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Environmental Health & Safety Newsletter
November 2001
Environmental Health & Safety Division
Mission Statement
The Medical College of Georgia Environmental Health and Safety Division (EH&S) provides environmental safety services to staff, patients, students, and visitors.
The six sections of EH&S, Administration, Biological Safety, Chemical Safety, Environmental Health & Occupational Safety, Fire Safety, and Radiation Safety ensure full compliance with all local, state and federal laws.
We strive to continually improve the level and quality of services provided through creativity, teamwork and innovation.
THIS ISSUE:
Hazardous Waste Violations Can Affect You
National Fire Prevention Month
Right-to-Know Training Statistics
Hazardous Materials Violations at Educational/Medical Facilities
Study Suggests Cell Phone Conversations Can Be a Distraction for Motorists
A
Simple Practice Improves Fume Hood Safety
Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency has pushed to inspect colleges and universities for hazardous materials and hazardous waste regulation compliance. Universities are number three on the EPA’s priorities list for audits. EPA’s Spring 2001 Audit Policy Update stated “During past inspections of university and college campuses across the nation, regions have found significant noncompliance with Resource Conservation and Recover Act (RCRA); the Spill Prevention Control and Counter measure (SPCC) requirements of the Clean Water Act (CWA); underground storage tank management; and the Clean Air Act (CAA). Specific examples of noncompliance include improper handling, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste materials; boilers and furnaces that do not meet clean air regulations; and inadequate monitoring of underground storage tanks, grounds maintenance compliance issues. The EPA has inspected several major institutions and issued citations. Fines include:
· Lincoln University, $45,000,
· University of Virginia, $25,490,
· Medical University of South Carolina, $49,999,
· University of Hawaii, $1.8 million,
· Boston University, $253,00 in fines and $500,000 in community projects,
· Yale University, $69,000 and $279,000 to be invested in environmental projects on campus.
· University of New Hampshire, $49,000 and $147,000 to be invested in environmental projects on campus.
A letter to every college and university president in New England, Region 1 stated “EPA is committed to holding educational institutions to the same high standards that we all expect of private industry,” and added that colleges and universities that have not made a real commitment to environmental compliance are taking a “significant risk.”
Individual departments, laboratories and research areas have been penalized for the improper use, handling, storage and disposal of hazardous materials. An inspection by a federal, state or local regulatory agency can happen at any time. The following are the most common violations cited:
· Open containers of hazardous materials
· Unmarked, unlabeled and improperly labeled hazardous materials.
· Improper storage of chemicals
· Inadequate/outdated chemical inventories
· Improper disposal of hazardous waste
· Hazardous waste stored in the laboratory for more than 90 days
· Cluttered/unsafe work areas and lack of aisle space
· Inadequate chemical safety training
· No annual hazardous waste management training
The Medical College of Georgia’s Environmental Health and Safety Division, in cooperation with the institution, is working with research faculty and staff to identify and correct any violations associated with hazardous materials and chemical safety practices.
Source: UGA Newsletter Environmentally Speaking
Modified by: Jim Horne
HAZARDOUS
WASTE VIOLATIONS CAN AFFECT YOU
Improper disposal of hazardous waste is against the law and has serious consequences. The institution and the individual responsible for disposing of the waste can be held legally and financially accountable.
A resident of San Diego, Calif. was sentenced Aug. 13 for two counts of illegally transporting hazardous waste in violation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and one count of conspiracy to violate the law. He was sentenced to five months in prison and five months in a community confinement center. He also must reimburse EPA $50,689 in cleanup costs and pay a $3,000 fine.
The wastes, which were discovered in a container at a vacant lot, consisted of crystallized picric acid, tetrahydrofuran and sodium metal, all of which are potentially explosive. In addition, nitroethane, potassium dichromate, nitric acid, copper cyanide, potassium cyanide, sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid were found in the container. The reactive wastes could have exploded, causing a fire and releasing a toxic cyanide gas cloud resulting in a serious risk to human health.
