From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (12 articles)
Date: June 12, 2013 8:19:28 AM EDT
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: <F43AC835-4B69-4FBD-A082-B2220E09486E**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org>

Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, June 12, 2013 5:18:59 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 (12 articles)

HOTEL ROOM DEATHS RAISE CARBON MONOXIDE CONCERNS
Tags: us_NC, public, release, death, carbon_monoxide

FUMES AT PRODUCE PLANT NEAR MODESTO SEND WORKERS TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, injury, ammonia, bleach, citric_acid, waste

EMPLOYEES EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK IN FALLS
Tags: us_NY, industrial, release, injury, chlorine, titanium_tetrachloride

FIRE AT MOUNT OGDEN JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL QUICKLY DOUSED
Tags: us_UT, education, fire, response, flammables

FIRE AT KOVILPATTI MATCH FACTORY CLAIMS FOUR LIVES
Tags: India, industrial, fire, death, flammables

HAZMAT LEAK CAUSES EVACUATIONS, ROAD CLOSURES
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, ammonia

SCIENCE JOURNALISM AND TELLING THE STORY
Tags: public, discovery, environmental

UPDATED: BETHESDA MARRIOTT EVACUATED AFTER POOL CHEMICAL INCIDENT
Tags: us_MD, public, release, injury, pool_chemicals

THREE JUVENILES ARRESTED, ACCUSED OF SETTING OFF CHEMICAL BOMB
Tags: us_KS, public, explosion, response, bomb

MAN ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH MACHESNEY PARK EXPLOSION
Tags: us_IL, public, explosion, response, butane, drugs

STUDY TO EXAMINE ACADEMIC LAB-SAFETY CULTURE
Tags: laboratory, follow-up, response

MACHESNEY PARK MAN ARRESTED AFTER HOUSE EXPLOSION
Tags: us_IL, public, explosion, response, drugs


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HOTEL ROOM DEATHS RAISE CARBON MONOXIDE CONCERNS
http://myfox8.com/2013/06/11/hotel-room-deaths-raise-carbon-monoxide-concerns/
Tags: us_NC, public, release, death, carbon_monoxide

GREENSBORO, N.C. Ñ While many families are packing for their summer vacations, they will probably forget one thing-a travel carbon monoxide detector.
Linda Dozier with Lowe's Home Improvement in Greensboro says the devices' popularity has increased significantly, after an 11-year-old boy was found dead inside a Boone hotel Saturday of carbon monoxide poisoning.
"People really don't think about that. Most people know that there is supposed to be a smoke alarm within the bedrooms, but they don't think about the different gases," Dozier said.
North Carolina law requires carbon monoxide detectors in apartments and townhouses, however they're not required in vacation homes and hotels.
Jim Johnston, with Greensboro Hazmat, says they respond to at least 20 carbon monoxide poisoning calls a month.
Johnston thinks carbon monoxide detectors should be every hotel

---------------------------------------------

FUMES AT PRODUCE PLANT NEAR MODESTO SEND WORKERS TO HOSPITAL
http://www.modbee.com/2013/06/11/2758574/fumes-at-produce-plant-near-modesto.html
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, injury, ammonia, bleach, citric_acid, waste

MODESTO -- Two employees at a Modesto-area produce processing facility and farm were hospitalized and a hazmat team was called Tuesday after exposure to a dangerous mix of chemicals.
While cleaning at Ratto Brothers on Beckwith Road about 9:30 a.m., the workers mixed ammonia and bleach, which causes toxic fumes.
Modesto Regional Fire Authority Battalion Chief Hugo Patino said both employees suffered breathing difficulties and were taken to the hospital.
The hazmat team was called because the chemical mixture was foaming, and the tub it was in had pressurized, Patino said. Firefighters entered the facility in rubber suits and masks and determined that the mixture was reacting that way because of citric acid residue in the container.
Patino said beyond the fumes it caused, the mixture was safe enough for disposal by the business.

---------------------------------------------

EMPLOYEES EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK IN FALLS
http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130611/CITYANDREGION/130619864/1003
Tags: us_NY, industrial, release, injury, chlorine, titanium_tetrachloride

NIAGARA FALLS - City police and firefighters responded to a chlorine leak just before 9:30 a.m. today at Tier Holding, a facility that uses caustic materials to clean and scrubs tank cars for chemical companies.

