During the initial stages of response to a chemical spill (or potential spill), these distances can help emergency responders and planners quickly assess the potential threat and make informed decisions about evacuations and shelter-in-place to help keep the public safe from airborne hazards.

Previous versions of CAMEO Chemicals had the ERG distances in a table format on datasheets that display response and shipping information based on United Nations-North American (UN/NA) identification numbers. Now the ERG distances can also be visualized on a map from any UN/NA datasheet that has the ERG Table 1 (or Table 3) values from the green section. Additionally, these map objects can also be exported to a KML file so that they can be viewed in other mapping tools, including our related MARPLOT map program.

With CAMEO Chemicals, you can learn about critical response information for thousands of chemicals, and you can also use the reactivity tool to find out what hazards (such as explosions or corrosive byproducts) might occur when two substances mix together. Firefighters and emergency planners around the world use CAMEO Chemicals to help them prepare for and respond to emergencies.

CAMEO Chemicals 3.0.0 is available as a website, mobile website, a desktop program for Windows and Mac, a mobile app for iOS devices on the App Store, and a mobile app for Android devices on Google Play.

In addition to the new ERG mapping tool, we also enhanced the latest CAMEO Chemicals 3.0.0 version by:

• Adding short phrases to the Vapor Density and Specific Gravity fields to help users by saying if the chemical will likely sink/rise in air or sink/float in fresh water (respectively).
• Updating the chemical record data from several sources, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulatory data, Pocket Guide values from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), DuPont suit fabric breakthrough times, and toxic Levels of Concern.
• Improving the menus in the desktop platform by adding zoom options and a right-click menu.
• Adding compatibility improvements for newer operating systems.
• Improving the desktop platform behavior when dealing with path names that include characters from other languages (besides English).
• Revising the extensive user help documentation.

For more details and to subscribe for future updates, see the official CAMEO Chemicals release announcement that was sent to the CAMEO News Service subscribers. 

CAMEO Chemicals is part of the CAMEO® software suite, a set of programs developed jointly by NOAA and EPA for 35 years. The CAMEO suite is available at no cost to users in order to provide vital tools to assist responders during chemical emergencies, and to help emergency planners prepare for them ahead of time.