From: DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (18 articles)
Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2018 07:48:45 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: 8692F170-3E11-437E-9F6F-E4BC6903F34C**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


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Table of Contents (18 articles)

6 ARRESTED FOR GODOWN FIRE THAT GUTTED RS 28-CRORE GROUNDNUTS
Tags: India, industrial, follow-up, response, metals

CRANSTON FIREFIGHTERS MONITORED AFTER EXPOSURE TO CHEMICALS
Tags: us_RI, industrial, follow-up, injury, metals

EMERGENCY CREWS RESPOND TO HAZARDOUS SITUATION AT LEW-PORT
Tags: us_NY, education, release, response, hydrochloric_acid

VIDEO: RICHMOND SCRAP YARD CITED IN FIRE THAT RELEASED CANCER-CAUSING CHEMICAL INTO AIR
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, response, metals, waste

IMPERIAL SUGAR TRAGEDY: REPERCUSSIONS CONTINUE 10 YEARS LATER
Tags: us_GA, industrial, follow-up, death, dust

OIL AND GAS WASTEWATER LEAVES RADIUM IN PENNSYLVANIA STREAM SEDIMENTS
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, environmental, radiation, waste

15 TREATED FOR POSSIBLE EXPOSURE AFTER CHLORINE LEAK AT OCCIDENT
Tags: us_LA, industrial, release, injury, chlorine

HAZMAT RESPONDS TO DIESEL SPILL IN LAKE HOPATCONG
Tags: us_NJ, public, release, response, diesel

SACRAMENTO MEDICAL BUILDING EVACUATED
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, hvac_chemicals

EXPOSURE TO CHEMICAL FOUND IN PLASTICS 'HARD TO AVOID' IN EVERYDAY LIFE
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, discovery, environmental, plastics

Ì?THER: AN&NBSP;INDOOR AIR PURIFIER INSPIRED BY SPIDER WEBS
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, discovery, environmental

CHEMICAL SMELL TRIGGERS FIRE ALARMS, EVACUATION IN ACKERMAN UNION
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical

LIVE 5 INVESTIGATES: POOL CHEMICAL EXPOSURE
Tags: us_SC, public, follow-up, environmental, pool_chemicals

TOP 4 FOOD SAFETY HAZARDS FOR THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, oils, pharmaceutical

CHEMICAL BOARD: WORKERS WERE CHANGING DRILL BIT AT TIME OF RIG EXPLOSION
Tags: us_OK, public, follow-up, death, other_chemical

EMERGENCY CREWS THINK OF CHILDREN'S SAFETY FIRST AFTER CHEMICAL
Tags: us_oh, transportation, release, response, other_chemical

MERGED LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST DUPONT AND CHEMOURS IN NORTH CAROLINA
Tags: us_NC, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical

4,000 GALLONS OF GASOLINE SPILLED IN CHASSELL TOWNSHIP
Tags: us_MI, transportation, release, death, diesel, gasoline


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6 ARRESTED FOR GODOWN FIRE THAT GUTTED RS 28-CRORE GROUNDNUTS
https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/6-arrested-for-godown-fire-that-gutted-rs-28crore-groundnuts/1247362
Tags: India, industrial, follow-up, response, metals

Rajkot, Feb 6 The owner and manager of a private warehouse, where groundnuts worth Rs 28 crore were gutted in a fire last week, are among six people arrested for the blaze that was caused by "negligence", a police official said today.

Sparks from a welding machine used to fix metal gates caused the massive blaze at the warehouse, Ramrajya Godown, at Gondal near here on January 30.

The inferno had destroyed 50 lakh kg of groundnuts (worth around Rs 28 crore) stored at the godown, hired by the Gujarat State Co-Operative Cotton Federation (GUJCOT), he said.

The state CID (Crime) was asked to probe the incident and find out the cause of the blaze.

Six people, including the owner and manager of the warehouse, were arrested last evening after an FIR was lodged against them, DIG of CID (Crime) Dipankar Trivedi said at a press conference here.

They were booked for mischief by fire with intent to destroy house, causing disappearance of evidence and abettor present when crime is committed, he said.

