Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, September 7, 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
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Table of Contents (12 articles)
CALIFORNIA CHEMICAL LEAK FORCES EVACUATION, FREEWAY CLOSURE
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, response, styrene
'IS IT A KILLER CLOUD?’ 1992 BENZENE LEAK BLANKETED AND TERRORIZED PORTIONS OF MINNESOTA AND WISCONSIN
Tags: us_MN, transportation, follow-up, environmental, benzene
LARGE FIRE BREAKS OUT AT UK CHEMICAL STORAGE UNIT
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
LABOR DAY FIRE IN ALLENTOWN DISPLACES 14
Tags: us_PA, public, fire, injury, flammables
THERMAL SAFETY AND STRUCTURE-RELATED REACTIVITY INVESTIGATION OF FIVE-MEMBERED CYCLIC SULFAMIDATES
Tags: Switzerland, laboratory, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
UNION PACIFIC: 44 RAILCARS CARRYING ASPHALT DERAIL, SPILL SUBSTANCE INTO NORTHERN IOWA CREEK
Tags: us_IA, transportation, release, response, asphalt
SYDNEY NEWS: RESIDENTS WARNED TO CHECK GAS HEATERS AFTER THREE PEOPLE TAKEN TO HOSPITAL IN SYDNEY'S WEST
Tags: Australia, public, release, injury, carbon_monoxide
THUNDERSTORM BLAMED FOR CHEMICALS BLAZE AT CANNOCK INDUSTRIAL ESTATE NEAR HOMES
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, explosion, response, waste
NEIGHBORS OF SWIFT CREEK DISPLACED BY ASBESTOS
Tags: us_WA, public, follow-up, environmental, asbestos
HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO CHLORINE LEAK AT WATER TREATMENT FACILITY
Tags: us_IL, public, release, response, chlorine, water_treatment
BREAKING: INK FACTORY UP IN FLAMES IN GUWAHATI'S PALASHBARI
Tags: India, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
DEVELOPMENT, VALIDATION, AND APPLICATION OF A CUSTOM-MADE MINI-REACTION CALORIMETER FOR THERMAL SAFETY SCREENING
Tags: Switzerland, laboratory, discovery, environmental
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CALIFORNIA CHEMICAL LEAK FORCES EVACUATION, FREEWAY CLOSURE
https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/international/california-chemical-leak-forces-evacuation-freeway-closure
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, response, styrene
A serious chemical leak accident forced the evacuation of more than 100 homes California's Perris city and also closed the 215 Freeway in both directions.
Perris is located 122 km east of Los Angeles, reports Xinhua news agency.
Local NBC 4 news channel reported that Cal Fire Riverside County received a call about the chemical leak around 7.40 p.m. on Thursday, when someone discovered a large plume of smoke coming from a rail car along the railway running parallel to the freeway in the town with over 77,000 residents.
Officials identified the leaking chemical as styrene, saying some kind of chemical reaction inside the tank occurred when the chemical used in latex, synthetic rubber and polystyrene resins was stored in an overheating situation.
Typically, styrene sits at around 29.4 degrees Celsius, but the roughly 188,000 pounds of styrene in the tank had reached temperatures up to 161.7 degrees Celsius, Cal Fire Riverside County Chief John Crater told reporters on Friday.
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'IS IT A KILLER CLOUD?’ 1992 BENZENE LEAK BLANKETED AND TERRORIZED PORTIONS OF MINNESOTA AND WISCONSIN
https://www.bemidjipioneer.com/news/the-vault/is-it-a-killer-cloud-1992-benzene-leak-blanketed-and-terrorized-portions-of-minnesota-and-wisconsin
Tags: us_MN, transportation, follow-up, environmental, benzene
In the early morning hours of June 30, 1992, Duluth’s newly minted police chief, Scott Lyons, answered a phone call that would turn an otherwise pleasant summer day into a nightmare.
In the minutes before 3 a.m., as Minnesota's Northland slept, a freight train carrying hazardous materials just south of Superior, Wisconsin, had derailed, sending train cars carrying chemicals sailing 71 feet into the waters of the Nemadji River.
The result was catastrophic — the chemical cocktail created an orange-colored vapor cloud measuring 20 miles long and 5 miles wide — and it parked itself over the populated area of Superior and neighboring Duluth, prompting a mass evacuation.
“We had know idea what was in that cloud,” Lyons said in a recent interview with Forum News Service. ”And so that was our biggest concern: You know, what is it? Is it a killer cloud? Is it nothing?”
While Lyons and his crew were scrambling to figure out what chemicals the rail cars were carrying — and, therefore, what chemicals were swirling around in the sky — police officers attempting to alert residents began coming down with troubling symptoms.
