From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (10 articles)
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 08:14:43 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: 26D7AC50-377A-4EBF-A3E7-81448AB8217A**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, July 22, 2013 8:14:04 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 (10 articles)

ALLERGIES IN THE TIME OF RESEARCH
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental, other_chemical

STUDENTS AND STAFF EVACUATED AS SCIENCE BUILDING CATCHES FIRE AT MITCHELTON STATE HIGH SCHOOL
Tags: Australia, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical

CANADA ASSESSING 28 PHTHALATES
Tags: Canada, industrial, discovery, environmental

ALL CLEAR GIVEN IN COLUMBIA CITY AFTER CHEMICAL FIRE
Tags: us_IN, industrial, fire, injury, unknown_chemical

LETTER: NOT YOUR MOTHER?S CRUDE OIL
Tags: transportation, discovery, environmental, petroleum

HAZMAT PROMPTS EVACUATION IN PARKER
Tags: us_CO, public, release, response, oxygen

BUILDING EVACUATED; HAZMAT SITUATION
Tags: us_MI, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical

AMMONIUM LEAK BRINGS OUT HAZMAT TEAM
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, ammonia

CHEMICAL FIRE EXTINGUISHED AT PLANT IN COLUMBIA CITY
Tags: us_IN, industrial, fire, injury, sodium_hydrosulfite

THE CHANGING ORGANIZATION OF WORK AND THE SAFETY AND HEALTH OF WORKING PEOPLE (2002-116)
Tags: public, discovery, environmental


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ALLERGIES IN THE TIME OF RESEARCH
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/23/science/allergies-in-the-time-of-research.html?smid=tw-nytimesscience&seid=auto&_r=0#h[]
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental, other_chemical

Becoming allergic to your research may sound like a classic avoidance strategy ? like coming down with the flu (cough, cough) right before that big exam, or having to work (what a drag) on the weekend the in-laws come to visit. But it turns out to be a little-discussed but fairly common occupational hazard of science.

An estimated 15 to 20 percent of researchers who work with mice and rats, for instance, may eventually become allergic to the animals, said Dr. Karin A. Pacheco, an assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at National Jewish Health in Denver. The real number could be even higher, because some people who become allergic may never report it, valuing their job above their health or comfort, Dr. Pacheco said.

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STUDENTS AND STAFF EVACUATED AS SCIENCE BUILDING CATCHES FIRE AT MITCHELTON STATE HIGH SCHOOL
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/students-and-staff-evacuated-as-science-building-catches-fire-at-mitchelton-state-high-school/story-fnihsrf2-1226682960236
Tags: Australia, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical

HUNDREDS of Mitchelton State High School students have fled a fire in the school's science block.

Queensland Fire and Rescue crews raced to douse the flames, which damaged the multi-storey building on the corner of Dundal St about 8.30am Monday.

A staff member alerted administration as soon as the fire broke out in a storeroom of the science block.

QFRS Northern zone acting superintendent Bevan Moore said the fire was contained by 9.38am, but investigators would have to wait until the building, which contains asbestos building materials and potentially hazardous chemicals, had been made safe.

Mr Moore said firefighters knew there was the risk of an explosion if the flames spread to the next door science lab.

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CANADA ASSESSING 28 PHTHALATES
http://cen.acs.org/articles/91/i29/Canada-Assessing-28-Phthalates.html
Tags: Canada, industrial, discovery, environmental

Canada is requiring makers and importers of 28 phthalates and several types of products containing these chemicals to provide manufacture, use, and unpublished toxicity information. The agency Environment Canada will use the data as it assesses the compounds as a group and determines whether they need to be regulated. The agency will analyze aggregate exposure to and cumulative risk from the substances, which are thought to cause toxicity in a similar fashion. Assessing this group of related chemicals together ?may lead to informed substitution and less duplication of effort and avoid repeated product formulation changes over time,? Environment Canada said in a July 13 notice. The 28 phthalates are commonly used as plasticizers and in adhesives, sealants, paints, and coatings, as well as in plastic and rubber materials, according to the agency. The reporting requirements apply to an array of products containing these phthalates, including items intended for children under ag!
e six, clothing, footwear, vinyl or laminate flooring, and packaging that has direct contact with cosmetic or personal care products.

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ALL CLEAR GIVEN IN COLUMBIA CITY AFTER CHEMICAL FIRE
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/local/police-several-injured-after-chemical-fire-in-columbia-city
Tags: us_IN, industrial, fire, injury, unknown_chemical

COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. (WANE) - Columbia City residents are able to return to their homes, turn air conditioning back on and open windows after a chemical fire in the area prompted Emergency Management to take precautions.

Columbia City residents were asked to turn off air conditioners due to the chemical fire that started around 1 p.m. at C & R Plating. The all-clear was given around 3:40 p.m.
....
Columbia City Mayor Ryan Daniel told reporters in a briefing at Columbia City Hall that one employee was taken to a hospital for inhaling fumes. Several police and firefighters on the scene experienced burns due to chemical fumes in the air but did not directly come into contact with the chemical. The first responders were treated at decontamination stations Whitley County Emergency Management Agency set up.