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CRANSTON FIREFIGHTERS MONITORED AFTER EXPOSURE TO CHEMICALS
http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20180206/cranston-firefighters-monitored-after-exposure-to-chemicals
Tags: us_RI, industrial, follow-up, injury, metals

Some of the 20 firefighters who were exposed to chemicals while fighting a chemical fire at 1420 Elmwood Ave. on Jan. 29 have experienced vomiting and "flu-like" symptoms, according to the mayor"s office.

CRANSTON " Officials are continuing to monitor the health of 20 firefighters who were exposed to chemicals while responding to a Jan. 29 fire at 1420 Elmwood Ave., officials said.

Some of the firefighters have experienced vomiting and "flu-like" symptoms, said Mark Schieldrop, special executive assistant to Mayor Allan W. Fung.

"No one is in the intensive care unit," Schieldrop said. But he added that the department, along with the International Association of Firefighters Local 1363, was still concerned because the effects of some chemicals can take several days to manifest themselves.

The fire and chemical incident is being investigated by state and local fire marshals as well as the state Department of Environmental Management, Chief William McKenna said last week. The one-story brick building was shared by Gem-Craft, a jewelry company, and Prosys, a metal finishing business. McKenna said the Fire Department had a list of chemicals stored in the building when firefighters answered the call.

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EMERGENCY CREWS RESPOND TO HAZARDOUS SITUATION AT LEW-PORT
http://www.niagara-gazette.com/news/local_news/emergency-crews-respond-to-hazardous-situation-at-lew-port/article_adffc833-7be6-53a6-afba-6df5e8b84e3f.html
Tags: us_NY, education, release, response, hydrochloric_acid

PORTER " The accidental mix of two violate substances touched off a hazmat incident at the Lewiston-Porter schools campus on Tuesday morning.

Lewiston police said a maintenance worker inadvertently mixed hydrochloric acid with chlorine which caused a release of harmful gas.

The incident took place in the pool filtration room in the gym building," Lewiston Police Chief Frank Previte said. "It was isolated ot that building and did not spread to other parts of the school."

Previte said students who had been in the gym building were evacuated to other parts of the school's complex. A hazmat team from the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station responded to the school along with the Niagara County Hazmat Team.

"The Lewiston No. 1 Fire Company and Youngstown Fire Company also responded and established air quality monitoring throughout the school," Previte said. "At no time was the air quality in the school a problem."

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VIDEO: RICHMOND SCRAP YARD CITED IN FIRE THAT RELEASED CANCER-CAUSING CHEMICAL INTO AIR
http://kron4.com/2018/02/06/video-richmond-scrap-yard-cited-in-fire-that-released-cancer-causing-chemical-into-air/
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, response, metals, waste

RICHMOND (KRON) " The Bay Area Air Quality Management district has cited a Richmond scrap metal facility over last week"s fire.

And this is not the first time the company has violated air district regulations.

Sims Metal Management, which owns the Richmond scrapyard where a fire broke out last Tuesday, has been issued two notices of violation by the air district.

The first for creating a public nuisance and the second is for the fire itself.

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IMPERIAL SUGAR TRAGEDY: REPERCUSSIONS CONTINUE 10 YEARS LATER
http://savannahnow.com/news/2018-02-06/imperial-sugar-tragedy-repercussions-continue-10-years-later
Tags: us_GA, industrial, follow-up, death, dust

Broken equipment inside a steel conveyor belt sparked the first explosion at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth on a mild winter night 10 years ago.

Eight workers died that night and six more eventually succumbed to their burns. Dozens others were injured but survived, 14 of them spending months at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta.

Those lives lost from the Feb. 7, 2008, tragedy were Eric Barnes, John Calvin Butler Jr., Truitt Byers, Alphonso Fields Sr., Michael Kelly Fields, Malcolm Frazier, McKinley "Von" Habersham Sr., Shelathia "Shon" Harvey, Earl Johnson, Patricia Ann "Pat" Lowe Proctor, Earl Quarterman, Byron Singleton, Tony Thomas and Michael "Big Mike" Williams.

Better housekeeping would have prevented any loss of life, a federal investigation determined.

