From: Ralph Stuart <ras2047**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (9 articles)
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2016 11:22:07 -0400
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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, April 15, 2016 at 7:15:25 AM

A membership benefit 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 (9 articles)

EXPLOSION, SMALL FIRES, CHEMICAL SPILL AT RICHLAND PLANT
Tags: us_ms, explosion, industrial, response, unknown_chemical

FIRE IN LABORATORY CAUSES EVACUATION OF BUILDING ON U-M CAMPUS
Tags: us_mi, fire, laboratory, response, unknown_chemical

WOMAN BURNED IN 'FLASH FIRE' AT NJ PERFUME COMPANY: OFFICIAL
Tags: us_nj, fire, industrial, injury, solvents

EMPLOYEE INJURED IN TWO-ALARM FIRE AT CHEMICAL PLANT IN NORFOLK
Tags: us_ma, fire, industrial, injury, paints

LEAKING ACID CANCELS CLASSES AT HOLY NAME
Tags: Trinidad_and_Tobago, release, laboratory, response, acetic_acid

CHEMICAL HAZARDS AND POISONS REPORT: ISSUE 26
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, discovery, environmental

THE U.S. CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD"S INVESTIGATION INTO THE MACONDO DISASTER FINDS OFFSHORE RISK MANAGEMENT AND REGULATORY OVERSIGHT STILL INADEQUATE IN GULF OF MEXICO
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental, petroleum

ONE DEAD, 11 HURT AFTER AFTER TOXIC GAS RELEASED IN LIKELY CHEMICAL SUICIDE NEAR UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
Tags: us_TX, public, release, death, hydrogen_sulfide, suicide

U.S. COUNTS 85M UNRECALLED AIR BAGS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate


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EXPLOSION, SMALL FIRES, CHEMICAL SPILL AT RICHLAND PLANT
Tags: us_ms, explosion, industrial, response, unknown_chemical

Authorities say an explosion at a cardboard box manufacturing plant in Richland triggered a chemical spill, but no injuries were reported.

Richland Fire Department spokesman Rob Martin said workers safely evacuated the International Paper facility after the explosion early Thursday.

Ernie Shirley of the state Department of Environmental Quality said the explosion damaged tanks that spilled a hazardous chemical into the plant's parking lot. Shirley said workers contained the spill before it could spread beyond the parking lot. The state agency was monitoring a company contractor's cleanup work.

Martin said firefighters extinguished small "spot fires" that flared up after the blast, which occurred about 12:30 a.m. Martin said dust from a broken hose apparently triggered the explosion.

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FIRE IN LABORATORY CAUSES EVACUATION OF BUILDING ON U-M CAMPUS
Tags: us_mi, fire, laboratory, response, unknown_chemical

Students and faculty were evacuated from the Samuel T. Dana building Thursday morning after a drying oven inside a laboratory caught fire.

The fire, which was responded to around 9:15 a.m., was caused when the oven overheated and the contents inside ignited.

The building, which houses the School of Natural Resources at 440 Church St., was evacuated for about 45 minutes, University of Michigan Police spokeswoman Diane Brown said.

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WOMAN BURNED IN 'FLASH FIRE' AT NJ PERFUME COMPANY: OFFICIAL
Tags: us_nj, fire, industrial, injury, solvents

A woman was burned Thursday in what officials are calling a "flash-fire" that broke out at a perfume company in New Jersey.
The woman was taken to the hospital after a spark ignited flames at a chemical vat at the company on Ethel Road in Piscataway at about 2 p.m., according to Mayor Brian Wahler.

It was not clear how seriously the woman was burned.
Other employees were cleared out of the building while firefighters made sure that there were no other issues in the building, authorities said.

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EMPLOYEE INJURED IN TWO-ALARM FIRE AT CHEMICAL PLANT IN NORFOLK
Tags: us_ma, fire, industrial, injury, paints

An employee suffered facial burns in a two-alarm blaze at a chemical plant Thursday afternoon in Norfolk, fire officials said.

Firefighters and a hazmat team responded to Camger Chemical Systems on Main Street shortly after 1:30 p.m. to find smoke billowing from the single-story brick section of the facility, where a mixing room for flammable solutions is located, the Norfolk Fire Department said in a statement.

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The facility, described by the Fire Department as an "old mill type construction building," is used to manufacture products including adhesives, sealants, and lacquers. Flammable and combustible liquids are used at the chemical plant to make those products, fire officials said.

In the mixing room, firefighters found the injured employee, who had been involved in mixing the solution where the fire originated, the statement said.

The male worker, who officials have not identified, was taken by a MedFlight helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening, said Norfolk Fire Chief Coleman Bushnell.

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LEAKING ACID CANCELS CLASSES AT HOLY NAME
Tags: Trinidad_and_Tobago, release, laboratory, response, acetic_acid

Pupils of the Holy Name Preparatory School leave the compound after the school was evacuated yesterday. PHOTO: MARCUS GONZALES
Classes are expected to resume today at Holy Name Convent, Port-of-Spain, following an incident yesterday where a bottle of acetic acid was found to be leaking in a cupboard in one of the science labs.