MCG provides for the proper collection and disposal of hazardous materials through the Chemical Safety Office. Nonhazardous chemicals, such as Sodium Bicarbonate or Calcium Bicarbonate, can be disposed of in the general trash. Some chemicals may be neutralized or rendered non-hazardous using standard laboratory procedures and then poured down the drain. However, neutralization/deactivation processes should be approved by Chemical Safety. As a rule, acids, caustics, and toxic/poisonous chemicals should not be poured down the drain or thrown in the general trash.
For as copy of the hazardous waste disposal procedures and hazardous waste tags, contact Chemical Safety at ext. 1-2663 or come by the office in EH&S Division, CI-1001.
Source: EPA
Modified by: Dolly Hobbs
NATIONAL FIRE PREVENTION MONTH
The National Fire Protection Association’s Fire Prevention Month is October. This month marks the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of October 9, 1871, which claimed more than 250 lives and destroyed 17,430 buildings. To recognize the 40th anniversary of the Chicago fire, the nation’s first Fire Prevention Day was proclaimed to promote public awareness of fire safety. In 1925 President Calvin Coolidge declared Fire Prevention Month an official national observance.
DID YOU KNOW:
- The United States has one of the highest fire death rates in the industrialized world. Each year, fire kills more Americans than all natural disasters combined.
- A fire department responds to a fire somewhere in the United States or Canada every 16 seconds. A civilian dies in a fire roughly every two hours. A civilian is injured approximately every 20 minutes.
- More than a million career and volunteer firefighters serve in over 30,000 departments in the United States and Canada. More than 7,000 are women. About 100 firefighters are killed each year with roughly 100,000 injured while on duty.
- About 2 million fires are reported each year. Direct property loss due to fires is estimated at $8.6 billion annually.
Reference: National Fire Protection Association
Modified by: Jimmy Murray
The Adult Catheterization Laboratory, in August began a new procedure that will be widely utilized as it gets more established in hospitals across the nation. The formal name of the procedure is vascular Brachy therapy (VBT). The company that will supply the device to MCGHI is Novoste™ Corporation and the specific device being used is the Beta Cath™ System.
VBT radiation therapy is delivered inside an artery to prevent it from re-closing (restenosis). Restenosis occurs when scar tissue grows inside an artery and limits blood flow after procedures such as angioplasty, often resulting in the need for additional procedures to re-open the vessel. The Beta-Cath™ System received marketing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in November 2000, clearing the way for commercialization in the United States. The Beta-Cath™ System was the first commercially available vascular brachytherapy device in both the United States and Europe. Over 10,000 patients have been treated worldwide with the Novoste™ Beta-Cath™ System.
The Beta-Cath™ System was approved by the FDA for use in patients suffering from “in-stent restenosis,” a condition in which coronary stents become blocked with new tissue growth. An estimated 150,000 patients in the U.S. need treatment for this condition annually. Before vascular Brachy therapy, there were no effective treatments for in-stent restenosis other than bypass surgery, an expensive and highly invasive procedure.
The system train follows a catheter, inserted into a coronary artery where the lesion is located and the system delivers a train of radioactive strontium/yttrium-90 “seeds.” The radioactive material delivers a very high dose of beta radiation to the immediate area of the lesion that has begun to restenose. After a dwell time of between two and three minutes, the train of radioactive material is withdrawn. The radiation inhibits regrowth of the cells that would otherwise begin to again clog the artery. Although the radiation delivers a very high dose to the immediate area, it does not pose a threat to the workers in the room due to the fact that it is beta radiation, which travels only a short distance in tissue. In fact, no additional shielding for personnel in the room is required other than the equipment they wear to protect themselves against X-rays from the fluoroscopy unit used in concert with the VBT. There are four primary personnel associated with each procedure. The cardiologist is responsible for the routine catheterization and the angioplasty. The radiation oncologist applies the Beta-Cath™ System to the patient. The medical physicist monitors patient dose during the procedure, and the radiation safety technologist controls the licensed radioactive material throughout the procedure and monitors the catheterization laboratory to ensure security of all radioactive material. These four individuals must be present during each procedure.
