A cloud of smoke rises from a chemical plant in Himeji city, Hyogo prefecture on Saturday.
Black smoke rises Saturday at a Nippon Shokubai Co. chemical plant in the coastal industrial area of Himeji, about 370 miles west of Tokyo.
Posted on 10/01/2012 8:35:28 AM PDT by Red Badger
OSAKA — Explosions at a chemical plant in Hyogo Prefecture on Saturday killed a firefighter and injured dozens of people, the Japan Times reported, citing local fire department and police officials said. Global production of diapers could be affected because the plant made a key ingredient in a resin used in them, Japanese media reported.
A fire broke out about 2 p.m. after an abnormal chemical reaction at Nippon Shokubai Co.'s plant in Himeji, the Japan Times said.
The first explosion occurred about 2:40 p.m. as firefighters were spraying an acrylic acid tank with water, and the second followed shortly afterward, the Times said, citing Nippon Shokubai. The blasts set ablaze a fire engine.
A 28-year-old firefighter was killed and at least 30 people were reported injured.
Nippon Shokubai is one of the world's biggest makers of acrylic acid, the main ingredient of a resin called SAP, which is used in diapers.
The plant produces about 20 percent of the world's SAP and 10 percent of global output of acrylic acid.
Operations at the plant are likely to be halted for a long time and other makers of SAP resins are operating on a full-production footing, leaving little room for back-up production, the Nikkei business daily said on Sunday.
A cloud of smoke rises from a chemical plant in Himeji city, Hyogo prefecture on Saturday.
Black smoke rises Saturday at a Nippon Shokubai Co. chemical plant in the coastal industrial area of Himeji, about 370 miles west of Tokyo.
Ah, don’t rake your leaves just yet...
This is bad, considering that diaper Input isn’t going to let up any time soon.
Oh please....diaper shortgage?? Slip an aloe wipe in a cloth diaper...and let them unload!!
Oh noes. Where will we put all the liberal rhetoric?
Why can’t the diaper manufacturers just find another acrylic acid supplier? Just looked it up and DOW is one.
I used to date the Daughter of the guy who invented whatever it is that makes disposable diapers absorb moisture.
He worked for Dow Chemical.
I wonder what the original Sacajaweau, and the other native Americans did?.............
Wow! Smart dude!
I think that ‘stuff’ is also used to hold in soil moisture, too, in some products.
No new Nippon nappies now…
First one to say That Stinks. ...really?
How will affect Obama's 'Wee-Weed Up' concerns?
Of course this is election season so it is not so concentrated in D.C. right now. But if this crisis lasts for many months, that Washington swamp is going to get even uglier!
Well I would imagine that the other mfrs are supplying to their customers at maximum output. It would take months to ramp up to produce the amount needed to make up the difference......
Sh-itty.
What did they do?? It was the 1800’s not caveman days. She wasn’t nekked and neither was the baby or “the guys”. Least of their problems.
sure a lot of chemicals involed for a simple garment designed for wrapping a crumb-cruncher’s bum.
maybe plain old cotton ones really are safer ?
It’s generally called “SAP” or “super absorbent polymer” ... incredible stuff .. if you ever re-sod a lawn spend the money and get a sack to spread first... it’s the “secret” behind why professional growers get such good results from their plants... when you hydrate the polymer don’t use plain water , hydrate it with miracle grow...
Marafi.....
He was an unbelievably nice guy and as one would expect, really smart.
The first time I met her family, he was chatting with me and appeared to be doing some brain teasers. He asked if I wanted to do some with him. As it turned out I was very good at doing them. I didn’t say anything to him but it was clear I was being given an IQ test.
I didn’t know anything about the diaper patent until he died and I did a google search on him. I do recall his Daughter telling me he had a stack of patents around a foot high.
Ooooh! Thanks for the tip!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.