All Members

 View Only
  • 1.  PFAS, lead, and other hazardous chemicals and dangerous goods.

    Posted 19-07-2024 23:13

    It is interesting that the discussion around hazardous chemicals continues to focus on topics which could only be deemed as  'flavour' of the month chemicals. -  Lithium Ion batteries and PFAS - or perhaps it should be PFAS and Lithium-ion batteries.  But the world  of hazardous chemicals and dangerous goods goes far beyond these to issues. While PFAS is the forever chemical, lithium-ion batteries are the double edged sword. On one hand they have improved our lives  (what would life be without laptops and mobile phones) to being one of the major causes of residential fires.  

    However, as chemists we need to stop focusing on the more 'infamous' chemicals and start understanding that many of your colleagues are dealing with issues that will disappear of the news radar after just a few news cycles. 

    In the last few weeks, Australia has seen a number of incidents involving the hazardous chemicals and dangerous goods, to which have involved 

    29th June, 2024 - A mother and three children were treated in Perth hospitals when it was alleged that the patrons of a local restaurant were served a Citronella lamp and torch oil containing Bifenthrin instead of cranberry juice. 

    10th July, 2024 - A major chemical fire erupted in a chemical blending facility in the Melbourne suburb of Derrimut. According to reports from Fire Rescue Victoria the response to this fire involved More than 180 firefighters in excess of 3 million litres of water and 40,000 litres of foam and appliances from the FRV, CFA and ASA  Aviation Rescue Fire Fighting Service were called in to control this fire along with the support  VICSES, Victoria Police and Ambulance Victoria. 

    17th July, 2024 -  A  Western Australian man required treatment from paramedics after accidentally creating a poisonous gas while carrying out maintenance on his pool.The man inadvertently created chlorine gas when he mixed chlorine with hydrochloric acid to clean his backyard swimming pool. 

    So what has this got to do with the RACI and its members.  - A LOT!

    Let's start with the chemist that not only formulated the citronella lamp oil but the person who wrote the safety data sheet. 

    The Derrimut fire, just did not involve fire fighters, but involved scientific officers, analytical chemists and regulatory personnel (Worksafe Victoria, FPA Victoria and Melbourne Water) not only in the management and containment of the fire, but the ongoing aftermath of monitor the local waterways, air monitoring. Once this fire has been put out we rely on chemists to help with the disposal of what is left. 

    ... for the gentleman who inadvertently created a batch of chlorine gas, once again chemists are are the forefront on managing and advising DFES personnel first responders how to manage the situation. 

    It is time that the RACI start moving in a direction that

    • encourages conversations about these types of incidents rather than the 'flavour of the month chemicals'.
    • through its Course Accreditation looks at health safety and environment, not in terms of laboratory safety training and induction, but in terms ensuring that under/postgraduates fully understand and can demonstrate a knowledge of the regulatory frameworks relevant to their disciplinary area and personally practising ethical conduct (including  data collection, quality control procedures, or the necessity to obtain government permits for certain types of activity. They will be prepared to abide by these regulatory frameworks as they move into professional employment, and understand the consequences if they do not).
    • encourages research into health, safety and regulatory affairs, and 
    • support those who are interested in the world of chemical health and safety by developing post graduate courses that will help educate the next generation of Dangerous Goods Inspectors, Regulatory Affairs Consultants, Health and Safety Professionals, and Waste management consultants. 

    I am not sure if we need more researchers, but at the present time, Australia needs more chemists seeking careers in the area of dangerous goods, hazardous substances and health and safety!

    Chemical explosion sparks factory fire in Melbourne's west | ABC News

    YouTube remove preview
    Chemical explosion sparks factory fire in Melbourne's west | ABC News
    More than 30 fire trucks are responding to a large factory fire in Derrimut, in Melbourne's west. Subscribe: http://ab.co/1svxLVE Read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-10/derrimut-factory-fire-melbourne-west/104080168 Fire Rescue Victoria said there had been a large chemical explosion at the factory on Swann Drive, resulting in a significant fire.
    View this on YouTube >



    ------------------------------
    Lisa Stevens
    Principal OHS Consultant
    Lisa J Stevens And Associates
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: PFAS, lead, and other hazardous chemicals and dangerous goods.

