Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, November 11, 2022 at 7:14:07 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 (8 articles)
PLYMOUTH PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT RESPONDS TO HAZARDOUS MATERIALS LEAK
Tags: us_MN, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
TANKER LEAKS LIQUID NITROGEN AFTER CRASH ON LANCASTER, CHESTER COUNTY LINE
Tags: us_PA, transportation, release, response, liquid_nitrogen
CALIFORNIA FILES MAJOR LAWSUIT TO CLEAN UP CHEMICALS IT CALLS “TOXIC AND HARMFUL TO HUMAN HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT” – CHICO ENTERPRISE-RECORD
Tags: us_CA, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
ROE HIGHWAY: MOTORISTS URGED TO WASH CARS AFTER FORRESTFIELD CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: Australia, transportation, release, response, hydrochloric_acid, nitric_acid, sodium_hydroxide
‘HAZMAT INCIDENT’ ON US-2 BETWEEN MALTA AND GLASGOW INVOLVES SEMI HAULING EXPLOSIVE MATERIAL
Tags: us_MT, transportation, discovery, response, explosives
US 90 REOPENED IN BROUSSARD FOLLOWING HAZMAT INCIDENT
Tags: us_LA, industrial, fire, response, corrosives
POLYMER CHEMISTRY POISED TO MAKE PLASTIC WASTE TRACEABLE
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental, plastics, waste
9 OUT OF 10 SCIENTISTS HATE THEIR LAB COAT
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, discovery, environmental
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PLYMOUTH PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT RESPONDS TO HAZARDOUS MATERIALS LEAK
https://www.hometownsource.com/sun_sailor/free/plymouth-public-safety-department-responds-to-hazardous-materials-leak/article_04c86cee-6132-11ed-a568-0398db9501d0.html
Tags: us_MN, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
At approximately 11 a.m. on Nov. 3, the Plymouth Public Safety Department was called to a business at the 14900 block of 28th Avenue for a hazardous materials leak.
There were no injuries, and the leak was contained to the building. The Plymouth Fire Department was on scene investigating the cause of the leak.
There was no danger to the public, but the city asked people to avoid the area at the time to allow crews to continue with the investigation.
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TANKER LEAKS LIQUID NITROGEN AFTER CRASH ON LANCASTER, CHESTER COUNTY LINE
https://www.wgal.com/article/tanker-truck-crash-liquid-nitrogen-leak-chester-county-pennsylvania/41934254
Tags: us_PA, transportation, release, response, liquid_nitrogen
A tanker truck crashed on the Chester, Lancaster county line Thursday night.
The tanker collided with a sedan at the intersection of Route 41 and Lower Valley Road near Atglen Borough at 8:42 p.m.
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The tanker was carrying liquid nitrogen, which started to leak.
Hazmat crews were called in and Route 41 was shut down.
Crews have since cleared the scene and Route 41 is back open.
No injuries were reported in the crash.
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CALIFORNIA FILES MAJOR LAWSUIT TO CLEAN UP CHEMICALS IT CALLS “TOXIC AND HARMFUL TO HUMAN HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT” – CHICO ENTERPRISE-RECORD
https://www.chicoer.com/2022/11/10/california-files-major-lawsuit-to-clean-up-chemicals-it-calls-toxic-and-harmful-to-human-health-and-the-environment/
Tags: us_CA, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Thursday filed a lawsuit against 3M, DuPont and 16 other chemical companies, saying a class of substances they have made for decades known as “forever chemicals” are responsible for widespread pollution and public health risk.
Bonta, who filed the lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court, said the companies are liable for “hundreds of millions of dollars” in penalties and cleanup costs across California for continuing to make the chemicals while knowing of their danger yet concealing it. California joins a number of states in taking action against the chemicals, which are not currently regulated by the federal government.
“For decades manufacturers were aware of the toxicity of these chemicals, persistence and prevalence in humans,” Bonta said at a news conference on the San Francisco waterfront. “But they chose to deliberately mislead the government and the public.”
The synthetic chemicals — known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS — are used in thousands of products.
In some studies, they have been linked to increased risk of high blood pressure in pregnant women, developmental delays in children, including low birth weight, and the increased risk of some cancers, including prostate, breast, kidney and testicular cancers. They also have been shown to reduce the immune system’s ability to fight off infections.
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ROE HIGHWAY: MOTORISTS URGED TO WASH CARS AFTER FORRESTFIELD CHEMICAL SPILL
https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/disaster-and-emergency/roe-highway-motorists-urged-to-wash-cars-after-forrestfield-chemical-spill--c-8818700
Tags: Australia, transportation, release, response, hydrochloric_acid, nitric_acid, sodium_hydroxide
Motorists who drove on Roe Highway in Forrestfield on Thursday morning are being urged to wash their cars immediately after a truck rolled and caused a chemical spill.
The truck flipped on Roe Highway between Tonkin Highway and Orrong Road/Welshpool Road East resulting in a chemical spill about 10.40am.
People who drove south-bound on the highway between 10.40am and 11am are now being urged by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services to wash their cars with water as soon as possible.
