The threat of natural hazards impacting chemical facilities and infrastructures with the subsequent release of hazardous substances has been recognised as an emerging risk which is likely to be exacerbated by the ongoing climate change. Within the European FP7 project iNTeg-Risk, efforts are dedicated to address the problem of Natech accidents by trying to understand their underlying causes and...

vol 10 no 10 march 2003 emergency nurse 23 Since the terrorist attack on the US on September 11 2001 and the increasing prevalence of global terrorist activity including threats to the UK, attention has focused on the threat of chemical and biological warfare. Before the attack, bioterrorism had occupied only a small part of the UK public consciousness and threats to civilians from hazardous ma...

Substitution of hazardous substances against less hazardous ones is a central requirement of the European Chemical Regulation REACH (European Regulation 1907/2006/EC). Hazardous substances emitted from products may not only affect the worker; drift off and distribution in the environment may finally result in exposure of the general population. This potential threat to health is covered by the ...

Since the 1985 release of methyl isocyanate in Bhopal, India, which killed thousands, the chemical industry has begun to use process hazard analysis techniques more widely to protect the public from catastrophic chemical releases. These techniques can provide a systematic method for evaluating a system design to ensure that it operates as intended, help identify process areas that may result in...

Since 1993, the New York State Department of Health, funded by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, has collected data about non-petroleum hazardous substances releases through the Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (NYHSEES) project. This study investigates risk factors for hazardous substances releases that may result in public health consequences such as inju...

The greatest potential risks in the photovoltaic (PV) fuel cycle probably are associated with using some hazardous substances during cell material production and module manufacturing. To investigate the characteristics of these risks, we first identified the types and amounts of hazardous substances used during the life cycle of PV systems. Then, we estimated the normalized risks, i.e., acciden...

Providing a safe work environment is an important goal for any hospital pharmacy department. Historically, great care has been exercised in the receipt, storage, preparation, distribution, administration, and disposal of cytotoxic drugs. Although other drugs have been acknowledged as potentially hazardous, most facilities do not have processes to identify and ensure their safe and consistent ha...