Modified From: Novost Corporation Homepage
By: Doug Watson
RIGHT-TO-KNOW
TRAINING STATISTICS
Total training for the fiscal year:
Basic RTK 415 employees
Chemical RTK 795 employees
Any radioactive material encased in a capsule designed to prevent leakage or escape of the radioactive material is defined as a sealed source. All radioactive sources, sealed or encapsulated, must be properly accounted for and periodically checked for leakage.
Registration of Sealed Sources : All sources of radioactive material sealed or encapsulated, regardless of the activity, must be registered with the Radiation Safety Office.
Leak Testing of Sealed Sources : All sealed sources containing 100 uCi or more of Beta or Gamma emitting radionuclides or 10 uCi or more of an emitting material in any form other than gas will be tested for leakage and contamination by the Radiation Safety Office at least six months. Exceptions are as follows:
· Sources containing exclusively H-3
· Sources containing radionuclides with a half-life of less than 30 days
· Iridium-192 seeds in nylon ribbons
· Sealed sources no longer in use
Inventory Control : A physical inventory of all sealed sources on the MCG campus is conducted quarterly. The inventory consists of the model, serial number if any, location (room, building) of the source, and the initials of the individual conducting the survey.
MCG’s Principal Authorized Users should contact the Radiation Safety Office prior to moving or sending instruments to surplus as we may be required to remove a sealed source before the transfer can be made. We have a number of liquid scintillation counters and gas chromatographs on campus with Ni-63 sealed sources. In some instances, the manufacturer may be required to remove the sealed source and dispose of the source. Please contact the Radiation Safety Office to determine how sealed sources should be handled. Other universities and owners of sealed sources have incurred sizable fines by not managing their sealed sources properly or suffered the wrath of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by losing sealed sources.
Written by: Phil Maguire
HAZARDOUS
MATERIALS VIOLATIONS AT EDUCATIONAL/MEDICAL FACILITIES
In the past year, 26 educational/medical facilities received
citations and fines for regulatory violations in hazardous waste management
operations from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Facilities were cited for offering hazardous/regulated materials that were not packaged in accordance with Department of Transportation regulations, failure to properly describe hazardous materials on shipping papers (manifests), failure to provide general awareness and function-specific employee training and failure to create and retain records of training and testing. Fines ranged from $500 to $16,000 per violation.
Hazardous waste disposal shipments are managed through Environmental Health & Safety Division’s Chemical Safety Office. Any other shipment of hazardous materials should be cleared through Chemical Safety to ensure that regulatory violations do not occur.
Environmental Health & Safety Division provides general awareness training in New Employee Orientation. In addition, EHSD also provides a wide variety of function-specific training. For function-specific training information, contact the following EHSD offices.
· Radiation Safety Training—Radiation Safety Office, ext. 1-9826
· Chemical & Laboratory Safety Training or Spill Clean up and Waste Disposal Training—Chemical Safety Office, ext. 1-2663.
· General Awareness Training—Environmental Health & Occupational Safety.
· Fire Safety Training—Fire Safety Office, ext. 1-2663.
In accordance with MCG policy, all managers/supervisors must ensure that their workers are properly trained prior to beginning work.
Source: EPA
Modified by: Dolly Hobbs
Each year, an average of 5,000 office-building fires are reported. Would you know what to do if the alarm sounded or you were informed of a fire in your workplace?
Be prepared. Know MCG’s fire plan, CODE 17. Study evacuation routes and know two ways out of each work area. Count the number of desks or doors between where you work and the nearest exits. (You may have to escape in the dark.) Know the location of the nearest fire alarm pull station and fire extinguisher. Participate in fire drills.
MCG policy requires that all staff participate in fire drills. Staff should respond to a drill just like it was a real fire. Close the door of the room involved, sound the fire alarm and call Public Safety at 721-2911. Calmly notify others in the area. Leave immediately and quickly. Once outside, move away from the building. Follow the instructions of the emergency responders. Do not go back inside until told it is acceptable to return. Always use the stairs and never the elevators.
The established procedure in MCG buildings is to evacuate. If a disability would interfere with your escape, be sure your supervisor includes your special needs in the areas escape plans.
