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But when it evaporates, the resulting nitrogen gas can fill a much larger space and rapidly displace life-essential air and oxygen, posing the risk of suffocation, said Rick L. Danheiser. , professor of chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Due to its low temperature, liquid nitrogen can also cause cryogenic burns on contact, he said.
In poultry and meat factories, joints in pressurized liquid nitrogen lines should be regularly checked for leaks, union officials said.
If it turns out the plant has cut costs to cut costs, the business should be continued, said Mark Lauritsen, director of food processing, packaging and manufacturing at the International Union of united food and trade workers, which represents around 250,000 meat and poultry. workers.
“It should never, ever happen,” given the dangerousness of the chemical, said Lauritsen.
Nitrogen leakage has been one of the many fatal industrial accidents in recent years.
In April 2010, 11 people died when an explosion ravaged the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico, causing one of the worst offshore oil spills in the United States. In May 2020, 11 people in India died and hundreds fell ill after a tank leaked containing styrene, a liquid used in making plastics, officials said.
Other recent industrial accidents have caused thousands of people to flee their homes.
In November 2019, 30,000 people in Southeast Texas were evacuated after a pair of explosions rocked the Texas Petroleum Chemical plant. And in 2017, 21 rescuers in Texas were treated for smoke exposure after Hurricane Harvey caused fires at the Arkema chemical plant.
Thursday morning’s fatal crash was silent, at least for one employee, Maria Bonilla, 60.
Ms Bonilla, a Salvadoran immigrant who does not speak English, worked in the sprawling factory’s marinating department. She didn’t hear an explosion, a crash, or a scream.
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