    Posted 21-07-2024 17:53
    Edited by Daniel Turner 21-07-2024 17:53

    Hi @Lisa Stevens

    Although I refrained from posting about the recent events at ACB Group in Melbourne, I have posted on MyRACI about PFAS in rechargeable batteries and Bunnings choosing to repackage its lead products.

    I agree that other members should be encouraged to share their insights on matters that aren't making headlines elsewhere-where can a chemist learn what they need to provide invaluable insights on dangerous goods, hazardous substances, and health & safety matters?



  • 3.  RE: PFAS, lead, and other hazardous chemicals and dangerous goods.

    Posted 01-08-2024 11:35
    Edited by Daniel Turner 01-08-2024 11:35

    Tampons as a source of exposure to metal(loid)s

    Given that measurements of digested samples show the total amount of these toxic metals present in the material, what is the exposure risk to people using tampons to those elements that have no "safe" exposure levels?

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024004355

    Courtesy of This Week's Mass Spectrometry News, 26 June 2024 by The Analytical Scientist



  • 4.  RE: PFAS, lead, and other hazardous chemicals and dangerous goods.

    Posted 11-01-2025 01:22

    Hello Lisa,

    Having worked in a facility that produces Lithium-ion batteries, I can attest that there are many factors that affect the quality of the battery, and a certain lack of quality will increase the chance of an incident considerably. The chain reaction that cause a battery to explode are unfortunately positively reinforced by the heat that is generated. 

    Basically a Lithium-ion battery can be seen as a "separated bomb", where the separated reactants are the anode and cathode. A thin polymeric membrane called the separator is what keeps the two reactants apart.

    Potential causes:

    1) The separator has micro-holes, or other defects like tears or stretches can cause the anode to mix with the cathode, starting the chain reaction by causing a short circuit. These holes may be just a micrometre in diameter in some cases. 

    2) Metal impurities are in the anode and cathode, such impurities can be only above 50ppb for the anode or cathode to be suspect. An elevated level could cause unwanted side reactions leading to an adverse event. 

    3) The electrolyte is a mixture of highly volatile organic solvents such as ethyl-methyl carbonate (EMC), di-methyl carbonate (DMC) and other carbonates. The incorrect amount of electrolyte, or type of electrolyte can lead to an adverse event.


    In my opinion, the reasons as to why lithium batteries explode, and the exact pathways in which it happens, isn't readily available to the public. Additionally, more research is needed to discover the root causes and mechanisms of the chain reactions. Unfortunately, I do not think it is treated as a serious matter either.



    ------------------------------
    Dennis Planner
    ------------------------------



  • 5.  RE: PFAS, lead, and other hazardous chemicals and dangerous goods.

    Posted 11-01-2025 09:24
      |   view attached

    Hi Dennis,

    I think you have missed the point of my post, which was that the chemistry professions are split into two – those who innovate and those who are left to clean up the mess.   History is littered with instances where chemicals that were thought to be the next best thing since sliced bread turns out to be either a human health or environment health hazard and or both.  

    The problem is that chemistry seems to have flavours of the month safety topics (lithium-ion batteries, glyphosate, paraquat, or PFAS)  to which we are happy to talk about, discuss ad nauseum, but major industrial chemical fires, who a mother and three children who were "poisoned" with citronella lamp oil, the adverse chemical reaction at the University of Sydney, children injured at a school due to a chemical spill and or the chemical vapour caused by the dumping of hazardous chemicals in domestic garbage collections.

    This situation is not helped when the RACI Accreditation Committee considers it appropriate to downgrade  the  Chemistry Threshold Learning Outcomes as set for Science in the area of safety and understanding the complex regulatory framework for chemicals in Australia.   

    The fact is that there are many amongst the RACI that have spent their lifetime work trying to educate the membership to the issues that the safety/regulatory/emergency response side of chemistry face but seems to go unrecognised by the RACI.

    To be able to prevent these issues from happening, as a profession we need to recognise that safety and understanding the regulatory framework should be a mandatory requirement in any Chemistry/Science degree; that as a community, RACI members need to start recognising and acknowledging that we need to be more cautious in respect of the long term health and environmental hazards of the latest innovation and be open to having open and frank conversations about the incidents that happen and how, as a profession, that we can prevent them.  

    Lisa 



    ------------------------------
    LisaStevens
    Principal OHS Consultant
    Lisa J Stevens And Associates
    ------------------------------