the prestigious German applied chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.
In the article Chavez, of the High Explosives Science and Technology group, details two materials never before synthesized, the first, a dinitro-diamino compound, displays performance approaching that of conventional high performance materials, but is insensitive to impact spark and friction, making it very safe to handle. The second molecule, a new heterocyclic ring system called a tricyclic 1,2,3,4-tetrazine, is more like a conventional energetic in performance and safety, and forms the foundation of the synthesis of future materials of similar structure.

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

MAGLAB FAMILY IN 'DEEP GRIEF'
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, discovery, death, unknown_chemical

An employee of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee was killed in an accident Wednesday.

Mechanical trades technician Glenn Nix, 52, was killed while working on a magnet construction project shortly after 10 a.m., said Florida State University officials who operate the research facility.

Another employee, who was not identified, suffered minor injuries in the incident, which was described as an isolated accident by Gary K. Ostrander, FSU vice president for research. He spoke to reporters five hours after the incident at a still-open MagLab.

‰??Our family at the MagLab is really in deep grief right now,‰?? he said. ‰??It‰??s a very difficult time for us.‰??

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

HAZMAT CALLED TO TRACTOR-TRAILER FIRE & SPILL ON ROUTE 22
Tags: us_PA, transportation, fire, response, ammonium_hydroxide

BURRELL TOWNSHIP (KDKA)- What began as a flat tire for a tractor-trailer hauling ammonium hydroxide, quickly erupted into flames as the truck caught on fire and the chemicals spilled.

It happened just after midnight Wednesday on State Route 22 westbound, in Burrell Township, Indiana County.

The westbound lanes were closed for more than six hours.

‰??There was a bunch of different materials on the vehicle. Our emergency management responded and took the appropriate steps to handle the incident,‰?? said Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Mark McMahan. ‰??Due to the fact that it was hauling hazardous materials and caught fire, demanded a call out of such magnitude.‰??

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

CHEMICAL RUNOFF LIKELY KILLED HUNDREDS OF FISH IN MARSH CREEK, OFFICIALS SAY
Tags: us_CA, public, discovery, environmental, unknown_chemical

OAKLEY -- Chemicals flushed down storm drains by early October rainfall is most likely what killed hundreds of fish in Marsh Creek earlier this month, according to East Bay Regional Park District officials.

And that's as the theory is likely to get; district officials will probably never know for sure what specific chemical caused the fish to perish, according to EBRPD board member Diane Burgis, who is also affiliated with the public charity Friends of Marsh Creek.

Burgis, along with biologist, surveyed the fish kill site shortly after it was reported to them, on the week of Oct. 4. She said they found hundreds of dead fish distributed along a section of creek, a higher total than the estimate of several dozen given by Brentwood Public Works assistant director Chris Ehlers around the same time. A similarly-sized fish kill happened in Marsh Creek in Sept. 2014.

"What happened was it rained, and then two days later all these fish were discovered," Burgis said. "We got a rain and then all of those chemicals came out of the storm drains and got washed into the creek and at one particular place there was probably a concentrated amount of some chemical, so I think it hit one of those pools, killed all the fish, and as the rain continued it diluted, so that's why it didn't kill more fish."

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

U-M RESEARCHER TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER SMALL EXPLOSION IN CHEMISTRY LAB
Tags: us_MI, laboratory, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical

A bad chemical reaction Wednesday morning resulted in a small explosion at the University of Michigan's chemistry building, sending one person to the hospital.

Joyce Williams, a spokeswoman for Huron Valley Ambulance, said a call came in from the 900 block of North University on the Ann Arbor school's campus at about 10:35 a.m. Oct. 21.

The patient was transported to U-M Hospital in stable condition.

Diane Brown, the spokeswoman for U-M's Division of Safety and Security, said the incident was contained to a small area in one lab, and no other people were injured. The building did not require an evacuation, and responders quickly had the situation under control, she said.

"It was a (researcher) in a lab with a couple small amounts of chemicals, and they created a reaction, which broke a vial. The (researcher) sustained some cuts and scrapes," Brown said.

"There was no other damage to anything other than the vial."

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

9 KILLED IN BLAST AT CHEMICAL PLANT IN EASTERN CHINA
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, death, explosives

An explosion at a chemical factory in eastern China on Wednesday killed nine people and injured two others, officials and news reports said.

The Xinhua News Agency said the cause of the explosion at a workshop owned by Tianbao Chemical Industry Co. in Linyi city in Shandong province is still unknown. The company manufactures explosives for mining and other commercial uses.

The city said the identities of the nine bodies were being determined through DNA tests.

Xinhua said one of the injured was in critical condition.

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

BLAST AT CHEMICAL FACTORY IN CHINA LEAVES 2 INJURED
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical

BEIJING ‰?? An early morning explosion at a chemical plant in east China‰??s Shandong Province on Wednesday injured two people.

