CENtral Science

Friday chemical safety round-up

Chemical health and safety news from the past week:

• In the Pipeline noted a new paper on imidazole-1-sulfonyl azide hydrochloride that says the reagent is impact sensitive and not shelf-stable. “So if you have some of this reagent around, take care,” Derek comments.
• Derek also wanted to know what’s a compound that you’ve made that did something violently unexpected?
• Chembark posted about a Philadelphia TV station’s report: Unlocked Labs: A Candy Store for Terrorists? The segment does a beautiful job of marrying the hysteria of “Chemicals are bad!!!” with “Terrorists!!!” While it does seem that some labs could do a better job on security–for equipment and computers, if not for chemicals–I’ll point out what the video only touches on at the end: Small amounts of chemicals are not the DHS’s concern. The dreaded hydrochloric acid? You need 15,000 lbs at a concentration of 37% or higher (pdf) to trigger Top-Screen. Ethyl ether? 10,000 lbs. C&EN covered Top-Screen rulemaking and its effects on academic labs back in 2007.
• Michigan and Dow agreed on a cleanup plan for dioxins, as the Environmental Protection Agency finally released its report on the health effects of dioxin compounds
• Materion Brush, the only U.S. manufacturer of beryllium products, and the United Steelworkers International Union apparently got fed up with waiting for the Occupational Safety & Health Administration to update its rules on beryllium exposure and teamed up to do it themselves. They’ve given the draft standard to OSHA. What will the agency do now?
• Cal/OSHA fined Realm Catalyst, Rainbow of Hope Foundation, and Strategic Sciences $500,000 in the deaths of two workers in August, 2011, from a hydrogen explosion. Realm Catalyst also had two earlier explosions, one in 2008 and another fatal one in 2010. Cal/OSHA fined the company $5,600 in the 2010 case.
• A new study indicates that nanomaterial dust may ignite easier than micrometer-sized particles

Fires and explosions:

• Workers were mixing some sort of sulfur product when an explosion occurred at New York’s Mercer Milling, which makes feed additives for livestock and pets; one employee sustained a minor injury.
• A dust fire caused extensive damage at Purity Zinc Metals in Tennessee; no one was injured
• Dust also caused an explosion at wood composites company Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies in Arkansas; neighbors say the facility has frequent explosions

Leaks, spills, and other exposures:

• A mix of “phosphorus acid, hydrochloric acid, and a type of ethanol” spilled when a valve malfunctioned on a tank at Channel Chemical in Mississippi
• Thousands of fish at the Redondo Beach, Calif., SEA Lab died when bleach leaked from a nearby desalination facility and contaminated the SEA Lab tanks; the two organizations pump in water through a shared intake pipe that houses chlorine lines
• Formaldehyde leaked in a pathology lab at a hospital in Australia

Not covered: meth labs; ammonia leaks; incidents involving floor sealants, cleaning solutions, or pool chemicals; transportation spills; and fires from oil, natural gas, or other fuels.