FOUR WORKERS SENT TO HOSPITAL AFTER TOLUENE DIISOCYANATE CHEMICAL LEAK AT TEMPLE CUSHION MANUFACTURER IN TEMPLE, TEXAS

 

FOUR WORKERS AND AN EMS PERSON SENT TO HOSPITAL AFTER TOLUENE DIISOCYANATE CHEMICAL LEAK AT TEMPLE CUSHION MANUFACTURER IN TEMPLE, TEXAS

January 27, 2015

TEMPLE, TEXAS -- Four people were sent to the hospital after a chemical leak Tuesday morning at E R Carpenter in Temple.

Thomas Pechal with the Temple Fire Department says they received a call shortly after 6 a.m. from a Carpenter employee having difficulty breathing. When crews arrived they discovered a large leak of the liquid chemical, Toluene Diisocyanate.

Three employees and a Scott and White EMT were decontaminated by the fire department's HAZMAT crew and sent to the hospital only as a precaution. A Temple Firefighter also came in contact with the chemical, but he was treated on the scene.

E R Carpenter manufactures a variety of polyurethane foam and polyester fiber comfort cushions, and Pechal says this is a chemical is used in the foam pouring process. It is a chemical they use on a daily basis, but it is unclear how the leak started.

As of 8:30 a.m. the leak had been contained but employees were still held back from the area. A private company is being called to clean up the spill.