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LARGE FIRE BREAKS OUT AT UK CHEMICAL STORAGE UNIT
https://www.thechemicalengineer.com/news/large-fire-breaks-out-at-uk-chemical-storage-unit/
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
FIREFIGHTERS have responded to a large fire at a chemical storage unit in Staffordshire, UK after more than 60 emergency calls came in from members of the public.
The fire, which has been deemed accidental, broke out at about 06:20 on 5 September, forcing residents near to the Cannock Industrial Centre to leave their properties when debris and embers were blown close to nearby homes.
More than 40 firefighters from across the West Midlands and Staffordshire were sent to the scene to tackle flames that according to a local news website, were sparked by "water reacting with chemicals". Reports also suggest that the explosions were likely caused by heavy thunderstorms.
Members of the public were advised to avoid the area for their own safety, the fire service said. However by around 08:20, the blaze had been brought under control and crews have since been scaled back. There have been no reports of any injuries.
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LABOR DAY FIRE IN ALLENTOWN DISPLACES 14
https://www.mcall.com/news/police/mc-nws-labor-day-fire-allentown-20220906-pxokvzeknbgf3ao7bj6ojgjeui-story.html
Tags: us_PA, public, fire, injury, flammables
One man was severely burned and more than a dozen adults and children were routed from their homes on Labor Day after a fire in Allentown tore through five houses.
Fire Department Capt. John Christopher did not release the name of the injured man, but said he suffered extensive third-degree burns.
About 12:30 p.m., city firefighters were called to the 700 block of Mohawk Street for a report of a working blaze across multiple homes, Christopher said.
Five row homes — numbers 777, 779, 781, 783 and 785 — were damaged, he said. The brunt of the damage was to 783 and 781, the former where the fire originated in the basement. The other three homes sustained more damage to the exterior than the interior.
The blaze displaced 10 adults and four children.
The injured man was in the basement of 783, working with a flammable chemical when it flashed and ignited, Christopher said. After he caught on fire, the man grabbed the container and tried to run out of the house with it, which spread the fire.
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THERMAL SAFETY AND STRUCTURE-RELATED REACTIVITY INVESTIGATION OF FIVE-MEMBERED CYCLIC SULFAMIDATES
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.oprd.2c00130
Tags: Switzerland, laboratory, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
Five-membered cyclic sulfamidates are very valuable electrophiles in organic synthesis and readily used on a multikilogram scale. However, their thermal degradation is underreported and might lead to unforeseen and undesirable safety events. In addition, ring or nitrogen substitution can have a tremendous influence on cyclic sulfamidate reactivity toward bases and therefore impact the overall safety assessment of a process. An understanding of such behavior is therefore of high importance in the industry while designing a synthetic route, as a change of, e.g., a protecting group can increase the thermal safety of a step on scale. We report herein the thermal degradation investigation as well as the structure-related reactivity exploration of cyclic sulfamidates, including their use in combination with strong bases. The design of a predictive model to rapidly assess the thermal hazard based on collected data and selected molecular descriptors is also presented.
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UNION PACIFIC: 44 RAILCARS CARRYING ASPHALT DERAIL, SPILL SUBSTANCE INTO NORTHERN IOWA CREEK
https://www.kimt.com/news/iowa/union-pacific-44-railcars-carrying-asphalt-derail-spill-substance-into-northern-iowa-creek/article_cc9b369a-2d64-11ed-93fc-7b9f8e33f4e9.html
Tags: us_IA, transportation, release, response, asphalt
HAMPTON, Iowa - Union Pacific said Monday that 44 railcars carrying asphalt derailed and spilled into a creek in northern Iowa.
Union Pacific released the following statement regarding the derailment:
"At around 3:30 a.m., Monday, Sept. 5, approximately 44 cars on a Union Pacific train derailed on a bridge over a creek in Hampton, Iowa. The train was carrying mixed commodities, and as a result of the derailment, some asphalt spilled into the creek. Hazmat teams are on scene and emergency response activities are underway. The crew was not hurt, and the cause of the derailment remains under investigation."
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SYDNEY NEWS: RESIDENTS WARNED TO CHECK GAS HEATERS AFTER THREE PEOPLE TAKEN TO HOSPITAL IN SYDNEY'S WEST
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-06/tuesday-am-briefing-three-people-hospitalised-gas-leak-suspected/101407632
Tags: Australia, public, release, injury, carbon_monoxide
Three people have been taken to hospital after a gas leak at a house in Sydney's west.
Fire crews were called to the home in Rosehill, where they found three people who were extremely unwell, following reports of a gas leak just after 10pm last night.
A man and a woman in their 70s, and a man in his 50s suffered carbon monoxide poisoning and were carried from the home.
The cause of the gas leak is believed to have been a faulty heater.