The truck was carrying drums filled with sodium hydroxide, hydrochloric acid and nitric acid.
“Crews have neutralised the spilled product. Any remaining product will be diluted with water which will be retained and removed from the area,” DFES said.
“There will only be small amounts on your vehicle and the advice is to wash your car with water.
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‘HAZMAT INCIDENT’ ON US-2 BETWEEN MALTA AND GLASGOW INVOLVES SEMI HAULING EXPLOSIVE MATERIAL
https://www.fairfieldsuntimes.com/news/state/hazmat-incident-on-us-2-between-malta-and-glasgow-involves-semi-hauling-explosive-material/article_87710b50-dd1e-5fc1-88f3-e9d3bcafff54.html
Tags: us_MT, transportation, discovery, response, explosives
GLASGOW, Mont. - A hazmat incident has traffic on US-2 being diverted.
Valley County Dispatch reports a semi hauling explosive material was involved in an accident in the area.
The Montana Department of Transportation reported the incident just before 6:00 pm Wednesday.
The incident is reported at mile marker 503 to mile marker 505, between Malta and Glasgow.
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US 90 REOPENED IN BROUSSARD FOLLOWING HAZMAT INCIDENT
https://www.katc.com/news/lafayette-parish/hwy-90-closed-in-broussard-due-to-vehicle-fire
Tags: us_LA, industrial, fire, response, corrosives
Shortly before noon, Broussard Fire Department was dispatched to a business in the 5400 block of U.S. Highway 90 for a report of a commercial fire. Upon arrival, Broussard units observed
smoke emitting from a chemical tote containing corrosive material on the property of a business, according to a spokesperson for the City of Broussard. The initial fire had been extinguished by occupants onsite prior to arrival of the Broussard Fire Department.
Lafayette Fire Department Hazardous Material Team was requested to assist. While on scene, a second tote on the property containing the same material began emitting smoke and caught fire. All fire has been extinguished at this time. Haz-Mat crews are working to stabilize the corrosive materials involved in the incident, the spokesperson stated.
U.S. 90 was shut down in both directions — eastbound at Hwy. 182 and westbound at Ambassador Caffery Parkway — and remained shut down until hazards were no longer present. Estimated time of shut down was three hours.
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POLYMER CHEMISTRY POISED TO MAKE PLASTIC WASTE TRACEABLE
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/polymer-chemistry-poised-to-make-plastic-waste-traceable/4016518.article
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental, plastics, waste
Earlier this year, over 190 nations agreed to negotiate a legally binding treaty to address plastic pollution, energising efforts by governments, industry and international institutions to improve plastic recycling rates. The lack of a recognised system for tracing the origin of plastic products is part of the challenge of managing plastic waste. Now, researchers across social and chemical sciences have collaborated to highlight technologies that can associate plastic with its original manufacturer and how such technologies will reach their full potential when incorporated in governance frameworks for combatting plastic pollution.
‘If plastics are traceable in a simple fashion, legislators will, in principle, be able to put responsibility back onto the initial producer or indeed any actor in the downstream usage chain,’ says Christopher Barner-Kowollik from Queensland University of Technology in Australia, who led the collaboration. ‘Placing responsibility on producers and other actors will allow legislators to make them responsible for the pollution their products cause, akin to other end-of-life take-back schemes.’
Barner-Kowollik and colleagues propose that regulating plastics with chemical labels based on sequence-defined polymers is one way to resolve the anonymity of plastics traceability. For example, sequence-defined polymers can identify the type of plastic, as well as additives used in its manufacturing process. Sequence-defined polymers can also document what percentage of recycled plastic was incorporated into a product. Regulators could therefore use such information to assess the effectiveness of design standards and to ensure those standards meet mandatory policies set out by legislators such as the EU.
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9 OUT OF 10 SCIENTISTS HATE THEIR LAB COAT
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/9-out-of-10-scientists-hate-their-lab-coat/4016514.article
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, discovery, environmental
An informal survey of 1000 chemists and life scientists has shown that most dislike their lab coats – not enough pockets, no choice of colour, inconvenient open cuffs and, most of all, terrible fit. Respondents to the survey conducted by Genius Lab Gear were unhappy about the length of their coats’ sleeves, the shoulders being too wide or too narrow and the overall shape too boxy to fit anyone who isn’t a perfect cylinder. The company is now working to address these complaints with their lab coat, which will likely be available for purchase in August 2023.
The project was born out of Genius Lab Gear founder Derek Miller’s frustration with his own lab coat. The former materials scientist remembers the coat’s pockets being too big to securely hold a phone or tweezers, the sleeves being so wide that they knocked over glassware and the collar too low to feel protected from spills. He recently put out a survey on social media that was answered by around 1000 undergraduates, PhD and postdoctoral researchers, technicians and research assistants working mostly in chemistry or biology.
‘People were really fired up about [the topic],’ Miller says. ‘I was not prepared for how emotional people got about the problem. [It] gets down to mental health, self-esteem, not feeling safe, not feeling good, not even wanting to go into the lab at all because they have to wear [this lab coat] and it’s just uncomfortable for them the whole day.’
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