From: Ralph Stuart <rstuartcih**At_Symbol_Here**me.com>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (13 articles)
Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2016 06:35:28 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: 158F23F8-31BA-4F9D-8567-EDE0BD50B118**At_Symbol_Here**me.com


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, July 1, 2016 at 6:16:51 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=aavJLMbYZDiBQeZPTLW6Mkq6ogklsP5qqANwxxRJyGg&s=wN97_6lsJNsGSi7r1AwEDHbwf1wGilwSyO2AVJx-cJc&e=

Table of Contents (13 articles)

CHEMICAL SPILL IN ROSELLE PARK INJURES TWO PEOPLE
Tags: us_NJ, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

KNOWLTON CHEMICAL SPILL FORCES WORKERS TO EVACUATE
Tags: us_NY, industrial, release, response, sulfuric_acid

CHEMICAL MIX-UP FORCES RESIDENTS TO FLEE HOME IN WEST SADSBURY
Tags: us_PA, public, release, injury, hydrogen_peroxide

OZONE LAYER ON THE MEND, THANKS TO CHEMICAL BAN
Tags: Antarctica, public, discovery, environmental, ozone

CONTROVERSIAL CHEMICAL IN ROUNDUP WEEDKILLER ESCAPES IMMEDIATE BAN
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical

DELIVERY TRUCK SPILLS CHEMICAL IN VALLEJO ON WAY TO WATER TREATMENT PLANT
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, response, water_treatment

REPORTED ODOR LEADS TO HAZMAT RESPONSE IN PAWTUCKET
Tags: us_RI, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

MULTIPLE INJURIES IN NEWNAN PLANT EXPLOSION
Tags: us_GA, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical

1 HURT AS WALNUTPORT CHLORINE LEAK TAKES HOURS TO CONTAIN
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, injury, chlorine, water_treatment

TOMPKINSVILLE CHEMICAL LEAK FORCES EVACUATION
Tags: us_KY, industrial, release, response, chlorine

MEN TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER ACCIDENTALLY MAKING TOXIC GAS IN THEIR YARD
Tags: Australia, public, release, injury, chlorine, hydrochloric_acid

HAZMAT CALLED BECAUSE OF CHEMICAL COMBINATION IN TOILET
Tags: us_VA, public, release, response, bleach, sulfuric_acid

CEDAR RAPIDS WOMAN INJURED IN HOUSE EXPLOSION
Tags: us_IA, public, explosion, injury, natural_gas


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CHEMICAL SPILL IN ROSELLE PARK INJURES TWO PEOPLE
Tags: us_NJ, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

ROSELLE PARK, NJ - Two people were burned as a result of a chemical spill at C&M Pools located at W. Webster Ave. in Roselle Park at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon.

Police said the extent of the injuries were minor burns to the hands. Both were treated by emergency personnel at the scene.

Units from Roselle Park Police and Fire/Rescue along with Union County OEM Hazmat team were on the scene awaiting clean up.

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

KNOWLTON CHEMICAL SPILL FORCES WORKERS TO EVACUATE
Tags: us_NY, industrial, release, response, sulfuric_acid

Knowlton Technologies in downtown Watertown was evacuated Thursday morning because of an apparent chemical splii.

Watertown Fire Chief Dale Herman says an employee was mixing a solution mixing when a sulfuric acid line broke and mixed with the material he was working with.

The reaction created fumes that prompted workers to call 911 and evacuate the building, which is at the corner of Mill and Factory streets. The call came in around 6:15 a.m.
The worker reportedly repaired the leak.
"He had the presence of mind to shut down the sulphuric acid leak and start diluting the mixture which goes to a tank which they use for their processes here at Knowlton," Herman said.

Firefighters flushed the spill with water, aired out the building and used an abosrbant material to mop up the spill.

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

CHEMICAL MIX-UP FORCES RESIDENTS TO FLEE HOME IN WEST SADSBURY
Tags: us_PA, public, release, injury, hydrogen_peroxide

West Sadsbury >> Keystone Fire Company and Chester County HazMat were called to a home in the 300 block of Quarry Road at about noon Thursday after a resident reportedly mixed hydrogen peroxide and rust remover together while trying to clean the home"s water softener unit. The mixture created a noxious cloud forcing the resident out of the home.

Two residents at the home safely evacuated; they were checked by medical personnel but declined treatment. Crews monitored the air, ventilated the home and tested the substances that were mixed.