State news agency Xinhua reported that nine people remain missing after the 8 a.m. (0000GMT) blast at a workshop in Linyi City, between Beijing and Shanghai.

The cause of the explosion ‰?? at Tianbao Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. ‰?? is under investigation, local authorities said.

The company is reported to manufacture explosive materials for civil use.

In recent months, concerns have been raised about how chemicals are handled and stored in the country following a series of similar blasts.

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

MAN CHARGED FOR METH LAB EXPLOSION AT BOZEMAN MOTEL
Tags: us_MT, public, explosion, injury, illegal, meth_lab

A man has been charged in connection with a meth lab explosion at a Bozeman motel in June.

On Monday, the Gallatin County Attorney‰??s Office filed a felony charge of operation of an unlawful clandestine lab against Matthew Robert Bendz. An initial court appearance has not been scheduled. Bendz is not currently in custody.

According to charging documents:

On June 24, at about 7:45 p.m., an explosion was reported at the Royal 7 Hotel, 310 N. Seventh Ave. A woman told dispatch that a man at the scene was bleeding and needed an ambulance.

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

CORNELL CHEMISTRY CLUB EXPLODES PUMPKINS FOR SCIENCE EXPERIMENT
Tags: us_IA, education, explosion, response, acetylene, calcium_carbide, hydrogen_peroxide

CEDAR RAPIDS ‰?? Pieces of pumpkin went flying into the air inside Thomas Commons at Cornell College Tuesday morning, grabbing the attention of students and faculty walking by.

That was the exact reaction the Cornell College Chemistry Club was looking for.

‰??I think if you tell people there‰??s going to be an explosion, people are going to come,‰?? Cornell College Chemistry Club president Bethany King said.

The club decided to celebrate National Chemistry Week by using a chemical reaction to explode pumpkins. King said the group used a combination of Hydrogen Peroxide, Calcium Carbide and water. She said that combination produces flammable acetylene gas and calcium hydroxide. After a minute, the group ignited the gas inside the pumpkin, causing a contained explosion.

King said securing faculty approval for the project wasn‰??t easy.

‰??I asked a lot of people on campus if I had permission to do it. I had to asks six people in our department, and then Cornell campus security.‰??

She said the group practiced with smaller explosions, eventually working their way up to the full explosion.

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

SIGALERT: TRUCK FIRE CAUSES EXPLOSION AND CHEMICAL SPILL...
Tags: us_CA, transportation, explosion, response, freon

CHP officials are in the process of reopening the southbound San Diego (405) Freeway at Harbor Boulevard after a commercial truck carrying hazardous materials caught fire, causing an explosion that spilled hazardous chemicals across the freeway.

The accident occurred just after 9:40 a.m. and closed all lanes of the freeway, backing up traffic for miles, said CHP Officer Denise Quesada.

‰??The truck was on fIre and was carrying a container of freon,‰?? said Quesada. ‰??Due to the fire, the container burst and spilled Freon all over the freeway, so we had to shut down most lanes.‰??

As of 11:30, crews began the process of reopening the freeway, but the number 5 lane will remain closed, added Quesada.

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

77 SANTEE SCHOOL STUDENTS TREATED IN CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, bleach

Seventy-seven children and four adults were treated on scene at triage tents set up near the athletic field. They were then taken to nearby hospitals as a precaution, according to Santee School District Superintendent Cathy A. Pierce, Ed.D.

Those transported were said to be in good condition, according to Santee Fire Chief Richard Mattick. The superintendent added that one child even returned to school after being discharged.

Early Tuesday or late Monday approximately 300 gallons of a bleach solution or sodium hypochlorite were spilled at the nearby YMCA, according to Dave Williams, Battalion Chief San Diego Fire Hazmat.
Workers used a chemical to try and neutralize it, which may have caused a vapor cloud, Williams said.

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

FIRE THAT SHUT DOWN US 95 CALLED HOT, POWERFUL
Tags: us_NV, industrial, fire, response, radiation, waste

Whatever caught fire Sunday in the state-owned radioactive waste dump at the US Ecology site near Beatty packed a powerful punch, Nevada's chief fire marshal said Tuesday.

"We don't know exactly what caught fire. We're not exactly sure what was burning in that pit," Fire Marshal Chief Peter Mulvihill said in a conference call with reporters.

He said in the early stages of the fire "there was some energetic burning" that blew a hole in the cover soil that caps trench No. 14, where low-level radioactive materials were buried in unlined, clay terrain in the 1970s.

Mulvihill added that investigators who were converging to begin their probe at the site Tuesday, about 10 miles south of Beatty and about 108 miles northwest of Las Vegas, don't know yet if an explosion occurred before the fire was reported to the Nevada Department of Public Safety and Emergency Management about 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

"There was something that definitely burned very hot," he said.

The state's public safety team decided to allow the fire to burn itself out instead of trying to douse it because they didn't want put water on any material that might be reactive to water else they could potentially exacerbate the problem.

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