Daniel said in all, about 75 homes, in an eight to ten block radius, were affected. Of that, approximately a couple dozen homes, and about a dozen businesses, were evacuated. The remaining home were told to remain inside.

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LETTER: NOT YOUR MOTHER?S CRUDE OIL
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/406664/group/Opinion/
Tags: transportation, discovery, environmental, petroleum

I am a fan of trains. It?s just that now there are few trains that move people. In Detroit Lakes, Minn., you can get a passenger train going east or west at 3 a.m. Not exactly convenient. One reason is that trains no longer move people: They move oil, gas and coal ? more than 1,000 cars a day through Detroit Lakes. Our town is about the same size as Lac-Megantic, Quebec, which suffered from a train derailment disaster on a train carrying fracked Bakken oil.

The disaster illustrates a set of policy, safety and unplanned growth challenges. According to World News NBC, ?Firefighters said the hot-white blaze left a scene of destruction like nothing they?d ever before encountered.? Bakken shale crude is unconventional in many respects. It is apparently more explosive. Why? We don?t know because there is not a full disclosure of contents. The area is now a crime scene, and officials deny site access. Whether a result of human error, bad decisions on braking, or questionable decisions on what we move so seamlessly on the railroad, life has changed for Lac-Megantic.

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HAZMAT PROMPTS EVACUATION IN PARKER
http://www.9news.com/news/local/article/345975/346/HAZMAT-prompts-evacuation-in-Parker
Tags: us_CO, public, release, response, oxygen

PARKER - An assisted living facility in Parker had to be evacuated Friday morning due to an oxygen tank leak.

HAZMAT crews were called to the Victorian House on Victorian Drive just before 10:30 a.m. on Friday.

Police and staff at the home helped about 25 residents get out safely. Then, HAZMAT crews went inside and removed the tank.

Crews were concerned that if the tank was to leak too much that a fire could spark, and fires fueled by oxygen spread quickly.

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

BUILDING EVACUATED; HAZMAT SITUATION
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/kent_county/building-evacuated-hazmat-situation
Tags: us_MI, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical

WALKER, Mich. (WOOD) - Emergency crews are responding to a hazmat situation at H.B. Fuller Company in Walker.

The Walker Fire Department got a call about a potential hazardous material situation around 11:15 a.m. Friday morning at the company, which is located at 2727 Kinney Avenue NW near 3 Mile Road.

According to Lt. Dean England with the Walker Fire Department, crews got to the scene to find a 3,000-pound pressurized container releasing a "chemical agent" into the air.

....
England told 24 Hour News 8 the chemical was a type of isocyanate. He did not have information as to what led to the hazmat situation and said only that there was "some kind of chemical reaction inside a batch."

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

AMMONIUM LEAK BRINGS OUT HAZMAT TEAM
http://www.recorderonline.com/articles/ammonium-57753-unfamiliar-leak.html
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, ammonia

Porterville saw a very unfamiliar sight Friday afternoon: the Visalia Fire Department?s hazardous materials team.


The special unit was called out to Rio Grande Cold Storage at 2450 S. Main St. in response to a slow ammonia leak coming from a compressor in the north end of the building. Rio Grande stores mostly grapes.


A worker at the facility said they had just filled up their ammonia tank in preparation for the grape harvest that will begin in the next few weeks. Other than a few maintenance workers, there were not any packers or others in the cold storage facility. Ammonia is used in refrigeration.

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CHEMICAL FIRE EXTINGUISHED AT PLANT IN COLUMBIA CITY
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130720/LOCAL/307209989
Tags: us_IN, industrial, fire, injury, sodium_hydrosulfite

The chemical fire started about 1 p.m., and it prompted officials to ask residents six blocks to the north to shut their windows and turn off their air conditioners during a blistering summer day.

Later, emergency officials evacuated eight blocks? worth of homes and businesses around the nearby Chauncey and Line streets areas.

At first, methods to put out the fire failed, Columbia City Mayor Ryan Daniel said.

After firefighters determined the chemical they were dealing with was sodium hydrosulfite-F, they changed their strategy and were able to extinguish the fire about 2:45 p.m., the mayor said.

An employee with the company was taken to a hospital after inhaling fumes and several firefighters and police officers were treated for a burning sensation on their skin. All those who were affected by the chemical were treated and released, the mayor said.

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THE CHANGING ORGANIZATION OF WORK AND THE SAFETY AND HEALTH OF WORKING PEOPLE (2002-116)
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2002-116/
Tags: public, discovery, environmental

Revolutionary changes in the organization of work have far outpaced our knowledge about the implications of these changes for the quality of working life and for safety and health on the job. This gap in knowledge is one of the 21 priority areas for research under the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA)?a framework crafted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and its partners to guide research into the next decade. This report was developed under NORA as the first attempt to develop a comprehensive research agenda for investigating and reducing occupational safety and health risks associated with the changing organization of work. Research and development needs identified in the agenda include (1) improved surveillance mechanisms to better track how the organization of work is changing, (2) accelerated research on safety and health implications of the changing organization of work, (3) increased research focus on organizational interv!
entions to protect safety and health, and (4) steps to formalize and nurture organization of work as a distinctive field in occupational safety and health.

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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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