An explosion at a polymer research centre Friday in the Montreal suburb of Dorval left one dead and at least three injured.
Paramedics received a 911 call at around 11:30 a.m. for a report of an explosion. They said a 40-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene, and two others were sent to hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. A third worker who was injured refused to be sent to hospital.
The explosion happened at the Polymer Source, a company that describes itself as a supplier of high-quality polymers and bio-polymers for academic and pharmaceutical and industrial research.
Three teams of paramedics responded to the scene. Firefighters were also on site.
Reaction on Twitter indicates that this is a well-known source of research material. Condolences to the families and friends of those killed and injured.
I wonder if the explosion was due to work with ethylene oxide - that stuff is nasty, it burns even without oxygen. Polymer Source was manufacturing PEGs/PEOs
ReplyDeleteRohm & Haas divested the Triton surfactant line to Dow many years ago (long before Dow acquired the rest of R&H) for exactly this reason. Too much risk of something going wrong.
Deletethermal runaway with EO polymerization can turn deadly, especially after the polymerization was previously done hundred times "safely" without a problem, by some unanticipated quirk or equipment malfunction or a small change in the setup
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