Hazardous Material Monitoring

Because of the small quantities of hazardous materials used in the HCF, the need for hazardous material monitoring is limited. SNL industrial hygiene personnel in the ES H Center are available to assist HCF operations staff in selecting and providing any monitoring or instrumentation required to perform operations conducted with hazardous materials. The need for such assistance is established during work planning activities required for HCF activities. 

Conduct an inventory and control of all materials used, stored, or generated Provide adequate space and equipment for handling and storing hazardous materials Monitor and document correct disposal of hazardous gases and vapors Develop work area and emergency response procedures to address specific hazards Use protective equipment when responding to hazardous materials spills or releases Maintain hazardous wastes manifests, permits, and licenses Ensure proper labeling of all hazardous materials and wastes... 

Beeause the diisoeyanate is used in exeess, there is usually free monomer present. Isoeyanates are hazardous materials particularly upon inhalation and skin contact. Chronic exposure ean lead to sensitization. The adhesives must therefore be used with proper ventilation and should not come in eontact with the skin in the unreaeted state. Vapor monitoring badges for employees and periodie real time vapor monitoring around process equipment is reeommended. 

Turpin, R., K. Vora, J. Singh, A. Eissler, and D. Stranbergh. On-Site Air Monitoring Classification by the Use of a Two-Stage Collection Tube," Management of Uncontrolled Hazardous Waste Sites Proceedings, Hazardous Materials Control Research Institute, Washington, D.C., 1984. 

The OSHA audit teams found program defieieneies in two related areas the development of task- and operation-speeifie hazard analyses and the eonduet of monitoring programs designed to eharaeterize employee exposures to hazardous materials. These defieieneies are dis-eussed in more detail below. 

Fatal accident rate Lost-time injury rate Capital cost of accidents Number of plant/community evacuations Cost of business interruption Cost of workers compensation claims Number of hazardous material spills (in excess of a threshold) Tonnage of hazardous material spilled Tonnage of air, water, liquid and solid effluent Tonnage of polluting materials released into the environment Employee exposure monitoring Number of work related sickness claims Number of regulatory citations and fines Ecological impact of operations (loss or restoration of biodiversity, species, habitats)... 

Gas detectors and other monitoring instrumentation to provide early warning of hazardous material releases... 

Applications. Ultraviolet detectors are ideally suited for applications where rapidly developing fire can occur in a relatively open area. UV detectors can be used to monitor ammunition assembly lines, gunpowder troughs, or open areas that are stocked with hazardous materials. These detectors are not typically affected by extremes of temperature or pressure, adverse weather conditions, high humidity, nor are they sensitive to solar radiation. 

Hazardous Materials Response Team(s) Establish the HazMat Group, and Provide Technical information/Assistance to Command, EMS Providers, Hospitals, and Law Enforcement. Detect/Monitor to Identify the Agent, Determine Concentrations and Ensure Proper Control Zones. Continually Reassess Control Zones, Enter the Hot Zone (with chemical personal protective clothing) to Perform Rescue, Product Information, and Reconnaissance. Product Control/Mitigation may be implemented in Conjunction with Expert Technical Guidance. Improve Hazardous Environments Ventilation, Control HVAC, Control Utilities. Implement a Technical Decontamination Corridor for Hazardous Materials Response Team (HMRT) Personnel. Coordinate and Assist with Mass Decontamination. Provide Specialized Equipment as Necessary. Assist Law Enforcement Personnel with Evidence Preservation/Collection, Decontamination. 

Rowley, K., 1986, The Rules of the Games in Ground-Water Monitoring In Proceedings of the Second Annual Hazardous Materials Management Conference West, December 3-5, pp. 365-374. 

Air pollution—generally, local environmental agencies are quick to arrive at industrial fires and start monitoring to determine if hazardous materials are in the air that could cause harm to the public or the environment. Depending on the materials on fire, there is a potential for hazardous materials to travel offsite. The Emergency Response Plan must identify potential pollutants and appropriate responses for the public. 

At 4 30 A.M. on July 21, 1988, a plant protection officer making rounds saw and heard vapors emitting from the relief valve on tank car UTLX 647014. This report indicated that the contents of the car, technical methacrylic acid (TMAA) were reacting, and that we had a serious situation. The car was in a marshalling yard awaiting transfer to a terminal. Cars filled with hazardous materials, which were near the reacting car, were removed, and empty cars were moved into position on its south side and west end. Remote fire monitors were placed into position on the north side and directed at the relief valve and the dome in an effort to control vapor emissions during the remainder of the reaction. The east end of the car could not be reached. Fortunately, the car at that end was empty. Personnel were kept away from the car as much as possible from the time vapor emissions were noticed. At about 12 25 A.M. on July 22 (about 20 hours after the problem became known), the car ruptured. 

Packard, J., Breen, A., Sayler, G.S. Palumbo, A.V. (1989). Monitoring populations of 4-chlorobiphenyl-degrading bacteria in soil and lake water microcosms using colony hybridization. In HMCRl s Second National Conference, Biotreatment - The Use of Microorganisms in the Treatment of Hazardous Materials and Hazardous Wastes, Washington, DC, November 27-29, pp. 119-25. Silver Spring, MD Hazardous Materials, Control Research Institute. 

Atlas, R. M., Bej, A. K., Steffan, R. J. Perlin, M. H. (1989). Approaches for monitoring and containing genetically engineered microorganisms released into the environment. Hazardous Waste Hazardous Materials, 6, 135-44. 

Essentially all solidified hazardous chemical waste is intended for disposal in near-surface facilities, with prescribed actions to prevent unacceptable releases of hazardous material (e.g., leachate collection and treatment). However, these facilities have been developed and operated essentially without consideration of the potential long-term risks posed by the waste in the absence of active monitoring and maintenance, including potential risks to future inadvertent intruders, or the requirements on site closure and release from institutional control that would ensure long-term protection of public health and the environment. 

Hazardous materials in trace amounts, such as metallic ions, find their way into the water system. It is necessary to be able to detect these materials in situ and in real time. Recently (12), such a method was found involving the SERS technique using optical fibers. The technique monitors the ions in aqueous solutions, measuring the changes in the Raman spectra of indicators, which form complexes with the metallic ions. The indicators used were Eriochrome Black T (EBT), 4-(2-pyridylazo)resorcinol (PAR), cresol red, methyl red and 4-pyridinethiol. 

Waysbort, D., E. Manisterski, H. Leader, B. Manisterski, and Y. Ashani. 2004. Laboratory set-up for long-term monitoring of the volatilization of hazardous materials Preliminary tests of O-ethyl S-2- (N,N-diisopropylamino)ethyl methylphosphonothiolate on asphalt. Environmental Science and Technology 38(7) 2217-2223. 

---