Chester County Chief HazMat Coordinator Jeff Emmons said the resident grabbed the wrong bottle causing the accident. He said the HazMat team is called for these kinds of accidents throughout the county every couple of months. Emmons recommended that county residents should clearly mark home chemical bottles and not mix chemicals unless called for in the instructions.

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OZONE LAYER ON THE MEND, THANKS TO CHEMICAL BAN
Tags: Antarctica, public, discovery, environmental, ozone

Since it was discovered in 1985, the Antarctic ozone hole has been a potent symbol of humankind"s ability to cause unintended environmental harm. But now comes a glimmer of good news: The void in the ozone layer is shrinking. "It"s a big surprise," says Susan Solomon, an atmospheric chemist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. "I didn"t think it would be this early."

Although the hole will not close completely until midcentury at the earliest, the healing is reassuring to scientists who pushed for the Montreal Protocol. The 1987 international agreement phased out the industrial production of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs): chlorine-containing chemicals that help trigger the destruction of stratospheric ozone, which screens out cancer-causing ultraviolet light. "You want to be sure that the actions we"ve taken have had the intended effect," says Solomon, who led the study published online by Science this week.

Layers of depleted ozone open up over both poles just as winter gives way to spring. During the wintertime cold, nitric acid and water condense out of the atmosphere and form wispy clouds. The surfaces of the cloud particles host chemical reactions that release chlorine that came from CFCs. The chlorine, in turn, goes on to destroy ozone"but only in the presence of light. That is why, over Antarctica, ozone loss doesn"t get going in earnest until September, the beginning of the southern spring, when light returns to the pole. Peak losses are usually in October, and that is when researchers have typically taken stock of year-to-year changes in the hole.

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

CONTROVERSIAL CHEMICAL IN ROUNDUP WEEDKILLER ESCAPES IMMEDIATE BAN
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical

The European commission has given a last-minute reprieve to glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto"s bestselling Roundup weedkiller, just hours before it faced a recall from shops across the continent.

A row over the health risks posed by the substance has divided scientists, governments and international agencies, and led to the threat of lawsuits against the commission.

Glyphosate will now be given an 18-month extension until a new ruling on its safety is provided by the European Chemical Agency, by the end of 2017.

Heidi Chow, a campaigner with Global Justice Now, said the ruling "means another 18 months of hundreds of thousands of tons of a "probably carcinogenic" chemical being sprayed on our parks, our farms and in our gardens".

In a concession to the environmental campaign " which collected 2m signatures against relicensing the product " the commission announced new restrictions on its use in the interim.

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

DELIVERY TRUCK SPILLS CHEMICAL IN VALLEJO ON WAY TO WATER TREATMENT PLANT
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, response, water_treatment

VALLEJO (KRON) " Crews are cleaning up a chemical spill in Vallejo after a delivery truck spilled aluminum sulfate on the way to a water treatment plant on Wednesday morning, according to fire spokesman Stuart Cole.

Cole said the spill closed streets.

The contractor"s truck, which is unaffiliated with the city, was making a delivery of the chemical used in water treatment to the Fleming Hill Water Treatment Plant around 8:50 a.m., Vallejo fire engineer Danny Gutierrez said.

Fire crews found the chemical in a dry dormant state in a one-mile area between B.W. Williams Drive and Broadway Street across to Tuolumne Street and Phoenix Circle near the Fleming Hill Water Treatment Plant, Gutierrez said.

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REPORTED ODOR LEADS TO HAZMAT RESPONSE IN PAWTUCKET
Tags: us_RI, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WJAR) " Firefighters evacuated approximately 100 people from a building at 249 Roosevelt Avenue in Pawtucket Wednesday afternoon after receiving a report of a strong chemical odor in the area.

The state Hazmat team, as well as the Department of Emergency Management, along with crews from Pawtucket, Woonsocket, and North Providence, responded to the scene around 3:30 p.m.

"When they got here, they did smell a strong odor," Lt. Ken Moreau of the Pawtucket Fire Department said. "It smelled something like a moth ball."

Firefighters said at one point the smell was so strong it hurt their eyes. They vented the building for about 20 minutes, but the smell came back stronger.

Every time crews came out of the building, they had to be hosed down.

After hours of searching and testing the air, they realized the smell was caused by a chemical used to strip floors.

"We could see the floors all shining," Moreau said. "In one area, (they were) still dull. That's where they found that cleaning room and found an empty bottle of floor stripper."