According to the Niagara Falls Fire Department a plume of smoke, later identified as the chemical titanium tetrachloride, was released into the air, affecting some employees on the site at 33 South Hyde Park Boulevard. Both Tier Holding and nearby businesses were temporarily evacuated.

The caustic material used for scrubbing had reportedly reacted with a chemical in the tank causing the titanium tetrachloride to be released. The release was identified as a "small leak" that did not register on monitoring meters, according to the Niagara Falls Fire Department, and the site was determined to be under control at 9:47 a.m.

About 10 employees took their own vehicles to a local hospital to be checked

---------------------------------------------

FIRE AT MOUNT OGDEN JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL QUICKLY DOUSED
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/56443804-78/fire-ogden-bauman-blaze.html.csp
Tags: us_UT, education, fire, response, flammables

Ogden firefighters quickly doused a fire late Tuesday morning at the Mount Ogden Junior High School. No injuries were reported.

Deputy Fire Chief Eric Bauman said the blaze was called in about 10 a.m. at 3260 Harrison Boulevard, where construction crews had been using a floor stripping chemical. An electrical cord suddenly sparked, igniting the flammable agent.

By 10:45 a.m., the blaze had been extinguished and crews were using fans to clear smoke from the scene.

---------------------------------------------

FIRE AT KOVILPATTI MATCH FACTORY CLAIMS FOUR LIVES
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/fire-at-kovilpatti-match-factory-claims-four-lives/article4804532.ece
Tags: India, industrial, fire, death, flammables

A fire in a match factory at North Thittankulam in Kovilpatti on Tuesday claimed the lives of four women. The blaze started at 1.40 p.m. and raged for more than half an hour.

Kovilpatti Revenue Divisional Officer T. Kathiresan, who rushed to the site, said the women were engaged in unloading chemical-dipped splints from a container.

They were shifting the material to a vehicle parked close to the container Ñ which was also burnt completely Ñ to transport it to match manufacturing units.

After an enquiry, the RDO said the accident occurred due to mishandling of the inflammable material.

---------------------------------------------

HAZMAT LEAK CAUSES EVACUATIONS, ROAD CLOSURES
http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/HAZMAT-leak-has-roads-shut-down-evacuations-210897661.html
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, ammonia

BUTTONWILLOW, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) -- A leak at a local facility had to be shut down by a hazmat team and caused evecuations around a one-block area.

At about 12:30 p.m. Monday, the Buttonwillow Warehouse reported a anhydrous ammonia leak at the facility on Highway 58.

Kern County Fire was told the company was transferring product from a 30,000 gallon tank to a smaller tank when the leak developed.

Officials said the company shut off a valve, hoping that the leak would eventually stop.

---------------------------------------------

SCIENCE JOURNALISM AND TELLING THE STORY
http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/science-journalism/
Tags: public, discovery, environmental

It seems to me that many journalists don't even think about the narrative - it just emerges as a default story format. Start with a human interest angle to draw in the reader, then just report what both sides are saying, be sure to include plenty of anecdotes, and then end on a hopeful note.
What many non-science journalists don't seem to get is that this is not a proper narrative for a science story. Further - all journalists need to decide what their narrative is before writing the story (although hopefully after they have researched it - often journalists decide on their narrative first then just backfill the facts and anecdotes).
Here are some other narratives that journalists covering science stories might consider:
- The allure and harm of false hope, and the exploitation of false hope by dubious practitioners and companies.
- A cautionary tale about getting excited prematurely by some newfangled treatment before it is adequately tested, given that most new treatments do not pan out.
- Is new and high tech always better - does this machine that costs tens of thousands of dollars work better than a $20 device that has a similar function?

---------------------------------------------

UPDATED: BETHESDA MARRIOTT EVACUATED AFTER POOL CHEMICAL INCIDENT
http://www.bethesdanow.com/2013/06/10/bethesda-marriott-evacuated-after-pool-chlorine-incident/
Tags: us_MD, public, release, injury, pool_chemicals

Update 12:40 p.m. Pool cleaning chemicals caused the evacuation of the Bethesda Marriott (5151 Pooks Hill Rd.) this morning and sent one person to the hospital for evaluation, according to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services.