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OIL AND GAS WASTEWATER LEAVES RADIUM IN PENNSYLVANIA STREAM SEDIMENTS
https://cen.acs.org/articles/96/web/2018/02/Oil-gas-wastewater-leaves-radium.html
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, environmental, radiation, waste

Despite a 2011 Pennsylvania guideline curbing the discharge of wastewater from the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, industry to water treatment plants, high levels of radium are still settling in some of the state"s stream sediments, according to a new study. The results suggest that some treatment plants that process wastewater derived from conventional oil and gas production are releasing this carcinogenic radionuclide. In some sediment samples, the radium activity reached 25,000 becquerels/kg, about 14 times as great as the threshold at which some states require solid radioactive waste to be disposed of in a licensed facility (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2018, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b04952).
During both fracking and conventional oil and gas production, saline water enriched in naturally occurring radionuclides is extracted from rock formations and flows to the surface as wastewater. In Texas, Oklahoma, and many other oil and gas producing regions, operators dispose of this wastewater by injecting it into deep wells. But in Pennsylvania, where the Marcellus Shale formation has supported a fracking boom, the underlying geology precludes deep well injection, says Duke University geochemist Avner Vengosh.

As a result, some of this wastewater in Pennsylvania has been shuttled to treatment plants to remove contaminants and then released into local streams. Because of public concerns about high levels of bromide in fracking wastewater, which can be transformed into harmful disinfection by-products such as trihalomethanes during wastewater treatment, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection asked fracking operators to stop sending wastewater to these facilities in 2011, and they have reportedly complied. But this request does not cover conventional oil and gas producers, who still send wastewater for treatment and release into some streams in the state.

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15 TREATED FOR POSSIBLE EXPOSURE AFTER CHLORINE LEAK AT OCCIDENT
http://www.wafb.com/story/37428328/15-treated-for-possible-exposure-after-chlorine-leak-at-occidental-chemical-plant
Tags: us_LA, industrial, release, injury, chlorine

GONZALES, LA (WAFB) -
More than a dozen people received medical treatment after a chlorine leak was reported at Occidental Petroleum in Gonzales on Monday.

Officials said some of the workers sheltered in place, while others waited in the parking lot.

Louisiana State Police Hazmat responded to the chlorine gas release. Troopers said about 15 people were treated for possible exposure.

According to officials, there was no off-site impact from the leak.

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HAZMAT RESPONDS TO DIESEL SPILL IN LAKE HOPATCONG
http://www.njherald.com/20180205/hazmat-responds-to-diesel-spill-in-lake-hopatcong#
Tags: us_NJ, public, release, response, diesel

JEFFERSON -- An unknown amount of diesel fuel began flowing into Lake Hopatcong on Sunday and state and Morris County hazmat crews were still on the scene Monday chopping through ice to install additional containment booms.

The spill was reported by a citizen who saw and smelled the diesel on Sunday to Morris County which responded and called in the Department of Environmental Protection's emergency spill response team.

On Monday, Jefferson police officers at the scene said the Morris County Prosecutor's Office had assumed authority of the investigation. A spokesman for the prosecutor confirmed the recovery of the spilled diesel fuel was being handled by the county and state.

At mid-day Monday, booms were already in the water in the small cove to the east of Flash Marina and where a small stream was apparently carrying the spilled diesel into the lake.

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SACRAMENTO MEDICAL BUILDING EVACUATED
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2018/02/06/sacramento-medical-building-evacuated/
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, hvac_chemicals

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) " A medical office building in East Sacramento was evacuated Monday, and hazmat crews called in after smoke was reported inside.

The building is located at 1201 Alhambra and houses part of the Sutter health network.

According to the Sacramento Fire Department between 200 and 300 people were evacuated just after 1 p.m. following initial reports of smoke or haze on the fourth floor.

The building includes doctors offices, an urgent care clinic, rehab therapy and also a surgery center. Most of the building was evacuated immediately, but some surgeries were already underway.

According to Sacramento Fire spokesman Chris Harvey, "There were some minor surgeries being performed on the first floor, but they were able to finish up those surgeries, and those patients are being evacuated as they finish up here."

Fire officials say there was a leak of some refrigerant material which was more of an irritant and there were no complaints or injuries.

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EXPOSURE TO CHEMICAL FOUND IN PLASTICS 'HARD TO AVOID' IN EVERYDAY LIFE
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-02/uoe-etc020518.php
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, discovery, environmental, plastics

86 per cent of teenagers have traces of Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical compound used to make plastics, in their body, an Engaged Research public engagement project in collaboration with the University of Exeter has found.