The incident caused the early closure of the school and classes at the neighbouring Holy Name Preparatory School, located on the same compound at Queen"s Park East, also to be interrupted temporarily. Those students were allowed to return to the school after fire officials gave the all clear during the mid-morning period.

During an interview, a school official confirmed the leaking bottle was discovered around 7 am by a lab assistant who detected "some not so pleasant fumes." The official said procedures were initiated immediately to preserve the safety of the 52-staff members and 675-student population, as well as all other occupants on the premises.

The official added fire officials were contacted and assisted in securing the leaking bottle and local firm, Green Engineering, was called in to aid in the removal of the leaking bottle from the compound. Green Engineering specialises in various aspects of environmental management and engineering services.

Describing the incident as "something seemingly simple" which had prompted an investigation to determine how the bottle came to be leaking, the official said they were still awaiting confirmation on how it occurred. Although no one fell ill as a result of the toxic fumes, the official said the lab assistant was sent for medical attention to ensure there were no lasting ill effects.

The official said it was normal for the school to be in possession of certain acids and other chemical agents as science students required them for use as part of the syllabus. However, it was stressed that all such agents were normally secured and that yesterday"s incident had led to a tightening of those procedures.

Praising the Fire Services for their timely assistance, the official lamented the fact that their equipment was not up to standard "in terms of coping with a chemical crisis."

Pressed to elaborate, the official was unsure if the hazmat suits worn by the officers were up to standard.

"Sad state of affairs"

Contacted on the matter, president of the Fire Services Association Leo Ramkissoon expressed concern as he said that officers who responded to the call yesterday, "did not have the equipment needed to treat with this situation in its entirety." He said after arriving at the school, officers were forced to contact the Savonetta Fire Station to seek the assistance of the hazmat response team as they were unable to treat with the hydrochloric containment.

Ramkissoon was critical of the State as he said that was clear evidence of the lack of equipment. "One is left to wonder what a great predicament we would have been in if this was on a much larger scale and more serious," he said. He said it was a "sad thing" that an external company had to be called in to complete the process.

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CHEMICAL HAZARDS AND POISONS REPORT: ISSUE 26
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, discovery, environmental

This edition illustrates PHE"s environmental public health activities in responding to chemical incidents, collaborating with external stakeholders, and developing the evidence base, with the ultimate aim of providing effective and efficient management of the environmental public health risks.

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THE U.S. CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD"S INVESTIGATION INTO THE MACONDO DISASTER FINDS OFFSHORE RISK MANAGEMENT AND REGULATORY OVERSIGHT STILL INADEQUATE IN GULF OF MEXICO
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental, petroleum

Washington, DC, April 13, 2016 - Offshore regulatory changes made thus far do not do enough to place the onus on industry to reduce risk, nor do they sufficiently empower the regulator to proactively oversee industry"s efforts to prevent another disaster like the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and oil spill at the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, an independent investigation by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) warns.

The CSB"s draft report found, "[A] culture of minimal regulatory compliance continues to exist in the Gulf of Mexico and risk reduction continues to prove elusive," six years after the catastrophic April 20, 2010, event that killed 11 workers and caused the biggest oil spill in the history of offshore drilling. While the Macondo blowout occurred under the direction of Transocean and BP, it affected the oil and gas industry worldwide by demonstrating that high-hazard risk management continues to be a challenge in the offshore environment.

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ONE DEAD, 11 HURT AFTER AFTER TOXIC GAS RELEASED IN LIKELY CHEMICAL SUICIDE NEAR UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
Tags: us_TX, public, release, death, hydrogen_sulfide, suicide

AUSTIN, Texas " One person died and 11 others were injured Wednesday after being exposed to hydrogen sulfide gas in what authorities said was likely a case of chemical suicide.

Emergency crews initially responded to an apartment complex near the University of Texas at 2:30 p.m. local time after getting a report of a person suffering cardiac arrest. When they arrived, they found a male victim with a sign on his apartment door that said, "Stay out: Hydrogen sulfide present."

"A lot of people call it sewer gas, it often has been used in chemical suicide," Austin Fire Department Division Chief Palmer Buck told reporters. "We do feel pretty comfortable that is what this is. We have some final chemical analysis being done to verify that's what this is."

A statement from the management of the 21 Pearl complex confirmed the victim was a male student. It was not immediately possible to determine his identity or whether he attended UT.

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U.S. COUNTS 85M UNRECALLED AIR BAGS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate

Detroit ‰?¢ About 85 million Takata air bag inflators that haven't been recalled are inside cars and trucks now being driven in the U.S. and would have to be replaced if the company can't prove they are safe, the government said Wednesday.

The number would be in addition to the 28.8 million inflators already slated for replacement in what has become the largest automotive recall in the nation's history.

If all the inflators are recalled, they would total almost 114 million. A recall that massive would take years to complete and cost Takata billions of dollars.

Unlike most air bag makers, Takata's inflators use the chemical ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion that fills air bags in a crash.

But the chemical can burn too fast and explode with too much force, blowing apart a metal canister and hurling shrapnel at drivers and passengers.

At least 11 people have died worldwide and over 100 have been hurt.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which made the estimate, says it doesn't know how many vehicles have Takata air bags, but said many have more than one inflator made by the company.

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