Toxic chemicals spills

MCS may result from a single massive exposure to one or more toxic substances or repeated exposure to low doses. On one hand, some people may become chemically sensitive following a toxic chemical spill at work or in their community or after being sprayed directly with pesticides. On the other, individuals may develop this condition from spending forty hours each week in a poorly ventilated building where they breathe a profusion of chemicals common to our modem way of life. 

Kunkei, B. A., 1983, A Comparison of Evaporative Source Strength Models for Toxic Chemical Spills , AFGL-TR83-0307, ADA139431. 

Microbes used to bioremediate toxic chemical spills may need additional air to be blown through the soil (called sparging) in order to metabolize the chemical. 

Rosemarie Bowler, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor and Fieldwork Coordinator, Department of Psychology, San Francisco State University. Dr. Bowler has done extensive research on individual and community reactions to toxic chemical spills and has chaired a recent symposium on the topic for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Her clinical experience at SFSU includes assessing patients and groups of workers exposed to neurotoxins. 

Maybe chemistry means chemicals to you. And perhaps you think this word should be used only with the adjective toxic. That belief wouldn t be surprising, because you have probably heard of toxic chemical spills or warnings about toxics in the environment. Indeed, some chemicals are toxic—very toxic the arsenic of mystery stories, the poisonous gases of World War I, the chemicals released by the microorganism that grows in badly canned food and causes severe food poisoning. 

Protection of the worker performing emergency work if an accident has occurred (e.g., clean-up of a toxic chemical spill). 

This section addresses emergency response procedures used to control and contain loss of property and prevent injury to workers in the chemical industry workplace due to fire, explosion, toxic chemical spill, and/or accidents. Moreover, an emergency response procedure, currently used in a chemical industry workplace, is presented as an example of the type of procedure that is required. Along with standard emergency response procedures for use in the workplace, several work practices related to specific workplace equipment is included. Finally, emergency medical response procedures for the chemical industry workplace are discussed. 

Only on-site releases of the toxic chemical to the environment for the calendar year are to be reported in this section of the form. The total releases from your facility do not include transfers or shipments of the chemical from your facility for sale or distribution in commerce, or of wastes to other facilities fortreatment ordisposal (see Pari III, Section 6). Both routine releases, such as fugitive air emissions, and accidental or nonroutine releases, such as chemical spills, must be included in your estimate of the quantity released. EPA requires no more than two significant digits when reporting releases (e.g., 7521 pounds would be reported as 7500 pounds). 

The next two sections discuss accidents tiiat result in the release of a toxic emission or a liazardous spill. In general, a to.xic emission can be considered to be either continuous or instantaneous. In tliis section only tlie atmospheric effects of toxic emissions are considered. Hower cr, hazardous spills (ne 1 section) usutilly denote a liquid contamination of either soil or water systems in addition a liazardous chemical spill may lead to tlie release of toxic emissions. 

First considered an environmental issue (e.g., hazardous materials spills contaminating the environmental media—air, water, and/or soil), chemical facility safety has been an issue of congressional interest for many years. Review of the historical incidents listed in sidebar 4.1 provides some perspective on the magnitude of the consequences that might result from terrorist attacks. Obviously, these incidents (and others) increase concern over the potential for release of toxic chemicals and the associated potential health impacts on surrounding areas. 

Recirculating ventilation systems should be designed for shutdown in the event of a fire or chemical spill. Exhaust systems should continue to run during the incident to facilitate the removal/ treatment of potentially toxic materials. Caution must be exercised when considering the placement of automatic sprinklers inside exhaust ducting. The flowing sprinklers have been shown to greatly reduce the capacity of the exhaust system. 

Transportation of raw materials to depots and plants, by oil tankers, natural gas pipelines, barges, trains, and trucks, can create hazards. Another set of transportation hazards is posed by chemical intermediates (produced in one plant and transported to another plant for further processing) and industrial wastes. Sometimes, they travel past crowded urban areas, pristine beaches, and harbor tunnels. The hazards of oil spills on beaches by tankers are well known, and so are the instances of ruptures and breaks in oil and natural gas pipelines, which produce fire and pollution hazards. Trains and trucks can overturn in centers of habitation, and can lead to flames and explosions, as well as toxic hazards to the community. Toxic chemicals are barred from being trucked in tunnels under harbors and rivers. The storage of raw material and intermediates at plants or... 

