PHMSA - Home - PHMSA Provides Guidance for Transporting Ebola Contaminated Items

Infectious Substance Category A - Ebola Waste

‘‘DOT Guidance for Transporting Ebola Contaminated Items, a Category A Infectious Substance’’ provides common FAQs regarding the HMR requirements for Category A infectious substances.



PHMSA - Home - PHMSA Provides Guidance for Transporting Ebola Contaminated Items

NEW TECHNOLOGY - LiFePO4 Batteries : Greentech Media Article

NEW TECHNOLOGY - LiFePO4 Batteries

Alevo says its lithium-iron-phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries are the first to use an inorganic electrolyte based on sulfur, which prevents the chemical reactions that lead to heating, expansion and eventual failure for lithium-ion batteries. 



Alevo Unstealthed: A New Gigawatt-Scale Grid Battery Contender : Greentech Media



Test cells have lasted more than 40,000 cycles in “hammer tests” that completely discharge and then overcharge them over and over again, without significant degradation of performance, he said.




These are large scale batteries at the moment and are not planned for commercial scale, but the technology can eventually lead to new fronts on the PED scale Lithium Batteries.  Something to watch!

New material could lead to longer-lasting batteries | PCWorld

New Technologies

New Battery Technology is on the horizon.  Keep an eye on the following:



The scientists have been experimenting with a “garnet ceramic” material called LLZO that could hasten the release of batteries based on lithium-air chemistry. Lithium-air batteries have been in development for decades but are considered unstable for practical use.



Read the PC World Article here:



New material could lead to longer-lasting batteries | PCWorld

Airbus cautious on lithium battery design for A350 - 10/27/2014 - Flight Global

After observing the situation with the B787 Li-bat designs, Airbus has addressed the problems and has provided some details on their design.  See the flightglobal.com article:



ANALYSIS: Airbus cautious on lithium battery design for A350 - 10/27/2014 - Flight Global:



"Though much heavier than the Boeing design, the Airbus approach is more cautious. Instead of the 787’s two batteries, Airbus will install four Saft-made lithium-ion batteries in each A350-900. Each of the Saft batteries consists of 14 cells storing a combined 45Ah of energy and running at 3.6V."



'via Blog this'

Lithium batteries top CASA’s most dangerous goods list | Australian Aviation

Aviation's Most Wanted

A good article from www.australianaviation.com.au   about Lithium Batteries

"Lithium batteries have topped the Civil Aviation Safety Authority’s (CASA) list of potentially dangerous items to take on an aircraft."



Lithium batteries top CASA’s most dangerous goods list | Australian Aviation

Hactl hosts IATA Dangerous Goods Board meeting | Air Cargo World

IATA DGB

Hey!  Our meeting made the news!  :-)


Hactl hosts IATA Dangerous Goods Board meeting | Air Cargo World

E-cigarette EXPLODES 'like a grenade' | Daily Mail Online

Smoker's legs are nearly torn off after e-cigarette EXPLODES 'like a grenade' | Daily Mail Online

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT

"Mr Aspinall, who may need three years of skin grafts to recover, told The Sun: 'It glowed and burned in my hand. I dropped it and it exploded."

E-Cigs like any other device are susceptible to  damage, especially when you use third party or "generic" parts, batteries or modify them from their original functionality.  

"He claims the shop that sold him the e-cigarette blamed faulty batteries."  

Keep in mind that Lithium batteries, particularly, "no name" batteries or off market brands are fragile.  Dropping them or jarring them may cause them to have unseen internal damage that can cause the battery to go into an overheat or thermal runaway situation.  

"It is believed he was using a third-party charger that did not come with the original e-cigarette"

It is always recommended to spend the few extra cents or dollars to purchase the proper parts that are designed to operate with the model or the intended batteries.  Although it doesn't happen often, it can, don't do things to make you one of the subjects of an article like this!  

Cheers to the Dailymail in the UK for the article.  

