From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (9 articles)
Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2015 11:14:40 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, October 21, 2015 at 11:14:23 AM

A membership benefit of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
All article summaries and tags are archived at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__pinboard.in_u-3Adchas&d=BQIFaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=Qq6V68ECvOjZhym0rAlczJpYbewO9IffJ2acnP-T7fg&s=mxuxS9T52JxnAc2Q8NBoxOCswGj65yJt1w5F91GC44M&e=

Table of Contents (9 articles)

BLAST AT CHEMICAL FACTORY IN CHINA LEAVES 2 INJURED
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical

MAN CHARGED FOR METH LAB EXPLOSION AT BOZEMAN MOTEL
Tags: us_MT, public, explosion, injury, illegal, meth_lab

CORNELL CHEMISTRY CLUB EXPLODES PUMPKINS FOR SCIENCE EXPERIMENT
Tags: us_IA, education, explosion, response, acetylene, calcium_carbide, hydrogen_peroxide

SIGALERT: TRUCK FIRE CAUSES EXPLOSION AND CHEMICAL SPILL...
Tags: us_CA, transportation, explosion, response, freon

77 SANTEE SCHOOL STUDENTS TREATED IN CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, bleach

FIRE THAT SHUT DOWN US 95 CALLED HOT, POWERFUL
Tags: us_NV, industrial, fire, response, radiation, waste

SAFE HANDLING OF NANOMATERIALS AND OTHER ADVANCED MATERIALS IN WORKPLACES
Tags: Canada, industrial, discovery, environmental, nanotech

20 SALAD WORKERS HOSPITALIZED IN CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, injury, chlorine

PICRIC ACID FOUND AND SAFELY DETONATED AT JUNK DROP-OFF
Tags: us_MA, public, discovery, response, picric_acid, time-sensitive


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BLAST AT CHEMICAL FACTORY IN CHINA LEAVES 2 INJURED
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical

BEIJING ‰?? An early morning explosion at a chemical plant in east China‰??s Shandong Province on Wednesday injured two people.

State news agency Xinhua reported that nine people remain missing after the 8 a.m. (0000GMT) blast at a workshop in Linyi City, between Beijing and Shanghai.

The cause of the explosion ‰?? at Tianbao Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. ‰?? is under investigation, local authorities said.

The company is reported to manufacture explosive materials for civil use.

In recent months, concerns have been raised about how chemicals are handled and stored in the country following a series of similar blasts.

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MAN CHARGED FOR METH LAB EXPLOSION AT BOZEMAN MOTEL
Tags: us_MT, public, explosion, injury, illegal, meth_lab

A man has been charged in connection with a meth lab explosion at a Bozeman motel in June.

On Monday, the Gallatin County Attorney‰??s Office filed a felony charge of operation of an unlawful clandestine lab against Matthew Robert Bendz. An initial court appearance has not been scheduled. Bendz is not currently in custody.

According to charging documents:

On June 24, at about 7:45 p.m., an explosion was reported at the Royal 7 Hotel, 310 N. Seventh Ave. A woman told dispatch that a man at the scene was bleeding and needed an ambulance.

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CORNELL CHEMISTRY CLUB EXPLODES PUMPKINS FOR SCIENCE EXPERIMENT
Tags: us_IA, education, explosion, response, acetylene, calcium_carbide, hydrogen_peroxide

CEDAR RAPIDS ‰?? Pieces of pumpkin went flying into the air inside Thomas Commons at Cornell College Tuesday morning, grabbing the attention of students and faculty walking by.

That was the exact reaction the Cornell College Chemistry Club was looking for.

‰??I think if you tell people there‰??s going to be an explosion, people are going to come,‰?? Cornell College Chemistry Club president Bethany King said.

The club decided to celebrate National Chemistry Week by using a chemical reaction to explode pumpkins. King said the group used a combination of Hydrogen Peroxide, Calcium Carbide and water. She said that combination produces flammable acetylene gas and calcium hydroxide. After a minute, the group ignited the gas inside the pumpkin, causing a contained explosion.

King said securing faculty approval for the project wasn‰??t easy.

‰??I asked a lot of people on campus if I had permission to do it. I had to asks six people in our department, and then Cornell campus security.‰??

She said the group practiced with smaller explosions, eventually working their way up to the full explosion.

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

SIGALERT: TRUCK FIRE CAUSES EXPLOSION AND CHEMICAL SPILL...
Tags: us_CA, transportation, explosion, response, freon

CHP officials are in the process of reopening the southbound San Diego (405) Freeway at Harbor Boulevard after a commercial truck carrying hazardous materials caught fire, causing an explosion that spilled hazardous chemicals across the freeway.

