Rotten office fridge cleanup sends 7 to hospital

[pair8head]

I have one question.

WTF??


SAN JOSE, Calif. -- An office worker cleaning a fridge full of rotten food created a smell so noxious that it sent seven co-workers to the hospital and made many others ill.

And now, the rest of the story............
http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1120a ... ource=mypi

[mermaidindisguise]

When we had to clean the house Les lived in with his ex -wife (she lived there by herself for a few years and then decided that she didn't want to make the effort to clean it... she abruptly moved out and left us a huge mess - in a bad market.

I tackled the refrigerator and other cleaning while Les "repaired" and got the house "sale" ready. I opened the refrigerator - (She had not bothered to clean it out yet unplugged it and left it like that for a week or so) I cannot even describe in words how much mold was in the refrigerator.... the entire surfaces were covered with mold. I was in a hurry since we had open house in two days and decided to "Bleach" the crap out of it. I filled the tub with bleach and dumped all the drawers and trays etc... in the tub. THen I filled a spray bottle with bleach and started cleaning.... I didn't think to wear a mask - MY MISTAKE!! Apparantly I released millions of mold spores as I "scrubbed" and wiped down the fridge....

For the entire month of February I was sick .... no antibiotic worked - the Dr said if the third round didn't work he was going to have to put me in the hospital to go on IV .

It was horrible... we were on a ski trip for our 5 year anniversary... I couldn't get out of bed in the morning... by 3pm I was barely able to move and one time fell asleep on Les's arm at dinner and the next night at a concert....

I have NO DOUBT that whatever was in that fridge mixed with cleaners was strong enough to send people to the hospital. Of course if I was in an office environment - I would have thought twice and said - I'm not touching that... in my situation I didn't have the time or $$ to go out and buy a new fridge.... crazy!! Mold can MESS YOU UP!!!! Wear a mask!!!

[Hockey Mon]

When we had to clean the house Les lived in with his ex -wife (she lived there by herself for a few years and then decided that she didn't want to make the effort to clean it... she abruptly moved out and left us a huge mess - in a bad market.

I tackled the refrigerator and other cleaning while Les "repaired" and got the house "sale" ready. I opened the refrigerator - (She had not bothered to clean it out yet unplugged it and left it like that for a week or so) I cannot even describe in words how much mold was in the refrigerator.... the entire surfaces were covered with mold. I was in a hurry since we had open house in two days and decided to "Bleach" the crap out of it. I filled the tub with bleach and dumped all the drawers and trays etc... in the tub. THen I filled a spray bottle with bleach and started cleaning.... I didn't think to wear a mask - MY MISTAKE!! Apparantly I released millions of mold spores as I "scrubbed" and wiped down the fridge....

For the entire month of February I was sick .... no antibiotic worked - the Dr said if the third round didn't work he was going to have to put me in the hospital to go on IV .

It was horrible... we were on a ski trip for our 5 year anniversary... I couldn't get out of bed in the morning... by 3pm I was barely able to move and one time fell asleep on Les's arm at dinner and the next night at a concert....

I have NO DOUBT that whatever was in that fridge mixed with cleaners was strong enough to send people to the hospital. Of course if I was in an office environment - I would have thought twice and said - I'm not touching that... in my situation I didn't have the time or $$ to go out and buy a new fridge.... crazy!! Mold can MESS YOU UP!!!! Wear a mask!!!

I probably should have finished my lunch before I read that. Eeww.

[ph4ever]

I'm cleaning out the office fridge next week

[Frank4]

as my two year old would say, "EW, Daddy"

[Hockey Mon]

I'm cleaning out the office fridge next week

You'll want this:

[sonofabeach]

I pump freon out of fridges every other day at my job so I'm almost used to it.
The worst smell I've smelled was when I put a tv dinner in the freezer, then in the fridge to thaw. Then I forgot it was there and put it back up to the freezer a day or two later . When I finally cooked it it smelled like death. Stunk up the whole breakroom.

[surfpirate]

Memorial Day Weekend last year I broke out a new "toy" (gas engine power pressure washer) and decided to clean my whole exterior house. So all day on a Saturday I tackled the siding, the deck, the patios and blasted water at tons of mold and moss and whatever ... cleaned the house top to bottom.

I was sick for the next month. I got so carried away I didn't wear any kind of mask and I was blasting bits of cement off the patio and breathing that dust in as well as every bit of moss, etc. I was blasting off of the siding, deck etc.

Big mistake. Definitely wear a mask when you do any type of heavy duty cleaning.

[LIBuffettFan]

I think I can relate to how nasty that must have been. I had a spare freezer we had in the garage for storing extra frozen foods die at some point in the last few weeks. I went into it this weekend to get something out and WOW!!!, I almost lost it on the spot. Before I could open it I had to drag it out of the garage for fear of the smell getting into my house. It was pretty close to one of the nastiest things I have ever had to deal with. I wouldn't even want to guess what funky stuff was living in there.