| About This Archive | | DCHAS-L 2022 Index | | DCHAS-L Yearly Index | |
Check out Safety Emporium for your N95, N99, and face shield needs.
|
Previous by Date: Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Lab Operating Permits Date: Wednesday, February 2, 2022 at 6:39:27 AM Author: Richard Palluzi <000006c59248530b-dmarc-request**At_Symbol_Here**LISTS.PRINCETON.EDU> |
Next by Date: Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Extracting Gold from Electronics Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2022 14:52:10 +0000 Author: Monona Rossol |
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, February 2, 2022 at 6:41:16 AM
A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
Connecting Chemistry and Safety at http://www.dchas.org
All article summaries and tags are archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas
Table of Contents (15 articles)
'HAZARDOUS MATERIAL' SHUTS DOWN WINCHESTER AND HACKS CROSS LANES
Tags: us_TN, public, release, response, gasoline
10 HURT AFTER DISINFECTANTS MIX AT MEMPHIS BREWERY
Tags: us_TN, industrial, release, injury, cleaners
SCDF CONTAINS HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL LEAK AT LOYANG DRIVE ON FEB. 1, NO INJURIES REPORTED
Tags: Singapore, public, release, response, waste
8,000 GALLONS OF AVIATION FUEL FROM OVERTURNED SEMI-TRUCK SHUTS DOWN GANDY BLVD
Tags: us_FL, transportation, release, response, jet_fuel
NORTH CAROLINA AIR QUALITY: CHEMICALS BURN AMID FERTILIZER FIRE
Tags: us_NC, industrial, fire, environmental, ag_chems, ammonium_nitrate
FIRE AT NORTH CAROLINA FERTILIZER PLANT PROMPTS MASS EVACUATIONS
Tags: us_NC, industrial, follow-up, response, ag_chems
PRACTICAL GUIDELINES FOR THE SAFE USE OF FLUORINE GAS EMPLOYING CONTINUOUS FLOW TECHNOLOGY
Tags: Austria, laboratory, discovery, environmental, fluorine, nitrogen
FATAL INDIAN INCIDENTS REVEAL ERODED REGULATIONS
Tags: India, industrial, follow-up, death, illegal, waste
PITTSBURGH HAZMAT TEAMS AT FERN HOLLOW BRIDGE SITE TO REMOVE DIESEL GAS FROM BUS
Tags: us_PA, public, release, response, diesel
CHEMICAL FIRE IN ODESSA
Tags: us_TX, transportation, explosion, response, various_chemicals
EASTMAN CHEMICAL COMPANY: FOUR INJURED AT TENNESSEE PLANT
Tags: us_TN, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
FIRE AT WINSTON-SALEM FERTILIZER PLANT PROMPTS EVACUATIONS DUE TO POSSIBILITY OF EXPLOSION; PEOPLE WITHIN 1 MILE OF FIRE AT WEAVER FERTILIZER PLANT IN WINSTON-SALEM ASKED TO EVACUATE DUE TO POSSIBILITY OF EXPLOSION
Tags: us_NC, industrial, explosion, response, ag_chems, ammonium_nitrate
HOW TO DESTROY 'FOREVER CHEMICALS'
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
US FDA URGED TO LIMIT BISPHENOL A IN FOOD PACKAGING AGAIN
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, plastics
FULL ARTICLE: THE PROMISSORY VISIONS OF DIYBIO: REIMAGING SCIENCE FROM THE FRINGE
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental
---------------------------------------------
'HAZARDOUS MATERIAL' SHUTS DOWN WINCHESTER AND HACKS CROSS LANES
https://wreg.com/news/local/winchester-and-hacks-cross-lanes-shut-down/
Tags: us_TN, public, release, response, gasoline
MEMPHIS, Tenn. ' The Memphis Police Department has shut down Winchester and Hacks Cross lanes due to fuel spill.
Officers said the lanes will be shut down from westbound Winchester to Centennial and eastbound Winchester to Hacks Cross.
Fire trucks were seen at a Circle K gas station in the area. Memphis Fire Department said when they arrived on the scene, there was an undetermined amount of gasoline on the ground.
