From: DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (7 articles)
Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2019 07:44:48 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: C4B2685C-D1E3-4506-898D-F0FF7DBC319F**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, February 11, 2019 at 7:44:35 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 (7 articles)

APARTMENT BUILDING UNINHABITABLE DUE TO HAZMAT SITUATION INVOLVING MERCURY
Tags: us_MA, public, follow-up, response, mercury

HAZMAT TEAM CALLED TO ST. LUKE'S AFTER A PATIENT BROUGHT IN QUESTIONABLE LIQUIDS
Tags: us_MA, public, discovery, response, unknown_chemical

SUSPECTED MERCURY EXPOSURE BRINGS HAZMAT UNITS TO RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL
Tags: us_RI, public, release, injury, mercury

OFFICIALS: OXYGEN TANK EXPLODES INSIDE SANITATION TRUCK ON UPPER WEST SIDE ‰?? CBS NEW YORK
Tags: us_NY, transportation, explosion, response, gas_cylinders, oxygen

ACCIDENTAL CREATION OF CHLORINE GAS CAUSES EVACUATION AT PCMR RESTAURANT
Tags: us_UT, public, release, response, chlorine

HAZMAT INCIDENT LEHIGH ACRES SCHOOL
Tags: us_FL, education, release, injury, irritant, pepper_spray

NITRIC ACID-LADEN TRAILER LORRY OVERTURNS ON NSE, SPILLS CARGO
Tags: Malaysia, transportation, release, response, nitric_acid


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APARTMENT BUILDING UNINHABITABLE DUE TO HAZMAT SITUATION INVOLVING MERCURY
https://www.wcvb.com/article/apartment-building-in-fall-river-uninhabitable-due-to-hazmat-situation-involving-mercury-two-people-hospitalized/26266771
Tags: us_MA, public, follow-up, response, mercury

FALL RIVER, Mass. ‰??
An apartment building in Fall River is uninhabitable and two people have been hospitalized due to a hazmat situation involving mercury, according to fire officials.

Fall River District Fire Chief Michael Clarke said a 51-year-old man who lives at 108 Hamlet St. accidentally contaminated the building with mercury when he was melting down what he thought were old silver fillings to try and make some money.

"His grandfather used to be a dentist and he had some old fillings, and he though he could melt them down," Clarke said. "He thought they were silver, but it turned out to be mercury."

Clarke said the resident initially melted down the fillings on Jan. 25 and went to the hospital three days later. During that time, doctors could not figure out what was wrong with him.

Meanwhile, three pets in the building, a dog and two cats, all died over the course of a couple of weeks, according to Clarke.

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HAZMAT TEAM CALLED TO ST. LUKE'S AFTER A PATIENT BROUGHT IN QUESTIONABLE LIQUIDS
https://turnto10.com/news/local/hazmat-team-called-to-st-lukes-after-a-patient-brought-in-questionable-liquids
Tags: us_MA, public, discovery, response, unknown_chemical

A hazmat team was called in to St. Luke's Hospital to identify questionable substances a patient brought in Saturday evening.

New Bedford Fire Department responded to St. Luke's after they got a call from the hospital that a homeless man came in under the influence and intoxicated with a bag full of unknown liquids.

St. Luke's and the fire department could not identify the liquid substances. The department called in a hazmat team to test the fluids.

New Bedford fire told NBC 10 NEWS that they questioned whether or not to close the hospital down because they were unsure if the liquids could be a risk to the hospital.

After testing the bag filled with fluids, the hazmat team found them to not be dangerous and the hospital remained open.

It is unclear what the substances actually were.

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SUSPECTED MERCURY EXPOSURE BRINGS HAZMAT UNITS TO RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL
https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20190209/suspected-mercury-exposure-brings-hazmat-units-to-rhode-island-hospital
Tags: us_RI, public, release, injury, mercury

PROVIDENCE ‰?? Firefighters equipped with a decontamination unit were called to Rhode Island Hospital on Saturday afternoon and stayed well into the evening as doctors and nurses dealt with an incident of suspected mercury exposure, authorities said.

Providence firefighters went to the hospital at 4:15 p.m., where a man was being treated in intensive care, and where they were joined by hazardous materials specialists from the North Providence Fire Department and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, said Providence fire‰??s acting deputy assistant chief, William Kenyon.