Suppose there was a major spill of 600 kg of a toxic chemical (that can dissolve In water) in a river that is 20 m wide and 3 m deep. The local government of a city 180 km downstream from the spill site asks you to evaluate the water quality (whether it can be piped into the city water supply) in the river next to the city as a function of time. Suppose water flow rate is 2 m/s and width and depth of water of the river are constant. Assume an eddy diffusivity of 10 m /s. You find from ERA guidelines that the maximum tolerable concentration of the toxic substance for drinking water is 0.01 ppb. 

The spillage of a hazardous chemical results in hazardous waste. Washdowns of spilled toxic chemicals create liquid hazardous wastes which are subsequendy transferred off-site for disposal. Mopups using absorbent materials create hazardous solid waste which must also be disposed of. To minimize the costs incurred in chemical spill incidents which can be a range of costs from disposal fees and employee-care to fines from enforcement actions - the best practice is to prevent spills from occurring in the first place. 

Amines are toxic chemicals. Avoid excessive inhaling of the vapors and use gloves to avoid direct skin contact. Anilines are more toxic than aliphatic amines and are readily absorbed through the skin. Wash any amine or aniline spill with large quantities of water. Diethyl ether (ether) is extremely flammable. Be certain there are NO open flames in the immediate area. 

Regardless of the cleaning process, you should always wear a basic minimum of safety clothing. Lab coats do more than just protect your street clothes if a dangerous chemical spills on a lab coat, the coat can be easily taken off at a moment s notice with no embarrassment. Street clothes often cannot be removed with equal ease and modesty, and they can provide time for a toxic or dangerous chemical to soak through to your skin. 

Caution. This reaction is carried out under an atmosphere of carbon monoxide and therefore should be performed in an efficient fume hood. Diphenyl-mercury is a toxic chemical and care should be taken that its solutions are not spilled on the skin or ingested. Its vapor pressure, however, is low, and so it is not as dangerous as the dialkyImercurials, nor is it as dangerously toxic as the dialky Imercurials.7... 

Other disposal - Includes any amount of a listed toxic chemical released to land that does not fit the categories of landfills, land treatment, or surface impoundment. This other disposal would include any spills or leaks of listed toxic chemicals to land. For example, 2,000 pounds benzene leaks from a underground pipeline into the land at a facility. Because the pipe was only a few feet from the surface at the erupt point, 30 percent ol the benzene evaporates into the air. The 600... 

I. Regulate tlie disposal, transport, and treatment of hazardous and toxic wastes in an environmentally sound manner Manage tlie state program for oil and chemical spills Provide for the abatement of water, land, and air pollution, including pesticides... 

The damage caused by detergents and dispersants during the cleanup of shorelines polluted by the Torrey Canyon spill were an important lesson. Subsequent cleanups of oil spills involved a much more judicial use of less toxic chemicals. In addition, their use became largely restricted to offshore locations and places of high value for industrial or recreational purposes, rather than natural habitats. 

The hood offers a number of advantages for work with toxic and flammable substances. Not only does it draw off the toxic and flammable fumes, it also affords an excellent physical barrier on all four sides of a reacting system when the sash is pulled down. And should a chemical spill occur, it is nicely contained within the hood. 

EPCRA s primary purpose is to inform citizens of chemical hazards in their communities. Sections 311 and 312 of EPCRA require businesses to report the locations and quantities of chemicals stored on-site to State and local governments in order to help communities prepare to respond to chemical spills and similar emergencies. EPCRA Section 313 requires the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the States to annually collect data on releases and transfers of certain toxic chemicals from industrial facilities, and make the data available to the public in the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). 

A spill hazard ranking system for toxic chemicals has been proposed based upon the derived equation (3.15) ... 

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