Crews immediately began working to prevent the gas from entering storm drains. Fire crews requested the aid of Hazmat Companies and said they are en route.
As per protocol, MFD alerted the EPA about fuel entering storm drains.
---------------------------------------------
10 HURT AFTER DISINFECTANTS MIX AT MEMPHIS BREWERY
https://www.wjhl.com/news/regional/tennessee/10-hurt-after-disinfectants-mix-at-memphis-brewery/
Tags: us_TN, industrial, release, injury, cleaners
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) ' Ten people were injured, one critically, when two disinfectants were mixed together at a southeast Memphis brewery, creating a hazmat situation Tuesday morning, the Memphis Fire Department said.
The incident happened at Blues City Brewery where 349 employees were evacuated from the building.
Employees wait outside Blues City Brewery after being evacuated. (WREG)
Authorities tell Nexstar's WREG that when the two disinfectants mixed, it created a dangerous vapor.
Ten people were taken to the hospital, according to the fire department. One person was listed in critical condition while the rest were listed in non-critical condition.
The mixture has since been neutralized and employees are returning to work. Authorities did not say which chemicals were mixed.
---------------------------------------------
SCDF CONTAINS HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL LEAK AT LOYANG DRIVE ON FEB. 1, NO INJURIES REPORTED
https://mothership.sg/2022/02/chemical-leak-loyang-drive/
Tags: Singapore, public, release, response, waste
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) responded to a hazardous chemical leak incident at 51 Loyang Drive at about 5:05pm on Tuesday (Feb. 1).
Yellow smoke from chemical waste container
In a Facebook post on Feb. 1, SCDF explained that upon its arrival, yellow smoke was emitting from a chemical waste container measuring four metres by two metres within the premises' compound.
Firefighters from Changi Fire Station donned breathing apparatus sets and proceeded with a water jet to disperse the harmful vapours.
Concurrently, detectors were used to confirm the presence of hazardous material (HazMat).
---------------------------------------------
8,000 GALLONS OF AVIATION FUEL FROM OVERTURNED SEMI-TRUCK SHUTS DOWN GANDY BLVD
https://www.tampafp.com/8000-gallons-of-aviation-fuel-from-overturned-semi-truck-shuts-down-gandy-blvd/
Tags: us_FL, transportation, release, response, jet_fuel
TAMPA, FL. ' At 11:52 this morning Tampa Fire Rescue responded to an overturned semi-truck on the corner of W. Gandy Blvd. and Westshore Boulevard.
Rescue 15 was first on the scene to find an overturned tanker truck with a hazardous material inside it. It was observed that a liquid was leaking from the trailer and a full hazardous materials response was called.
Once identifying the chemical by the placard on the vehicle, it was known to be aviation fuel. Inside the trailer was 8,000 gallons of fuel.
'Out of an abundance of caution, we evacuated the Circle K, and asked businesses on the southwest, southeast, and northeast corners of W. Gandy and Westshore Blvd. to shelter in place,' said Tampa Fire Rescue PIO.
---------------------------------------------
NORTH CAROLINA AIR QUALITY: CHEMICALS BURN AMID FERTILIZER FIRE
https://www.wxii12.com/article/winston-salem-north-carolina-fertilizer-fire/38948775
Tags: us_NC, industrial, fire, environmental, ag_chems, ammonium_nitrate
Emergency officials said air quality continues to be poor Tuesday in Winston-Salem as firefighters continue to battle a massive fire at the Weaver Fertilizer Plant on Cherry Street downtown.
People in the vicinity of the blaze are urged to stay away from any kind of outdoor strenuous activity or exercise.
Advertisement
The more than 6,500 residents within a one-mile radius of a Weaver Fertilizer Plant in Winston-Salem continue to be strongly encouraged to evacuate their homes for up to 48 hours after a massive fire at the facility erupted Monday night.
The fire was reported before 7 p.m. in the 4400 block of Cherry Street.
WXII 12 meteorologist Brian Slocum said the air could be unhealthy for some people.