The accident occurred just after 9:40 a.m. and closed all lanes of the freeway, backing up traffic for miles, said CHP Officer Denise Quesada.

‰??The truck was on fIre and was carrying a container of freon,‰?? said Quesada. ‰??Due to the fire, the container burst and spilled Freon all over the freeway, so we had to shut down most lanes.‰??

As of 11:30, crews began the process of reopening the freeway, but the number 5 lane will remain closed, added Quesada.

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

77 SANTEE SCHOOL STUDENTS TREATED IN CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, bleach

Seventy-seven children and four adults were treated on scene at triage tents set up near the athletic field. They were then taken to nearby hospitals as a precaution, according to Santee School District Superintendent Cathy A. Pierce, Ed.D.

Those transported were said to be in good condition, according to Santee Fire Chief Richard Mattick. The superintendent added that one child even returned to school after being discharged.

Early Tuesday or late Monday approximately 300 gallons of a bleach solution or sodium hypochlorite were spilled at the nearby YMCA, according to Dave Williams, Battalion Chief San Diego Fire Hazmat.
Workers used a chemical to try and neutralize it, which may have caused a vapor cloud, Williams said.

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

FIRE THAT SHUT DOWN US 95 CALLED HOT, POWERFUL
Tags: us_NV, industrial, fire, response, radiation, waste

Whatever caught fire Sunday in the state-owned radioactive waste dump at the US Ecology site near Beatty packed a powerful punch, Nevada's chief fire marshal said Tuesday.

"We don't know exactly what caught fire. We're not exactly sure what was burning in that pit," Fire Marshal Chief Peter Mulvihill said in a conference call with reporters.

He said in the early stages of the fire "there was some energetic burning" that blew a hole in the cover soil that caps trench No. 14, where low-level radioactive materials were buried in unlined, clay terrain in the 1970s.

Mulvihill added that investigators who were converging to begin their probe at the site Tuesday, about 10 miles south of Beatty and about 108 miles northwest of Las Vegas, don't know yet if an explosion occurred before the fire was reported to the Nevada Department of Public Safety and Emergency Management about 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

"There was something that definitely burned very hot," he said.

The state's public safety team decided to allow the fire to burn itself out instead of trying to douse it because they didn't want put water on any material that might be reactive to water else they could potentially exacerbate the problem.

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

SAFE HANDLING OF NANOMATERIALS AND OTHER ADVANCED MATERIALS IN WORKPLACES
Tags: Canada, industrial, discovery, environmental, nanotech

A rising number of companies, especially small and medium enterprises (SME), are active in the field of nanotechnology. For safe development of this industry, forethought of occupational safety and health considerations is important. This guideline on good working practice with nanomaterials addresses research institutions as well as SME industries. Four decision criteria are presented that support the reader in deriving the appropriate occupational safety measures in a comprehensible way. These occupational safety measures are tailored to the defined groups of nanomaterials and follow the precautionary approach. They comply with the priority list of the STOP principle: substitution, technical measures, organisational measures and personal protection measures.

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

20 SALAD WORKERS HOSPITALIZED IN CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, injury, chlorine

A toxic stew of chemicals spilled at a Taylor Farms processing plant last week, sending 20 workers to the hospital with symptoms ranging from nosebleeds to vomiting and fainting.

A worker called emergency services to report the Oct. 15 spill at the plant in Tracy, California.

When employees arrived at work, they reported ‰??a strong smell of chlorine,‰?? according to worker Guadalupe Leon, who was quoted in a release by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. But Leon‰??s crew leader told him to put on a mask and continue working, he claims. He said he later grew faint and went to the hospital.

The hospitalized patients included two pregnant women, according to the Teamsters, a group aiding the workers‰?? efforts to unionize since 2014.

Doug Bloch of Teamsters Council 7 says all of the workers returned to work the following day, except for one pregnant woman, who took unpaid leave.

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PICRIC ACID FOUND AND SAFELY DETONATED AT JUNK DROP-OFF
Tags: us_MA, public, discovery, response, picric_acid, time-sensitive

On Oct. 3 the Boston bomb squad safely detonated a chemical vial in Parking Lot D, after it was identified as the volatile picric acid during a hazardous waste drop-off event that the University of Massachusetts Boston hosts for the city.
An individual dropped off the picric acid with a couple other vials they found in their basement, materials previously owned by their father, who had been a doctor. Someone from UMass Boston‰??s Office of Environmental Health and Safety noticed the chemicals and was concerned about them being handled safely, so they alerted a Green Harbors chemist to investigate, says UMass Boston Director of Communications DeWayne Lehman.
One chemical was identified as the extremely volatile picric acid, which is so unstable that even taking off the lid could spark a reaction. Someone immediately called 911, and the bomb squad, Fire Department, and ambulances were dispatched to the university.

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