New South Wales Fire and Rescue says people should check their heaters because carbon monoxide poisoning can be deadly.
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THUNDERSTORM BLAMED FOR CHEMICALS BLAZE AT CANNOCK INDUSTRIAL ESTATE NEAR HOMES
https://www.expressandstar.com/news/local-hubs/staffordshire/cannock/2022/09/05/explosions-heard-as-firefighters-tackle-cannock-fireworks-factory-blaze/
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, explosion, response, waste
Thunderstorms may be the cause of a huge blaze at a Cannock chemical waste transfer station which saw nearby homes evacuated.
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Tests are being carried out at Axil Integrated Services at Cannock Industrial Centre, in Walkmill Lane, Bridgtown, Cannock, after materials in the yard erupted into flames and smoke early on Monday.
The blaze was tackled by more than 40 firefighters, and residents living in nearby properties in Haling Way said they were evacuated from their homes by the emergency services shortly after 6.30am.
Several say they were woken up by popping noises which rapidly escalated into explosions resulting in about 100 aerosol cans landing in the street behind the fenced depot. At least one vehicle was struck and some cans were blown over rooftops into back gardens.
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NEIGHBORS OF SWIFT CREEK DISPLACED BY ASBESTOS
https://www.cascadiadaily.com/news/2022/sep/04/neighbors-of-swift-creek-displaced-by-asbestos/
Tags: us_WA, public, follow-up, environmental, asbestos
When last year’s catastrophic floods hit Whatcom, floodwaters and sediment from the Sumas River, which winds through her backyard, filled Brown's home. After the waters subsided, she discovered several feet of asbestos-laden sediment in her recently-renovated basement.
“We rebuilt the whole basement in 2020 — new drywall, appliances, cupboards and everything, so everything is just a year and a half old,” she said. “Everything has to come out now. We’re just pounding holes in the drywall, packing stuff out in double bags and figuring it out.”
The Sumas River is fed by Swift Creek, a sediment-filled creek in East Whatcom that has been transporting naturally occurring asbestos deposits across the region for decades. When November’s floods hit, that asbestos was transported across the county, ending up in yards and homes around Nooksack and Everson.
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HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO CHLORINE LEAK AT WATER TREATMENT FACILITY
https://www.wcia.com/news/hazmat-team-responds-to-chlorine-leak-at-water-treatment-facility/
Tags: us_IL, public, release, response, chlorine, water_treatment
WESTVILLE, Ill. (WCIA) – People in the village of Westville are now able to go back to their homes after having to evacuate becuase of a chemical leak.
Westville’s Assistant Fire Chief Mark Ames said Westville Gas & Water notified them of a chemical leak at their water treatment facility around 4:30 Sunday evening, and the fire department identified the leak as chlorine. They immediately worked to evacuate homes and vehicles around the area and advised anyone who didn’t want to leave to shelter in place.
That’s when they called in some help from the Danville Fire Department’s hazmat team and several other fire departments to help with evacuation and traffic control.
“There was a vapor cloud that was extending into the community based on the rain and the leak. Based on what the wind was doing, it was taking it south into the community and across Route 1. So we isolated those areas. It would be an inhalation issue,” Ames said.
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BREAKING: INK FACTORY UP IN FLAMES IN GUWAHATI'S PALASHBARI
https://www.pratidintime.com/guwahati-news-breaking-latest/breaking-ink-factory-up-in-flames-in-guwahatis-palashbari
Tags: India, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
A major fire broke out on Sunday at Hudumpur near Palashbari in the outskirts of Guwahati.
According to reports, the fire broke out at an ink manufacturing plant named Control Print.
As many as four fire tenders were rushed to the spot and after a long battle, they were able to bring the flames under control.
Meanwhile, the source of the fire has been identified as a chemical container. Flames erupted from the container and quickly spread to nearby areas, mentioned officials.
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DEVELOPMENT, VALIDATION, AND APPLICATION OF A CUSTOM-MADE MINI-REACTION CALORIMETER FOR THERMAL SAFETY SCREENING
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.oprd.2c00128
Tags: Switzerland, laboratory, discovery, environmental
Before scaling up to production, it is of high importance to evaluate the potential of a reaction to lead to an undesired thermal degradation event. The use of a large amount of compounds is usually required for a reliable calorimetry study. In this work, we report the development of a milliliter-scale reaction calorimeter for reaction screening applications. The setup was designed using laboratory equipment and characterized and validated with routine experiments. The results were sufficiently accurate enabling us to observe trends in the measured reaction enthalpies of a family of compounds reacting with strong bases as a function of the compounds' structures.. The use of the microscale tailor-made calorimeter is considered very valuable for potentially highly energetic reactions since reaction calorimetry studies can be performed accurately and safely with small amounts of valuable materials.
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