School District Chemicals Audit Reaches End

By: Cathyrn Creno, Arizona Republic News

WV DEP

After the Arizona Fire Marshal’s Office wrote up Mesa High School during the first week of school for improper storage and identification of chemicals on campus, the district is nearing completion of a comprehensive effort to identify and log thousands of chemicals in Mesa’s 84 schools.

The district is entering the names, amounts and expiration dates of the substances into a database that can be accessed by school officials and outside emergency workers. Officials also are creating a comprehensive safety training program for everyone who handles chemicals in the district — from custodians to chemistry teachers.

Students Poisoned by Pesticides

By: eNews Park Forest!

Greg Lynch, Dayton Daily News

Washington, DC--(ENEWSPF)--October 27, 2011.  Forty-seven students from Edgewood Middle School in St. Clair Township, Ohio, reportedly fell ill after the school’s hired pest control company sprayed the herbicide Momentum, which contains the toxic ingredients 2,4-D, triclopyr and clopyralid, on nearby playing fields to treat for clover and other weeds. The incident and others like it demonstrate the need for a comprehensive national policy to protect children from harmful and unnecessary exposure to toxic chemicals. Six students were taken to nearby hospitals and twenty-one students total were treated for symptoms, including headaches, breathing difficulties, nausea and dizziness.

Chemical Safety Incidents and Fatalities

For those looking for a compilation of chemical safety incidents and fatalities check out the two sites below.

The AIHA Laboratory Health and Safety Committee tracks laboratory safety incidents HERE. A variety of information can be found on their website HERE.

The Laboratory Safety Institute tracks laboratory fatalities on its Memorial Wall, which can be found HERE.

These two resources are useful for emphasizing the impacts of poor planning and unsafe conditions.

Itching Powder Causes Scare at School

By: news-press.com
Apr. 8, 2011

The Fort Myers Fire Department is at Paul Laurence Dunbar Middle School responding to a possible hazmat situation.

Firetrucks and ambulances are on scene and the school is currently on lockdown. The nature of the incident is unknown at this time.

UPDATE:
The school is no longer on lockdown.

Lee County EMS Chief of Operations Scott Tuttle said a student brought itching powder into the school. Twelve students and 11 cafeteria workers were affected by the powder.

Students Mistake Poison for Candy

Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, January 14, 2011

Seven San Francisco middle school students were taken to hospitals Thursday after ingesting small amounts of rat poison they found on top of a classroom filing cabinet, thinking the single blue cube was candy, fire officials said.

The Martin Luther King Jr. students, who showed no symptoms other than fear, were transported to three local hospitals, but were not expected to suffer any harmful consequences, said Fire Department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge.

Talmadge said one of the students found the small cube and took a little nibble and told classmates it tasted like a cookie. Six others, boys and girls ranging in age from 10 to 12, then licked or bit pieces of the 1.5-inch cube of poison and either swallowed or spit it out.