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: Mon, 30 May 2016 09:30:16 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, May 30, 2016 at 9:30:06 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=DQIFaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=2NEJTsIGebeEDoAzRA8WSY600WrAQLuvM21r-jncip0&s=IIaojcPXu1EA7-OG72vK25Ber0CyUNE7vSpID0pHAPM&e=

Table of Contents (9 articles)

HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO SPILLED MERCURY IN ENGLISH BAY
Tags: Canada, industrial, release, response, mercury

CHEMICAL SCARE AT PORTOBELLO BEACH
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, discovery, response, unknown_chemical

DOMBIVLI FACTORY WAS FOUND FLOUTING SAFETY RULES IN FEB
Tags: India, industrial, follow-up, death, unknown_chemical

SPRINKLER SYSTEM SNUFFS BULK OF FIRE AT NORTHWEST CHAMPAIGN BUSINESS
Tags: us_IL, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical

GOVT TO RELOCATE CHEMICAL FACTORIES?
Tags: India, industrial, discovery, environmental

THAT 'CHEMICAL SMELL' AT THE POOL ISN"T WHAT YOU THINK IT IS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, pool_chemicals

8 AUTOMAKERS RECALL OVER 12M VEHICLES FOR TAKATA AIR BAGS
Tags: us, transportation, discovery, environmental

THANE BLAST: DEATH TOLL REACHES 10, FACTORY OWNERS BOOKED FOR CULPABLE HOMICIDE
Tags: india, explosion, industrial, follow-up, unknown_chemical

SOUTHINGTON SCHOOL EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_ct, education, release, response, other_chemical


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HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO SPILLED MERCURY IN ENGLISH BAY
Tags: Canada, industrial, release, response, mercury

Vancouver Fire and Rescue services says it deployed a hazardous waste team on Sunday to contain and deal with a spill of mercury at English Bay near Beach Avenue and Burnaby Street.


Peter Bridge, a battalion chief with VFRS says a passerby, who described himself as a chemist saw the chemical element in between two planters and scattered on the roof of the restroom building.

"It was probably brought in by persons unknown at this time, dropped it. It could have been in many things," said Bridge. "Mercury in that amount, I have no idea where they would get it. Mercury comes in thermometers, that would be about 100 thermometers on the ground."


Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services says a passerby alerted crews to spilled mercury near English Bay beach in Vancouver on May 29, 2016. (Tina Lovgreen/CBC)

Bridge says officials from the province's Ministry of Environment will assess the mercury to determine how to clean it up and what its environmental impact is, if any.

According to Health Canada, mercury is used in, and released from some industrial processes and commercial products. People exposed to elevated levels of it may experience health problems ranging from rashes to birth defects, even death in cases of extreme poisoning.

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CHEMICAL SCARE AT PORTOBELLO BEACH
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, discovery, response, unknown_chemical

Three fire engines and two decontamination units were called to Portobello beach " to dispose of a container of detergent.

A canister labelled "toxic content" was discovered by a dog walker just before 9.30am on Saturday morning, and police were called.

A cordon was set up around the container as a precaution until experts ruled that it wasn"t dangerous.

There was no spillage and no risk to the environment.

Council workers later visited the beach and disposed of the detergent.

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DOMBIVLI FACTORY WAS FOUND FLOUTING SAFETY RULES IN FEB
Tags: India, industrial, follow-up, death, unknown_chemical

KALYAN: A recent inspection had found that the Dombivli MIDC company, Probace, where an explosion took place on Thursday, killing 12 people and injuring 201, had violated safety norms. The factory inspector, who is responsible for ensuring that safety norms are followed by industrial units in Dombivli MIDC area, had in February conducted an examination at Probace and found some violations. The inspector had suggested some measures to the company authorities. Officials from the directorate of safety and health department, which conducted the examination, claimed that the company had implemented the suggested measures. Nitin Gajpure, assistant director of safety and health department, said, "The suggestions were given to the factory after an examination and they had been adopted." The investigation agencies, meanwhile, are yet to ascertain the cause behind explosion.

"All those who were inside the unit at the time of incident have died. Only a helper, Mangesh Mankar, has survived and he does not know about the technical things inside the factory," said S Deshmukh, inspector from Manpda police station. "We are yet to record the statement of the factory's owner as he is in trauma following the death of three of his family members in the incident. He can tell us what kind of chemical processes were undertaken at the factory," added Deshmukh. Twenty residents of buildings near the explosion site have alleged that their houses were broken into while they had vacated the premises for three days following an alert sounded by the rescue team after the incident. Locals are planning to protest against chemical units in the area and ask the state government to shift them out. Activist Raju Nalavade said, "Now, it is enough.

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SPRINKLER SYSTEM SNUFFS BULK OF FIRE AT NORTHWEST CHAMPAIGN BUSINESS
Tags: us_IL, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical

CHAMPAIGN - Champaign firefighters are trying to determine what caused a fire at a northwest Champaign business Saturday evening.