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2791061/smoker-s-legs-nearly-torn-e-cigarette-explodes-like-grenade.html#ixzz3HLf5vY4Q 
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

*** FOLLOW UP INFO***

A decent review by vapers on what he was using and may have caused it.  It is pretty detailed and shows some dangers of modifying e-cigs.  

http://www.ecigclick.co.uk/mutant-almost-creates-an-x-man-e-cigarette-news/

Lithium Battery Article by Alex Lennane, plus my 2 cents

Link to the Article:  lithium batteries

“Governments should have a stronger oversight on counterfeit battery makers. The focus on counterfeit goods tends to be on luxury products, handbags and so on. But this is about safety."

*****  My 2 Cents *****

This is one point which I often bring up.  The legally tested, packaged, prepared, documented and tendered shipments of lithium batteries are not the greatest risk.  

The risk comes from the sale and transport or these clandestine or counterfeit batteries which are sold via the internet and transported, often undeclared in post or other means of express transport.  

"While it is hard to determine how many lithium batteries are carried on aircraft – partly because counterfeits go undetected – the market is growing fast." 

This is the hard truth, It is not easy to detect these in transport.  The governments where these shipments originate, do what they can, but the problem is too big and too varied for them to be effective.  The more restriction you put on these items, the more you feed into the problem as shippers either go underground to avoid the restrictions or they just tender incorrectly due to ignorance of the complicated regulations. 


This is where the focus needs to be.  How to we stop this problem from causing the next incident?   

Press Release – FAA Proposes Civil Penalties Against Five Companies for Allegedly Violating Hazardous Materials Regulations

Press Release – FAA Proposes Civil Penalties Against Five Companies for Allegedly Violating Hazardous Materials Regulations



ATLANTA The U.S. Department
of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing civil
penalties ranging from $54,000 to $66,000 against five companies for allegedly
violating Hazardous Materials regulations.

In each case, the FAA alleges the shipments were not accompanied by shipping papers to indicate the hazardous nature of their contents and were not marked, labeled or packed in
accordance with the Hazardous Materials Regulations. The FAA also alleges the
companies failed to provide emergency response information and failed to ensure
their employees had received the required hazardous materials training.

Press Release – FAA Proposes $227,500 Civil Penalty Against Shanghai Yancui Import and Export Co. for Alleged Hazardous Materials Violations

Press Release – FAA Proposes $227,500 Civil Penalty Against Shanghai Yancui Import and Export Co. for Alleged Hazardous Materials Violations



ATLANTA -The U.S. Department
of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing a
$227,500 civil penalty against Shanghai Yancui Import and Export Co., of
Shanghai, China, for allegedly violating Hazardous Materials regulations.

Air Umbrella Creates "Force Field" That Keeps You Dry | IFLScience

Air Umbrella Creates "Force Field" That Keeps You Dry | IFLScience



"The umbrella’s shaft is a rechargeable lithium ion battery."   


Yet another bit of new technology sporting Li-Ion batteries.  Coming to a piece of baggage near you!   

Travelling Safely with Lithium Batteries

Battery Fires on Planes Spur New Proposals - WSJ - WSJ

Battery Fires on Planes Spur New Proposals - WSJ - WSJ



More doom and gloom concerning Lithium Batteries.  The ICAO changes arent a big deal, they just adopted the US standard, which we have been doing here for years.



The FAA studies are good and have given us a lot of insight on loading Lithium Batteries in unvented structural ULDs, This is big news, and good info to have.



The position doesn't really CALL for anything.  It indicated that gel packs or other mitigation options exist and have had some amount of effectiveness.



The problem which we need to focus on isn't the properly packaged and documented shipments of Lithium Batteries.  It is the huge amount of counterfeit, untested, undeclared, undocumented shipments of batteries that unscrupulous shippers will pass off as general cargo to get around all of the restrictions.  Lithium Batteries in mail that are shipped, unregulated.  Lithium Batteries tossed in Checked bags that get through screening.



These are the biggest threats to safety and little is being done to address that.

Information for Health Care Workers | Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever | CDC

Information for Health Care Workers | Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever | CDC



An excellent informational site set up which is one stop shopping for all your Ebola related questions.