Never disregard the sounding of a fire alarm. It may be a drill or a malfunction but what if it is a fire. There will be no time for training; you must know what to do. You may be called on to save your life and others lives as well. Please know what to do. The rest of us are depending on you.
Source: NFPA
Modified by: Jimmy Murray
STUDY
SUGGESTS CELL PHONE CONVERSATIONS CAN BE A DISTRACTION FOR
MOTORISTS
Conversing on cell phones while driving significantly impair driving performance, according to a new study reported by the National Safety Council’s Injury Insights. The study found that driver distractions due to cell phones can occur regardless of whether hand-held or hands-free cell phones are used, and that cell phone conversations create much higher levels of driver distractions than listening to the radio or audio books.
“This study adds new data to the ongoing national debate on driver distractions and their causes,” said Alan C. McMillan, President of the National Safety Council, “and it underscores the importance of reiterating that a driver’s primary obligation is to operate his or her motor vehicle safely.”
The study used 64 participants in controlled, simulated driving conditions. The research participants were randomly assigned to listen to and change radio stations, listen to audio books, converse while holding cell phones and converse using hands-free cell phones. The study found that the subjects involved in phone conversations responded significantly slower to traffic signals and missed signals entirely much more often than subjects who were listening to the radio or a book on tape. There was no measurable difference in driver responses among subjects using hand-held phones and those using hands-free devices. The scientists concluded that it was the active engagement in a conversation that caused the higher levels of driver distraction.
The issue of driver distractions caused by cellular phones becomes increasingly important as cell phone use becomes more prevalent in American life. According to studies conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), some form of driver distraction is a contributing factor in 20 to 30 percent of all crashes. The Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association estimates that there are 120.1 million cellular phones in operation in the United States, and a recent NHTSA survey found that nearly 75 percent of drivers reported using their phone while driving. An NHTSA observational study released last month estimated that 500,000 drivers of passenger vehicles (cars, vans, sport utility vehicles and pickups) are talking on hand-held cell phones during any given daytime moment throughout the week.
Source: National Safety Council
Modified
by: Jimmy Murray
The Chemical Safety Office (CSO) will pick up all waste chemicals according to the following procedure:
Chemicals have a blue tag on each container.
The completed tags are faxed (1-9844), mailed (CI-1011) or email (heubanks or dhobbs in GroupWise) to the CSO.
The CSO will pick up your chemicals on the Wednesday following receipt of the tags.
For more information, call 1-2663.
A SIMPLE PRACTICE IMPROVES FUME HOOD SAFETY
Airborne contaminants generated inside laboratory fume hoods during use can leak into the breathing zone of the user. A study was recently completed through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute exploring the relationship between laboratory hood work practices and containment. Twelve total hoods were studied. Hoods were evaluated during use and in a static mode. All 12 hoods were equipped with variable air volume systems and approved for use by a local health and safety institution or facilities group.
Laboratory hood containment was measured using the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) 110 sulfur hexaflouride tracer gas test and a mannequin to estimate leakage. Phenol and chloroform personal air samples were taken during a phenol:chloroform extraction procedure using a live operator.
Phenol and chloroform were not detected in the breathing zone of the 12 operators at their selected operating sash heights of 7 to 15 inches. The tracer gas concentrations were also minimal. However, operating the hood with the sash height above the breathing zone of the mannequin resulted in a higher leakage rate. They found that when the sash height is raised above the breathing zone, percent leakage increased by factors of 28 to 300 times.
The data from this study shows that when providing training on proper work practices for lab fume hood use, lowering the sash should be stressed as being a major factor in reducing hood leakage.
Source: UGA Newsletter Environmentally Speaking
Modified by: Jim Horne
Editor:
Christine E. JohnsonTechnical Editors: Jim Horne EHOS/Chemical/ Biological
Phil Maguire Radiation Safety
Associate Vice President of EH&S: James S. Davis, Ph.D., CHP
Assistant Director: Douglas Watson
EH&S Managers:
Chemical & Biological Safety Office Jim Horne
Environmental Health & Occupational Safety Office Duane Perry
Fire Safety Office Jimmy Murray
Radiation Safety Office Douglas Watson