A release from the Champaign Fire Department said firefighters were called to Epiworks, 1606 Rion Drive at 5:46 p.m. They found a small fire in a laboratory clean room. No one was injured.

Fire Marshal Randy Smith said the fire was contained by a sprinkler system and firefirefighters used extinguishers to put out the remaining fire.

Rion Drive was closed while about 25 firefighters responded with 11 pieces of equipment.

The fire was out by 6:45 p.m. and there were no injuries.

A damage estimate is unavailable and the cause remains under investigation.

The company's web site says it makes semiconductors.

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GOVT TO RELOCATE CHEMICAL FACTORIES?
Tags: India, industrial, discovery, environmental

MUMBAI: The blast in a chemical factory in Dombivli on Thursday has once again brought the focus back on the need to shift these industries out of residential areas. Soon after the blast in which 11 were killed and more than 150 injured, industries minister Subhash Desai announced that steps will be taken to avoid similar tragedies in future.
While the state government plans to frame a new policy to shift these industries out of the city limits, urban planners said this will not be easy.
"The plan looks possible on paper but is not easy to implement. Before relocating these industries, the government will have to check if the new location is suitable to them and also if the new location is accessible to the workers. In addition, it will have to provide infrastructure such as power and water in the new area," a former planner with City and Industrial Corporation (Cidco), who did not wish to be named, said.
Satish Deshmukh, who was employed with a chemical manufacturing company, said rules were not followed by either by the chemical factories or the civic authorities to ensure that the area surrounding the industries are not populated. "According to rules, there should not have been residential development in at least one-km radius of the chemical companies in Trans Thane Creek (TTC) industrial belt. As there were no checks, ancillary companies and labourers" camps, residential buildings mushroomed in the area. We have seen except very few companies, which are giants in the business, no company took safety measures seriously," said Deshmukh.

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THAT 'CHEMICAL SMELL' AT THE POOL ISN"T WHAT YOU THINK IT IS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, pool_chemicals

WASHINGTON " If your eyes are red and burning after swimming this weekend in your neighborhood pool, it"s not because there"s too much chlorine in the water " it"s too much pee.

Yes, that"s kind of gross but the Centers for Disease Control says what happens is when pee, poop, sweat and dirt mix with the chlorine, two things happen " the chlorine gets used up and a heavy chemical "chlorine" smell is produced.

Most people think it"s too much chlorine in the water but in reality, it"s too little chlorine. The solution is closer monitoring of pool chemical levels and you can help by showering before swimming and by taking little swimmers on regular bathroom breaks.

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8 AUTOMAKERS RECALL OVER 12M VEHICLES FOR TAKATA AIR BAGS
Tags: us, transportation, discovery, environmental

DETROIT -- Eight automakers are recalling more than 12 million vehicles in the U.S. to replace Takata air bag inflators that can explode with too much force.

Documents detailing recalls by Honda, Fiat Chrysler, Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, Ferrari and Mitsubishi were posted Friday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

They're part of a massive expansion of Takata air bag recalls announced earlier this month. Seventeen automakers are adding 35 million-to-40 million inflators to what already was the largest auto recall in U.S. history.

In addition, the Japanese transport ministry on Friday announced 7 million additional recalls related to the Takata inflators. Those recalls cover all front air bags that do not have a chemical drying agent.

Friday's recalls include passenger air bags mainly in older models in areas along the Gulf Coast with high heat and humidity.

Takata uses the chemical ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion that inflates the air bags in a crash. But the chemical can deteriorate over time when exposed to high heat and humidity and burn faster than designed. That can blow apart a metal canister designed to contain the explosion, spewing hot shrapnel into vehicles.

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THANE BLAST: DEATH TOLL REACHES 10, FACTORY OWNERS BOOKED FOR CULPABLE HOMICIDE
Tags: india, explosion, industrial, follow-up, unknown_chemical

THANE, Maharashtra " The toll in the boiler blast in a chemicals factory here rose to 10 May 27, and charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder were slapped on the owners, a police official said.

While Vishwas Wakatkar, a family member of the owners of the Probace Enterprises, was injured and is recovering in a hospital, bodies of three other relatives " Nandu Wakatkar, Sumit Wakatkar, and Sneha Wakatkar " were recovered from the debris.

More than 150 other injured are undergoing treatment in various hospitals for which the state government will foot the bills.

A probe has been ordered to ascertain whether the company had followed or violated norms of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation in whose area the factory is located.

Meanwhile, the Thane police slapped charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the owners of Probace Enterprises, Dombivali, a police official said.

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SOUTHINGTON SCHOOL EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_ct, education, release, response, other_chemical

SOUTHINGTON " John F. Kennedy Middle School was evacuated early Friday morning after about 100 gallons of glycol spilled.

School Superintendent Tim Connellan said the leak came from the school"s HVAC system and that the glycol cooling liquid is non-toxic.

From this section:
Hartford Healthcare official reiterates commitment to Southington"s Bradley Hospital
Students were evacuated and instructed to wait outside in a parking lot of the school, located at 1071 S. Main St.

They were allowed to re-enter the building at about 8 a.m.

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