MCFRS personnel responded to a call for a chemical odor at the hotel just after 11 a.m., according to spokesperson Beth Anne Nesselt.
They determined the odor came from a pool cleaning crew that was using chemicals to treat the enclosed pool area in the hotel. There was no spill and hazmat units that were called to the scene were put back into service before reaching the incident.

---------------------------------------------

THREE JUVENILES ARRESTED, ACCUSED OF SETTING OFF CHEMICAL BOMB
http://www.kwch.com/news/kwch-jab-three-juveniles-arrested-accused-of-setting-off-chemical-bomb-20130610,0,5524915.story
Tags: us_KS, public, explosion, response, bomb

(WICHITA, Kan.)Ñ Three juveniles (two 14-year-olds and a 12-year-old) are in custody accused of setting off a chemical bomb early Sunday morning.
Police say officers on routine patrol saw several people running from the area of 21st and West Street at around 4:00 Sunday morning. At first, officers thought they'd stumbled on a burglary in that area.

They caught up with the three youngsters. At that point, they heard an explosion. They thought it was a handgun going off, but one of the boys stated that it was actually a chemical bomb that they'd set up in a nearby mailbox.

The WPD's Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit was called in to render the area safe.

While the boys were being interviewed, they stated they learned how to make the bomb by watching a YouTube video.

---------------------------------------------

MAN ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH MACHESNEY PARK EXPLOSION
http://www.rrstar.com/updates/x460062875/Man-arrested-in-connection-with-Machesney-Park-explosion#axzz2VuvQ1Mbn
Tags: us_IL, public, explosion, response, butane, drugs

MACHESNEY PARK Ñ A Machesney Park man is under arrest after police say his attempt to create a more potent drug from marijuana ended in spectacular failure Sunday.

Winnebago County Sheriff's Police investigators say Dustin J. McIntire, 31, is charged with possession with intent to deliver more than 30 grams of marijuana and possession of ammunition without a firearm owner's identification card.

McIntire is suspected in an explosion at his 738 Wood Ave. home Sunday morning while he allegedly attempted to extract a resin from marijuana using butane.

Sgt. Larry Marino said McIntire placed the materials in his freezer where a chemical reaction resulted in an explosion that destroyed the appliance, blew out the windows of the home and endangered the neighborhood.

"This is new to us for sure," Marino said. "This is nothing we have come across. It could have been a lot worse than it was."

Marino said investigators are researching the process they believe McIntire was using to try to manufacture hashish, also known as "hash oil."

---------------------------------------------

STUDY TO EXAMINE ACADEMIC LAB-SAFETY CULTURE
http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2013_06_05/caredit.a1300120
Tags: laboratory, follow-up, response

Recent weeks have seen a pair of developments that could focus and intensify the national discussion of academic lab safety. On 9 May, after many delays, University of California, Los Angeles, professor Patrick Harran was arraigned on felony charges arising from the 2009 death of lab assistant Sheri Sangji. A judge entered four not guilty pleas on Harran's behalf, setting the stage for the first-ever trial of a university lab chief on criminal safety charges. The judge is expected to decide in late June when the trial will begin.

---------------------------------------------

MACHESNEY PARK MAN ARRESTED AFTER HOUSE EXPLOSION
http://www.wifr.com/news/headlines/House-Explosion-210779601.html
Tags: us_IL, public, explosion, response, drugs

MACHESNEY PARK (WIFR) -- A local man has been taken into custody following an explosion, which knocked the refrigerator door onto the front lawn.

Police say the blast occurred in the 700 block of Wood Avenue of Machesney Park around noon on Sunday.

Winnebago County Sheriff's deputies say three men were also taken in for questioning after a chemical used to make a type of marijuana was found in the fridge where the explosion happened.

"It sounded like a bomb," a neighbor said. "There wasn't smoke or nothing, but it sounded like a small bomb went off."

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Ralph Stuart
secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Secretary
Division of Chemical Health and Safety
American Chemical Society

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