Bad fumes send Publix employees to hospital

Some workers at a store in Largo breathed noxious fumes after mixing bleach and lime remover while cleaning. Eight were hospitalized briefly. No customers were affected.

By ERIC STIRGUS

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 28, 2001

LARGO -- Eight employees of a Publix supermarket were hospitalized briefly Friday after breathing noxious fumes created when some of them mixed chemicals while cleaning, officials said.

The midday incident made for some harrowing moments for store employees and the paramedics who rushed to the Publix at West Bay Drive and Ridge Road to treat them.

The employees were working in the back of the deli/bakery area.

Someone used a gallon of bleach and a quart of lime remover to clean in the area, but the combination created a bad odor, said Largo Fire Department District Chief Jeff Day.

The workers tried to flush the chemicals down a drain, officials said.

"When it produced fumes, they sprayed it with water, which produced a toxic cloud," said Day.

"They tried to dilute the fumes, which made it worse."

Store employees called 911. Some of the workers were taken to Largo Medical Center and Morton Plant Hospital.

Others were treated at the scene and declined hospitalization.

No customers were affected by the fumes, Day said.

The hospitalized workers were treated and released later Friday afternoon, and some returned to work, said Lee Brunson, a Publix spokesman.

Fire department officials notified the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which will investigate the incident.

Brunson said Publix is also trying to figure out what happened.

The supermarket chain shows all new employees a video after they are hired that advises them on what Publix considers proper cleaning methods, Brunson said.

"We don't know why they were using this combination," the spokesman said.

Publix also sends each store cleaning materials.

The employees did not use those materials, opting for items from the supermarket shelves, Brunson said.

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