Measurable levels of BPA, an endocrine-disrupting chemical, were found in the urine of the vast majority of the 94 17-19 year olds tested, according to research at the University of Exeter led by Professor Lorna Harries, Associate Professor in Molecular Genetics, and Professor Tamara Galloway, Professor of Ecotoxicology.

They called for better labelling of packaging to enable consumers to choose BPA-free products.

The citizen-science project was carried out in a real-world setting to provide young people with first-hand experience of all aspects of scientific research.

Students designed, took part in and published the research study into whether changes in their lifestyle and diet could have an impact on BPA in their bodies.

They found that chemical is so ubiquitous that trying to reduce exposure by avoiding food packaging and food likely to contain BPA has no measurable impact on exposure, according to research published in the BMJ Open journal.

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Ì?THER: AN&NBSP;INDOOR AIR PURIFIER INSPIRED BY SPIDER WEBS
http://www.core77.com/projects/72755/%C3%86ther-An-Indoor-Air-Purifier-Inspired-by-Spider-Webs
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, discovery, environmental

Every year, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) challenges teams composed of students from all around the world to conceive innovative living machines to tackle contemporary issues. The iGEM competition for international Genetically Engineered Machine aims to promote research in synthetic biology through the projects invented by the hundreds of teams. Many students come from prestigious universities worldwide that never miss the opportunity to rise to the challenge (MIT, Harvard, TU Delft, Cambridge, Oxford, etc.).
For the 2017 edition, the iGEM team Pasteur Paris worked on indoor air pollution. The team members, all living in Paris, felt particularly concerned by this deadly issue, responsible for more than 3 million premature deaths every year. The team, supervised by Deshmukh Gopaul (researcher and head of the pole: Design for Biology - Citech) and Guillian Graves (designer and head of the Design & Biology program - ENSCI), was composed of 16 students with diverse competences and capabilities (biology, physics and chemistry, law and industrial design). p

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CHEMICAL SMELL TRIGGERS FIRE ALARMS, EVACUATION IN ACKERMAN UNION
http://dailybruin.com/2018/02/05/chemical-smell-triggers-fire-alarms-evacuation-in-ackerman-union/
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical

were evacuated from Ackerman Union on Monday after a chemical smell originating from the Engineering V building triggered fire alarms.

The smell came from a substance in a laboratory in the Engineering V building, said Steve Jurado, the assistant fire marshal at UCLA. He added the smell was nontoxic and firefighters used air exchanges to filter out the odor.

Alarms in Ackerman Union went off at 3:17 p.m. after they were triggered by the chemical smell, said Roy Champawat, the Associated Students UCLA director. Students were permitted to reenter the building around 4 p.m.

The Engineering V building was clear to enter around 6 p.m

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LIVE 5 INVESTIGATES: POOL CHEMICAL EXPOSURE
http://www.live5news.com/story/37433983/live-5-investigates-pool-chemical-exposure
Tags: us_SC, public, follow-up, environmental, pool_chemicals

SUMMERVILLE, SC (WCSC) -
A group of Summerville parents turned to Live 5 for help after their children were exposed to chemicals at a neighborhood pool.

The incident happened last August.

Now, as the weather warms up, they want to warn other parents about their scary experience.

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TOP 4 FOOD SAFETY HAZARDS FOR THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY
https://www.cannabisindustryjournal.com/feature_article/top-4-food-safety-hazards-for-the-cannabis-industry/
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, oils, pharmaceutical

As many US States and Canadian provinces approach legalization of cannabis, the question of regulatory oversight has become a pressing issue. While public awareness is mainly focused on issues like age restrictions and impaired driving, there is another practical question to consider: should cannabis be treated as a drug or a food product when it comes to safety? In the US, FDA governs both food and drugs, but in Canada, drugs are regulated by Health Canada while food products are regulated under the CFIA.There are many food safety hazards associated with cannabis production and distribution that could put the public at risk, but are not yet adequately controlled

Of course, there are common issues like dosage and potency that pharmaceutical companies typically worry about as the industry is moving to classifying its products in terms of percentage of chemical composition (THC, CBD, etc. in a strain), much as we categorize alcohol products by the percentage of alcohol. However, with the exception of topical creams and ointments, many cannabis products are actually food products. Even the herb itself can be brewed into teas, added to baked goods or made into cannabis-infused butters, oils, capsules and tinctures.

