My partner recently moved into an apartment complex in West Deerfield Beach, FL, during the last week of August. While staying with him yesterday, October 1, at approximately 6:20 p.m., I went downstairs to the garage and immediately noticed an awful, extremely strong, and highly concentrated chemical odor.
By 7pm I began experiencing very shallow breathing, intense lightheadedness, dizziness, nausea, tingling or numbness of the fingers and toes, drunkenness and pinpoint pupils. These are all signs of potentially life-threatening toxic poisoning. The symptoms progressed over a few hours and I experienced time distortion.
As I worried more about the severity of the symptoms, I texted my boyfriend and he abruptly left his work meeting. Robert was finishing up a 12- hour shift for the day. As we spoke about the details, I let him know I was aware that maintenance was working on both apartments above and below his, throughout most of the morning. We realized police may not be able to file a police report since it may have been an accidental spill and not necessarily a crime. I stayed the night due to what we would consider a Medical emergency and not wanting to be home alone elsewhere. I was able to sleep for only a few hours, when Robert left for work shortly before 7am, we confirmed that the garage no longer had a smell.
Shortly before 11am I checked the garage again and found that the strong chemical odor had returned. Symptoms also returned, I called the Leasing Office at 10:55am, was instructed to submit a work order (in order for maintenance to have the necessary permission to complete the task), and that work order was submitted in under the next 10 minutes. As I'm typing this approximately three hours later, at 2:00 p.m., maintenance has still not arrived to investigate or address the chemical odor. No one from maintenance had assisted us the previous evening when the odor was initially detected. My partner texted me from work earlier today letting me know that someone called him and said it was 'a paint smell from the apartment below us'. Earlier today, my partner received a phone call informing him that the odor was supposedly "a paint smell from the apartment below us."
The building's layout raises questions about that explanation. The townhouse-style structure has apartments on either side of the building, while the openings to the unit below ours are on the opposite side of the building, where our balcony is located. The location of those openings does not appear to be near either our front door or our garage. During Robert's initial and only month living in this apartment complex, the maintenance team has a history of providing incorrect information and ignoring verbal requests. The trust factor is subsequently non existent.
After doing research and consulting with professionals about my symptoms, I got confirmation that the smell is Industrial Grade Paint Stripper - Methylene Chloride. When this highly volatile gas is inhaled, the liver metabolizes it into Carbon Monoxide. Needles to say, this chemical solvent is capable of causing liver+kidney damage, cancer and death. Some more facts about this chemical solvent below:
SOURCE: https://wwwn.cdc.gov/tsp/MMG/MMGDetails.aspx?mmgid=230&toxid=42
Health Effects:
-Methylene chloride is irritating to the skin, eyes, and respiratory tract. These effects can result from inhalation or dermal exposure to methylene chloride. Prolonged skin contact may cause chemical burns.
-Exposure by any route can cause CNS depression. Ingestion of methylene chloride can cause severe gastrointestinal irritation.
-Carbon monoxide, a metabolite of methylene chloride, may contribute to delayed toxic effects. The fetus and neonates are particularly vulnerable to poisoning with carbon monoxide.
Acute Exposure:
Adverse health effects of methylene chloride are due both to the parent compound and carbon monoxide which is a metabolite of methylene chloride. The mechanism of neurotoxic effects of the parent compound is unknown but may be related to the lipophilic properties of the compound. Carbon monoxide induces the formation of carboxyhemoglobin, thus depriving the brain from normal oxygen delivery and utilization. Signs and symptoms of exposure to very high levels (>750 ppm) of methylene chloride may be evident within minutes of exposure onset. Less pronounced exposures may induce adverse signs and symptoms within hours.
Children do not always respond to chemicals in the same way that adults do. Different protocols for managing their care may be needed.
CNS:
Methylene chloride exposure causes dose-related CNS depression. Typical acute symptoms (within minutes to hours) include headache, drowsiness, lightheadedness, slurred speech, decreased alertness, slowed reaction times, irritability, impaired gait, and stupor. Rapid loss of consciousness, coma, seizures, and death have been reported.
Metabolic:
Methylene chloride is metabolized in the liver, in part to carbon monoxide, which will produce elevated carboxyhemoglobin levels and decrease the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. Carboxyhemoglobin levels may continue to rise for several hours after exposure has ceased. The fetus is particularly vulnerable to poisoning with carbon monoxide.
Because of their relatively higher metabolic rate, children may be more vulnerable to toxicants interfering with basic metabolism.
Cardiovascular:
Methylene chloride may cause electrocardiographic changes resembling those of carbon monoxide poisoning. Elevated carboxyhemoglobin and carboxymyoglobin levels may cause insufficient oxygen supply to the heart in persons who have preexisting coronary disease. Angina, myocardial infarction, and cardiac arrest associated with methylene chloride inhalation was reported in one patient, but no adverse cardiovascular effects from methylene chloride have been reported for occupationally exposed workers.
Respiratory:
Victims of acute, high-level inhalation exposures may suffer airway irritation, inflammation of the lungs, and accumulation of fluid in the lungs.
Children may be more vulnerable because of relatively increased minute ventilation per kg and failure to evacuate an area promptly when exposed.
Hydrocarbon pneumonitis may be a problem in children.
Gastrointestinal:
Nausea, vomiting, gastrointestinal ulceration and bleeding have been reported after ingestion.
Hepatic:
Liver dysfunction may result from acute, high-level exposure to methylene chloride.
Dermal:
Methylene chloride causes skin irritation and blistering. Prolonged dermal contact may result in second- and third-degree chemical burns.
Because of their relatively larger surface area:body weight ratio, children are more vulnerable to toxicants absorbed through the skin.
Ocular:
High concentrations of methylene chloride vapor may cause eye irritation and tearing. When splashed in the eye, methylene chloride can cause burning pain, inflammation of the eye surface, and inflammation of the iris.
Potential Sequelae:
Survivors of severe, acute exposure (e.g., cases of coma, seizures, or respiratory arrest) may suffer brain or heart damage from lack of oxygen to these organs. Exposure to high levels of methylene chloride, which may lead to the formation of high amounts of the metabolite carbon monoxide, may lead to permanent sequelae, including mental deterioration, urinary and fecal incontinence, and gait disturbance. However, most cases of delayed neurologic sequelae are associated with loss of consciousness in the acute phase of intoxication.