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

MULTIPLE INJURIES IN NEWNAN PLANT EXPLOSION
Tags: us_GA, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical

COWETA COUNTY, GA. - A massive explosion at a plant in Newnan sent shrapnel flying into nearby businesses and left five people injured.

Investigators are still working to determine what caused the Bonnell Aluminum Plant to explode Wednesday morning.

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

1 HURT AS WALNUTPORT CHLORINE LEAK TAKES HOURS TO CONTAIN
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, injury, chlorine, water_treatment

It took several hours for the Lehigh County hazardous materials team to contain a chlorine leak Wednesday at the Walnutport water treatment plant, a Northampton County official said.

A borough worker was exposed to the gas and taken to a hospital for treatment, according to a person who answered the phone at the Diamond Fire Company in the borough. That person declined to release any more information, deferring to fire Chief Walter Ingles, who was expected in later in the day.

The hazmat personnel spent much of the time after the 7:23 a.m. leak controlling it, Northampton County Emergency Management Coordinator Todd Weaver said. Lehigh County serves as the Northampton County hazmat team, Weaver said.

The leak at 100 Carbon St. was contained at 12:20 p.m. and crews were awaiting a company that was going to take over with the repair or replacement on the device that was leaking, Weaver said.

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

TOMPKINSVILLE CHEMICAL LEAK FORCES EVACUATION
Tags: us_KY, industrial, release, response, chlorine

TOMPKINSVILLE, Ky. (WBKO) -- A cylinder malfunction releases gas into the heart of Tompkinsville.


"The operators were calling in from the sewer treatment plant that there had been a chlorine gas leak. As we got over here we found the operators out of the facility," said Monroe County Emergency Management Director David Rich.

Emergency management set up a command post at the old Monroe County High School before clearing a one mile radius area.

"We proceeded to evacuated from the immediate area. We evacuated businesses and homes."

As emergency management crews read the chlorine levels in the air Tuesday morning, dozens of people were sent to the armory in Tompkinsville, left with nothing to do other than wait.

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MEN TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER ACCIDENTALLY MAKING TOXIC GAS IN THEIR YARD
Tags: Australia, public, release, injury, chlorine, hydrochloric_acid

Two men have been taken to hospital after they were overcome by chemical fumes in Australia's Blue Mountains on Tuesday afternoon.

The pair were trying to mix together chemicals to put in a backyard swimming pool in Faulconbridge, New South Wales when they combined several litres of hydrochloric acid with a large amount of chlorine.

Combining the two chemicals can produce toxic chlorine gas.

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

HAZMAT CALLED BECAUSE OF CHEMICAL COMBINATION IN TOILET
Tags: us_VA, public, release, response, bleach, sulfuric_acid

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) " Hazmat crews for the City of Norfolk were called to an apartment on Enfield Avenue, off of W. Little Creek Road, Tuesday morning.

According to Norfolk dispatchers, a resident at the apartment complex put bleach, some kind of sulfuric acid and another product in a toilet that was clogged.

Dispatch says there is an odor coming up through the bathtub. One apartment had to be evacuated Tuesday morning.

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

CEDAR RAPIDS WOMAN INJURED IN HOUSE EXPLOSION
Tags: us_IA, public, explosion, injury, natural_gas

Jun 28, 2016 at 9:41 am | Print View
CEDAR RAPIDS " Neighbors recall hearing and feeling a blast that destroyed a Cedar Rapids home Monday and sent a woman to the hospital.

The explosion " which blew the north side off the house at 1371 20th Ave. SW " and ensuing fire took place at 6:35 p.m.

"I heard the explosion and my house kind of wavered a little bit. I thought it was fireworks, just this big boom," said Howard Bentley, who lives on 20th Avenue SW, more than a dozen houses east of the home that exploded. "The back of the house was fine, but the front of the house was gone."

The Cedar Rapids Fire Department responded to a report of an explosion and "heavy fire" Monday evening. The occupant, 64-year-old Diane Barnes, was transported to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics with severe burns.

Public safety spokesman Greg Buelow said two neighbors sprung into action after the explosion and pulled Barnes from the house.

"One shut off the gas at the meter and the other used a dry chemical fire extinguisher to knock down flames and get her out," Buelow said in an email. "If not for their actions, the victim likely would not have been able to get out of the fire that ensued."

The house was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived on the scene. Aid was provided to the occupant and crews were able to put out the fire.

A fire investigator was called to the scene and the fire remains under investigation. Buelow said a natural gas leak is the likely cause of the explosion.

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