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CHEMICAL BOARD: WORKERS WERE CHANGING DRILL BIT AT TIME OF RIG EXPLOSION
http://www.mcalesternews.com/gallery/chemical-board-workers-were-changing-drill-bit-at-time-of/article_56077230-0ac5-11e8-b508-5f25bece2053.html
Tags: us_OK, public, follow-up, death, other_chemical

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board said workers were preparing to change a drill bit at the time of the deadly Patterson 219 explosion.

CSB investigators said in a release on their initial findings of the investigation that rig workers "recently pulled the drillpipe and associated drilling tools out of the well in preparation to change out the drill bit" at the time of the incident.

The board said investigators arrived on the scene two days after the Jan. 22 explosion near Quinton and said they could start interviewing witnesses as early as this week.

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EMERGENCY CREWS THINK OF CHILDREN'S SAFETY FIRST AFTER CHEMICAL
http://www.yourerie.com/news/local-news/emergency-crews-think-of-childrens-safety-first-after-chemical-truck-crashes/953018430
Tags: us_oh, transportation, release, response, other_chemical

Emergency managers decided on the unusual step of doing nothing after a truck full of fuel additives crashed on Route 6 in Youngsville.

Crews were called to the scene along Route 6 not far from Youngsville Elementary School. They found the truck intact and not leaking. Since school was not letting out in a few hours and the driver was safe, the responders decided to wait to begin draining the truck until the students had finished school and left the area.

So, for a few hours anyway, they just let the truck sit, then started draining the chemicals once they got the 'all clear'.

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MERGED LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST DUPONT AND CHEMOURS IN NORTH CAROLINA
https://cen.acs.org/articles/96/web/2018/02/Merged-lawsuit-filed-against-DuPont-and-Chemours-in-North-Carolina.html
Tags: us_NC, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical

Lawyers have filed a new class action lawsuit against DuPont and Chemours claiming that the two firms contaminated the Cape Fear River in North Carolina with fluorosurfactants. The river is a source of drinking water for much of the southeast part of the state.
The filing, made late last month, consolidates and updates three class action suits filed since October by lawyers representing thousands of people who claim they are ill or could get ill because they drank water from the Cape Fear River and from wells surrounding the plant, now run by DuPont spin-off Chemours. A judge in the U.S. Federal District Court in Wilmington, N.C., ordered the consolidation in early January to streamline the effort to try claims.
The consolidated suit charges that DuPont dumped potentially toxic fluorosurfactants from the Fayetteville, N.C., plant starting in the 1980s. It also claims that DuPont knew that some of those fluorosurfactants, such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), had toxic effects on laboratory animals as far back as the 1960s.
DuPont acknowledges that the lawsuits and ongoing federal and state investigations "could result in penalties or sanctions," according to documents it has filed with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). Chemours says in its SEC filings that it believes discharges from the Fayetteville site "have not impacted the safety of drinking water in North Carolina."

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4,000 GALLONS OF GASOLINE SPILLED IN CHASSELL TOWNSHIP
http://www.uppermichiganssource.com/content/news/Four-Thousand-gallons-of-gasoline-spilled-in-Chassell-Township-472753353.html
Tags: us_MI, transportation, release, death, diesel, gasoline

CHASSELL TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WLUC) - More than 4,000 gallons of gasoline were released onto US-41 and into the Sturgeon River in Chassell Township, Saturday according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Currently multiple organizations are working on recovering spilled gas and contaminated soil. It is unknown how much gas migrated into the river, under the ice, and if it is recoverable.

US-41 is still down to one lane at this time.

The initial clean up could take several more days and even longer to recover any gasoline in the river if possible.

Currently the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Coast Guard, Michigan Department of Transportation, Chassell Township Fire Department, Houghton County Emergency Management and others are all working on cleaning up the spill and managing the roadway at this time.

The spill happened Saturday after a four-vehicle fatal accident involving a semi tractor trailer hauling diesel fuel and gasoline.

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