Toluene spill at printing company attended by environmental protection agency

A chemical spill at a printing company in Pinvin at the weekend was attended by teams of fire fighters and an environmental protection unit.

The chemical spill occurred on Saturday night at the Polestar Varnicoat printing plant in Pinvin at around 11pm. Fire fighters attended the plant after learning that the spilled substances contained toluene and solvents and had been spilled both indoors and outdoors.

The fire brigade sent engines from Malvern, Pershore and Worcester and an incident response unit attended the scene from Droitwich station.

Polestar employees pumped the spilt chemical into storage tanks with the fire brigade at the ready in case the toxic chemicals caught fire.

Evesham environmental protection unit, who also attended, used chemical absorbents to soak up the toluene water mixture and put procedures in place to minimise the impact of any environmental pollution.

Chemical absorbents

There is a range of specialist chemical absorbents available in the market, that perform well in situations such as the chemical spill at Pinvin. Chemical absorbent pads and socks are the perfect way to soak up the spilled chemical and also stop the liquid finding its way into the normal waste drainage system.