Acid

Regional emergency responders will stage their annual hazardous materials drill tomorrow in Brooklyn. Here's the scenario: A rail car loaded with an extremely strong, reactive acid will derail at 9:30 a.m. just west of the Rhodia Inc. chemical plant on Fairfield Road. The derailment - which under the drill scenario could have been an accident or might have been caused by terrorism - releases chlorosulfuric acid that injures about 25 people and threatens workers at nearby businesses and participants at a city vehicle auction.

Does sugar make kids hyperactive? Parents of young children never believe this, but the answer, at least according to some experts, is no. The American Academy of Pediatrics, in a book called The Official, Complete Home Reference Guide to Your Child's Nutrition, says that "when put to the test, the sugar-behavior link does not hold up." One study referenced by the doctors' group found "no effect on behavior or the ability to concentrate when sugar intake was far above normal, even among those whom parents identified as `sugar sensitive.

First, they take a scalpel and scrape the top layer of skin from your face. Then, they spread acid where they just finished scraping.Some kind of torture, you ask, aimed at getting prisoners to talk?Not even close. It's a skin care treatment designed to remove acne or other facial scars, tighten wrinkles and heal skin damage caused by over-exposure to the sun.Not only do women freely submit to this treatment, called BioMedic MicroPeel, they shell out $75 at a time for the pleasure. And they say it doesn't hurt.

Drugs and alcohol have been ruled out as factors in the derailment of the CSX train carrying hazardous materials through the Howard Street tunnel July 18, according to federal investigators. The negative results of toxicology tests on the train's engineer and conductor were returned yesterday to the National Transportation Safety Board team investigating the accident, said board spokesman Keith Holloway. Other than substance abuse, investigators have not eliminated anything else as a potential cause, he said.

A Baltimore chemical company agreed to reduce the amount of toxic sulfuric acid it emits into the air, the state Department of the Environment announced yesterday.SCM chemicals signed a consent order to cut its emissions of the acid -- which can sting the eyes and throat -- by 50 percent by 1992.SCM makes titanium dioxide, a key ingredient in white paint and dyes. In purifying the titanium, the company had been spewing 40 tons of the acid into the air a year from stacks at its Hawkins Point plant in Baltimore, the state said.

events cookingwithamy.com Recently ranked among Forbes Magazine's top five food blogs, this site from San Francisco food writer Amy Sherman includes restaurant reviews, interviews with top chefs and discussion about what's up and coming in the food world. Lia Gormsen KITCHEN TIP "Add a final splash of acid [vinegar or citrus juice] to almost any vegetable or meat dish or fruit dessert at the last minute to perk up the flavor." From finecooking.com Know a helpful shortcut in the kitchen?

Cal breaks Gehrig's record. The Evening Sun closes. The pope comes to town.It's turning out to be a historic few weeks in Crabtown, and Marylanders have saved, or will be looking for, thousands of extra copies of The Sun and Evening Sun in the hope of preserving the moment for their children or grandchildren.Trouble is, newsprint is made to be read and then recycled, or spread under the cat box. It's not crafted to last very long. And, unless readers take precautions, it won't.The big problem is chemistry, says Martha H. Jackson, book and paper conservator for the Milton S. Eisenhower Library at the Johns Hopkins University.

It's time to call a moratorium on the dysfunctional-family flick. Narcissistic, adulterous or conflicted moms, distant dads, drug-riddled youngsters - don't we get enough of them on "cutting-edge" TV series these days? Ryan Murphy, who created one of those series, Nip/Tuck, seized on Running With Scissors, Augusten Burroughs' acclaimed memoir of a loony adolescence, for the comedy-drama opening today. But all he does with this prized dysfunctional-family property is turn it into a crazed Carter-era comic strip: For Better or for Worse on acid.

The Johns Hopkins University took unprecedented action yesterday to preserve old and valuable books in its Eisenhower Library by awarding a $40,000 contract for chemical treatment of deteriorating volumes printed on acid-based paper.The library agreed to ship 4,000 books during the next year to the Texas plant of Akzo Chemicals Inc. for "mass deacidification" with a chemical vapor that neutralizes the acid and could dramatically extend the life span of the 19th-century books to as much as 500 years.

Workers from a hazardous-materials team spent four hours Sunday searching for a leaking drum filled with chemicals that posed an inhalation hazard at a Jessup truck stop.No injuries were reported in the incident, which drew 30 workers from the Howard County Fire and Rescue Services hazardous material team to the Truckers Inn Truckstop in the 7400 block of Assateague Drive.The team received a call about a chemical spill at around 1:30 p.m., said Lt. Ken Byerly, a fire spokesman. When the team arrived, members saw liquid leaking from a trailer in the parking lot.Inside the trailer, they found 108 drums filled with fluorboric acid and stannous fluorborate acid -- corrosives that pose inhalation hazards, Lieutenant Byerly said.