March 30th, 2012 • 04:03
Friday chemical safety round-up
Chemical health and safety news from the past week:
- Trying to figure out research papers written in German? Beilstein’s German-English/English-German Dictionary, developed for Beilstein Handbook of Organic Chemistry users, is now available online. Note that “The English equivalents of German words appearing in the Beilstein Handbook are chosen such that in each case the most usual translation in the context of the Handbook of Organic Chemistry is listed first, followed by other possibilities which can also occur in this context.” (via sciencebase)
- Crime, punishment, and the way forward: in the wake of Sheri Sangji’s death, what should happen to Patrick Harran? asks Doing Good Science
- OSHA penalties are stuck at 1991 levels, noted the Pump Handle, which also discussed the agency’s high-dollar cases
- The U.S. Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board would like comments on its draft strategic plan for 2012-2016, and released a second DVD compilation of its videos (pdf)
- Toxic chemical releases decline by 4% in Virginia–reported releases, anyway
Fires and explosions:
- A hydrogen release triggered a fire at an Air Products & Chemicals plant in Louisiana, one worker suffered burns to 40% of his body and another injured a hand
- A fire at a Synthesia chemical plant in the Czech Republic caused more than $1 million in damage but no one was injured
- An explosion and fire at an Alcoa plant in New York damaged an aluminum melting furnace, no one was injured
- A fire at fuel additives company Orem in Utah started “when malfunctioning equipment sprayed flammable liquid on a hot pump. The liquid then ignited.”
- Some sort of equipment exploded at Micron Technologies in Idaho, seven people had minor injuries
- An explosion at California ceramics supply company Laguna Clay when “an unknown, non-hazardous chemical” “ignited another material that the employee was working with”
- Some sort of explosion caused a fire in a MacFarlan Smith process roomin the U.K.
Leaks, spills, and other exposures:
- A worker died while cleaning a latex tank at Global Textile Services in Tennessee; the story contradicts itself on whether Pascual Apodaca, 51, was wearing a respirator
- Sodium hydroxide, 20,000 gallons, spilled from a water filtration plant near San Diego
- An amine was released from CF Industries in Louisiana during a shutdown of an ammonia plant; a nearby driver “was momentarily blinded by the chemical and crashed his vehicle on the plant property”
- BP had a “minor” hydrofluoric acid leak at a plant in Texas City, Texas
- Sulfur dioxide leaked at Rayonier, in Georgia
- Something water-reactive and flammable spilled at Purdue University
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.
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