The fire has caused localized higher concentrations of ammonium nitrate and other aerosols from the fertilizer to be released into the atmosphere.
---------------------------------------------
FIRE AT NORTH CAROLINA FERTILIZER PLANT PROMPTS MASS EVACUATIONS
https://www.wxii12.com/article/north-carolina-winston-salem-weaver-fire/38958793
Tags: us_NC, industrial, follow-up, response, ag_chems
An uncontrolled fire at the Winston Weaver Company fertilizer plant in Winston-Salem continues to keep thousands of people away from their homes Wednesday because of the danger of a large explosion.
Click the video player above for the latest update from WXII 12 News
"There has been no improvement on scene, conditions have not improved," a spokesperson for the city of Winston-Salem said during a press briefing at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday. "The potential for an explosion is still there."
City officials further added that they expect that putting out the fire will continue to be a slow process.
After the fire broke out Monday night, authorities drove through neighborhoods and knocked on doors urging residents to leave within a one-mile of the plant, located on the north side of Winston-Salem.
---------------------------------------------
PRACTICAL GUIDELINES FOR THE SAFE USE OF FLUORINE GAS EMPLOYING CONTINUOUS FLOW TECHNOLOGY
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.chas.1c00097
Tags: Austria, laboratory, discovery, environmental, fluorine, nitrogen
Despite a strong demand for fluorinated molecules in the pharma and agrochemical industry, the production of fluorinated compounds is often outsourced to specialized laboratories. This is likely the result of safety concerns in handling hazardous fluorinating reagents, alongside the lack of expertise and equipment. Continuous flow chemistry has become an established method to perform hazardous reactions in a safe and controlled manner. To address safety issues and technical challenges, we herein provide a detailed description of the design of an advanced fluorine gas delivery system using 10% fluorine in nitrogen. Furthermore, an overview of suitable flow reactor components and the reactor design on laboratory scale is furnished. The safety precautions to mitigate risks associated with handling 10% fluorine in nitrogen are also covered and include safety equipment integrated in the fluorine facility, risk assessment, personal protective equipment, and first aid measures.
---------------------------------------------
FATAL INDIAN INCIDENTS REVEAL ERODED REGULATIONS
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/fatal-indian-incidents-reveal-eroded-regulations/4015154.article
Tags: India, industrial, follow-up, death, illegal, waste
Activists claim Modi government has diluted safety and environmental protection to promote business
A string of chemical accidents in India's main chemical industry hub of Gujarat, and elsewhere, raises questions about the industry's regulation.
On 6 January, six workers died and 22 others fell unconscious after inhaling toxic fumes emanating from waste being dumped illegally from a tanker in the Sachin Industrial Area of Surat. Police arrested four people, including the director of Sangam Enviro, Ashishkumar Gupta. Ashish had been contracted to collect 25,000 litres of a toxic industrial chemical from a company in Taloja, Maharashtra, and transport it for disposal in Surat.
Illegal waste dumping is apparently widespread in India. An incident in Surat led to 6 deaths as gases from waste being dumped from a tanker overwhelmed workers in a nearby textile mill
On 6 December, a young labourer was killed on the spot and five others were injured after a reactor explosion at RP Industries' manufacturing unit in Ankleshwar. On 16 December, an explosion and fire at state-owned Gujarat Fluorochemicals, located in the Panchmahal district, killed seven and injured at least 15 others. And on 24 December, four people lost their lives and 11 were injured by a boiler explosion at Canton Laboratories in Vadodara.
'There is a lot of illegal production of chemicals in Gujarat and Maharashtra, over and above licensed ones, and the issues of workplace safety and disposal of effluents remain thorny and neglected,' explains Krishna Kant, an environmental activist with Gujarat-based Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (Environment Protection Committee). Plant owners arrange to dispose of their effluents in other areas ' often unsafely in remote villages ' to avoid being traced or getting caught, he says. 'Such organised racketeering activities are rampant and known to regulatory authorities,' he adds.
