Early Reports on Chemical Hazards Were Conflicting

Ventura County residents have gotten a sometimes misleading crash course in the hazards of two potent chemicals--hydrazine and naphthalene--following the derailment Sunday of a Southern Pacific freight train in Seacliff.

Authorities issued several conflicting reports on the potential danger of the 440 gallons of hydrazine solution that spilled from eight ruptured drums, and the 5,000 gallons of liquid naphthalene contained in an unpunctured tank on the same flatbed rail car.

Ventura County fire officials initially said exposure to hydrazine causes skin irritation, headache and nausea, only later revealing that inhalation or skin absorption can be lethal. And several cleanup officials said the two chemicals react violently if mixed. In fact, chemical experts say, the two are compatible and mixing them poses no fire hazard.

Hydrazine, a component of rocket fuel, has wide industrial application in products ranging from pesticides to shoe soles.

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency lists hydrazine as a probable carcinogen for humans, and it causes lung and liver cancers and leukemia in laboratory animals.

Exposure to its vapors is highly irritating to eyes, nose, throat and lungs and can produce dizziness and nausea, the EPA reports. High levels can damage the liver, kidneys, nervous system and red blood cells and may lead to seizures and death.

“It’s a very toxic chemical,” said Dr. Bela Toth of the Eppley Institute For Research in Cancer in Omaha, Neb., a leading authority on hydrazine’s health hazards. “Years ago it was believed to be only an irritant, but we have found it is toxic to almost every organ in the body.”

In its undiluted form, hydrazine is used in rocket fuel and as a supplemental fuel on F-16 jet fighters, Toth said.

“The F-16 has a 55-gallon drum on board, and when the pilot is attacked by the enemy, he switches to the hydrazine and takes off like a rocket,” Toth said.

The solution spilled in Seacliff was only 51% hydrazine, but is still extremely dangerous, Toth said. “I used to handle 1% solution and it was toxic as hell.”

Based on the solution’s percentage, however, it appears to have been far less combustible than emergency workers initially feared.

According to Olin Corp., which was shipping 76 drums by train to San Francisco for export to the Far East, solutions containing less than 54% hydrazine require an extremely high temperature to ignite.

Alec Houston, a company spokesman, said the surrounding atmosphere must be a minimum of 190 degrees Fahrenheit for a 51% solution to be ignited. By comparison, gasoline can be ignited at temperatures as low as minus-40 degrees.

Southern Pacific officials described the spill as largely “a great public inconvenience” compared with the derailment two weeks ago that has killed all animal life in a 45-mile stretch of the Upper Sacramento River.

But chemical experts said even diluted hydrazine can be lethal when inhaled, even in relatively minor spills such as the one that occurred in Seacliff.

The naphthalene--contained in a tank on the same rail car as the hydrazine drums--was more of a fire hazard than a health threat, though high levels of exposure can be fatal, according to the EPA.

The EPA does not list naphthalene as a known or suspected carcinogen, but reports that its vapors can irritate the eyes, nose and throat and that extremely high levels of exposure can damage the liver, kidneys, blood cells and ocular nerves and can cause death.

Containers of naphthalene--an industrial solvent used in making dyes, explosives, plastics and lubricants and formerly used in mothballs--can explode in a fire and produce a poisonous gas, according to the EPA.

Had the naphthalene tank also ruptured and the solvent mixed with the spilled hydrazine, there would have been no danger of a violent reaction, said Jay Young, a former Auburn University chemistry professor associated with the Scientists Institute for Public Information. He said that naphthalene falls within the same family of “reducing agents” as hydrazine and that the two are compatible when mixed.

Chemical Cargo Here is a look at the chemicals carried by the train that derailed in Seacliff. Name: Hydrazine

Form: Liquid, diluted in water

Uses:

Rocket fuel

Industrial reducing agent

Combustibility:

Highly flammable in greater concentrations

Possible health effects:

Burning and tearing eyes, coughing

Nausea, vomiting

Liver and kidney damage

Coma, possible death

Cancer

Amount spilled: 440 gallons

Cleanup options:

Collect with an absorbent for disposal

Build dikes to prevent runoff into water supply or sewers

Neutralize with calcium hypochlorite (bleach)

Name: Naphthalene

Form: White solid

Uses:

Raw material for dyes and other industrial chemicals

Formerly used in mothballs

Combustibility:

Highly flammable

Possible health effects:

Burning and tearing eyes and mucous membranes

Cyanosis (nails, lips and skin turning blue)

Nausea, vomiting, headache and fever

Liver and kidney damage

Amount spilled: None

SOURCE: Safeware Inc.