The man, he said, had come from the scene of an incident in Fall River. A 17-year-old girl had also come to the hospital after being decontaminated by Fall River firefighters, Kenyon said.

The suspected exposure involving the man took place while he was working with mercury, according to Kenyon, who said no further details were available.

Firefighters did not detect significant levels of mercury, he said.

Rhode Island Hospital spokesman David Levesque confirmed by email that a patient was treated for exposure to ‰??a hazardous material‰?? and that testing determined that the hospital was ‰??well below‰?? safety limits set by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

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OFFICIALS: OXYGEN TANK EXPLODES INSIDE SANITATION TRUCK ON UPPER WEST SIDE ‰?? CBS NEW YORK
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2019/02/08/small-explosion-inside-sanitation-truck-on-upper-west-side/
Tags: us_NY, transportation, explosion, response, gas_cylinders, oxygen

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) ‰?? The small explosion inside a garbage truck on the Upper West Side Friday morning was caused by an improperly disposed of oxygen cylinder, officials said.


An oxygen cylinder exploded in the back of a Santitation truck on Feb. 8, 2018. (credit: DSNY)
It happened shortly after 7 a.m. Friday near 90th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.

The NYPD hazmat team responded and raked through the truck‰??s contents. The FDNY also inspected the vehicle, called a ‰??hopper.‰??

‰??We did not find any corrosives or any materials in the back of the hopper or any type of devices,‰?? FDNY Chief Nicholas Corrado said.

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ACCIDENTAL CREATION OF CHLORINE GAS CAUSES EVACUATION AT PCMR RESTAURANT
https://www.kpcw.org/post/accidental-creation-chlorine-gas-causes-evacuation-pcmr-restaurant#stream/0
Tags: us_UT, public, release, response, chlorine

A popular restaurant on Park City Mountain Resort was evacuated Friday morning so a hazmat team could take care of a dangerous substance.

Around 10:15 am on Friday, Park City Fire Department received a phone call that chlorine gas had accidently been created at the Summit House cafeteria located at the top of Bonanza Express. Which caused an evacuation of the building. Park City Battalion Chief Steve Zwirn explains how that happened.

‰??The cleaning crew was working at the Summit House on Park City Mountain Resort cleaning the bathrooms.‰?? Battalion Chief Zwirn said, ‰??They mixed bleach, and ammonia into a spray bottle, a spritzer bottle. When you mix bleach and ammonia you create Chlorine Gas. When they started to spritz the bottle or spray the mixture out, they were basically breathing a cloud of Chlorine Gas. Two people, to my knowledge, were in the room when they did that. Both of which were transported by the ski patrol to a local clinic.‰??

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HAZMAT INCIDENT LEHIGH ACRES SCHOOL
https://www.fox4now.com/news/local-news/hazmat-incident-lehigh-acres-school
Tags: us_FL, education, release, injury, irritant, pepper_spray

10 kids and two adults have been discharged from Lehigh Regional Medical Center after a pepper spray incident.

Hospital officials say they activated a mass casualty protocol after being informed that several people had been exposed to an irritant at G. Weaver Hipps elementary Friday night.

"We kept all the patients here at the scene until the hazardous materials team could analyze the scene, and to assure that all those patients could be discharged, and they didn't need any further decontamination," said Director of Critical Care at Lehigh Medical Center Richard Juda.

Patients were sent home with a bottle of Dawn soap which can be used to wash away pepper spray.

The incident happened during a school dance. Deputies are investigating how the pepper spray was discharged.

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NITRIC ACID-LADEN TRAILER LORRY OVERTURNS ON NSE, SPILLS CARGO
https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2019/02/458594/nitric-acid-laden-trailer-lorry-overturns-nse-spills-cargo
Tags: Malaysia, transportation, release, response, nitric_acid

EREMBAN: A trailer lorry laden with 35 barrels of nitric acid overturned at Km270.5 of the North South Expressway (north bound) near the Seremban Rest and Recreation (R&R) area here, today.

It is understood that two of the barrels were damaged in the incident and leaked an unspecified amount of the hazardous material onto the highway, Bernama reported.

The accident occurred at 5am as the trailer lorry, which had broken down as it was travelling on the NSE, was being towed by a tow truck.

However, the rope connecting the truck to the lorry snapped, causing the larger vehicle to overturn and spill the barrels it was carrying onto the road.

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