---------------------------------------------
PITTSBURGH HAZMAT TEAMS AT FERN HOLLOW BRIDGE SITE TO REMOVE DIESEL GAS FROM BUS
https://www.wtae.com/article/pittsburgh-bridge-collapse-hazmat-port-authority-bus-fern-hollow/38941348
Tags: us_PA, public, release, response, diesel
PITTSBURGH '
On Monday, Pittsburgh hazmat teams were at the now-collapsed Fern Hollow bridge to make sure 125 gallons of diesel fuel from the Port Authority bus lying on the bridge doesn't get into the ravine below.
Bureau of Fire Chief Darryl Jones said there is an environmental concern.
'One hundred twenty-five gallons, that can do some substantial damage to the environment,' he said. 'The job today is to remove that before they lift the bus. We will check the other vehicles as well and when the NTSB gives us the OK, we will start removing the vehicles.'
Federal inspectors with the NTSB returned to the site on Monday to investigate the collapse. On Sunday, they released new images from under the rubble.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL FIRE IN ODESSA
https://www.yourbasin.com/news/chemical-fire-in-odessa/
Tags: us_TX, transportation, explosion, response, various_chemicals
ODESSA, Texas ' One Odessa neighborhood experience a major explosion yesterday evening when a chemical fire broke out. Last night, Odessa Fire Rescue responded to a call about a vehicle fire.
Around 10 pm on Sunday night, Odessa Fire Rescue responded to the 9000 block of 26th Street, to what they thought was a vehicle fire, but when they arrived to the area, they found that the explosion was actually due to a chemical fire.
An explosion could be heard and felt around the community last night after firefighters say some chemical totes blew up.
OFR Battalion Chief, Bradley Reese, says, 'When units arrived on scene, they did find a flat bed fully involved and we later figured out it was carrying various chemicals in some large totes.'
Reese says the chemicals involved are those used in fracking and that dealing with these types of chemicals was nothing out of the ordinary for the station and the area of Odessa. He says an explosion is unique and OFR has some idea of how it all could have happened.
---------------------------------------------
EASTMAN CHEMICAL COMPANY: FOUR INJURED AT TENNESSEE PLANT
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/nation-world/national/article257883363.html
Tags: us_TN, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
Loud noises jolted a Tennessee community as a manufacturing plant reported a malfunction, officials said.
Four people were hurt at the Eastman Chemical Company plant after people reported hearing a sound similar to an explosion about 7:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 31, according to firefighters and WHJL
The Eastman Chemical Company said the plant in Kingsport 'experienced a high pressure steamline failure at our Kingsport manufacturing site resulting in vibrations that were felt by the surrounding community and loud noises from a consistent heavy release of steam,' according to a statement the Kingsport Fire Department shared on its Facebook page.
---------------------------------------------
FIRE AT WINSTON-SALEM FERTILIZER PLANT PROMPTS EVACUATIONS DUE TO POSSIBILITY OF EXPLOSION; PEOPLE WITHIN 1 MILE OF FIRE AT WEAVER FERTILIZER PLANT IN WINSTON-SALEM ASKED TO EVACUATE DUE TO POSSIBILITY OF EXPLOSION
https://myfox8.com/news/north-carolina/winston-salem/winston-salem-fire-crews-battle-blaze-at-fertilizer-business/
Tags: us_NC, industrial, explosion, response, ag_chems, ammonium_nitrate
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) ' People within one mile from a blaze in Winston-Salem at the Weaver Fertilizer Plant on North Cherry Street are being asked to evacuate by the City of Winston-Salem due to the possibility of an explosion.
The evacuation location is the Education Building at the Fairgrounds at 414 Deacon Boulevard, city officials say.
People who have evacuated should plan to be away from their homes for up to 48 hours.
The fire started at the Weaver Fertilizer Plant on 4440 North Cherry Street on Monday night. City officials confirmed small explosions at the plant.
Firefighters say there is the potential for a large explosion of ammonium nitrate. Winston-Salem Fire Chief Trey Mayo says fire crews 'abandoned' the fire-fighting operation because of the large volume of ammonium nitrate on site.
They could not flow enough volume of water to be reasonably certain that they could keep it cool enough to prevent a detonation.
---------------------------------------------
HOW TO DESTROY 'FOREVER CHEMICALS'
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-destroy-forever-chemicals/
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
Perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, or PFASs, are considered indestructible chemicals. They are virtually nondegradable and accumulate in humans and the environment. Suspected health effects include asthma, cancer and changes in the reproductive organs. How to get rid of PFASs has been completely unclear until now'and the first approaches to destroying the resistant molecules are showing promising results.
Heat is the key factor in breaking the carbon-fluorine bonds characteristic of this class of substances. In a study recently published in the Journal of Environmental Engineering, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that a heat- and pressure-based technique known as supercritical water oxidation destroyed 99 percent of the PFASs present in a water sample.
PFASs have a combination of properties that make them uniquely suited for many engineering applications. They repel both oil and water and resist damage from high temperatures and chemicals. Because of this, they appear in many consumer products, as well as in applications such as firefighting foam. And they can now be found almost everywhere in the environment. For example, they contaminate soil and groundwater in several German counties. In the southwestern town of Rastatt, Germany, PFASs made drinking water unusable in 2019. Studies show measurable concentrations of the substances in blood and breast milk across the European population.
---------------------------------------------
US FDA URGED TO LIMIT BISPHENOL A IN FOOD PACKAGING AGAIN
https://cen.acs.org/safety/consumer-safety/US-FDA-urged-limit-bisphenol-A-in-food-packaging-again/100/web/2022/01
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, plastics
coalition of environmental and public health groups is pushing the US Food and Drug Administration to tighten limits for bisphenol A (BPA) in plastics that contact food. In a Jan. 27 petition, the groups claim that BPA can be harmful at levels far below the amount to which most Americans are exposed. The groups urge the FDA to limit all food-packaging uses of BPA that may result in more than 0.5 ng BPA/kg food.
The petition was prompted by the European Food Safety Authority's reevaluation of the risks of BPA in food. In December 2021, the EFSA's Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids recommended a limit of 0.04 ng BPA/kg body weight per day. EFSA had established a temporary limit of 4 ë1Ú4g BPA/kg body weight per day in 2015. The panel identified an increase in a particular type of immune system cell involved in allergic lung inflammation as the most sensitive health outcome associated with BPA exposure. It also found reproductive and developmental effects associated with low levels of BPA. EFSA is accepting public comments on the draft opinion until Feb. 22.
EFSA's process for reevaluating the safety of BPA is 'transparent, thorough, and grounded in the science' and 'a template for how FDA should be doing it for the hundreds of chemicals it approved decades ago,' Tom Neltner, the chemicals policy director at the Environmental Defense Fund, says in a statement. The EDF is one of the groups petitioning the FDA to restrict BPA in food packaging.
---------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE: THE PROMISSORY VISIONS OF DIYBIO: REIMAGING SCIENCE FROM THE FRINGE
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09505431.2022.2028135?src=
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental
Recent years have seen a proliferation of do-it-yourself biology (DIYbio) initiatives, consisting of people undertaking a range of bioscience activities outside traditional research environments. DIYbio initiatives, while diverse, exist at the fringes of institutionalised science, which enables them to advance different promissory visions about what science, especially bioscience, could or should become in the future, including how it should be governed. These visions reconfigure conventional delineations of science in politically and normatively loaded ways that can simultaneously reaffirm, contest, and shift the traditional epistemic foundations of science. They put forth alternative science futures in ways that highlight the performative force of promissory visions in shaping not only mainstream but also fringe science activity. DIYbio offers a fruitful lens for understanding how science is currently being reconfigured by unconventional actors to encompass new meanings an!
d domains. It offers a different angle on the wider sociology of expectations engagement with the future as an analytical object, by showing how the future of science is constructed and managed from the fringe. Yet, DIYbio initiatives' promissory visions are also embedded within neoliberal ideals of productive and entrepreneurial citizens, highlighting how the wider socio-economic context constrains the alternative futures manufactured by these initiatives.
---------------------------------------------
---
For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional membership chair at membership**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas
Previous post | Top of Page | Next post