A housekeeper at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore has filed an OxyCide lawsuit against Ecolab, saying its popular cleaner caused her physical harm.

Sabrina W. says she used OxyCide Daily Disinfectant Cleaner and OxyCide Dilution Management System in the course of her work as a housekeeper. After Johns Hopkins began using OxyCide to clean its facilities, sometime between the latter part of 2017 and early 2018, Sabrina says she began experiencing a range of adverse symptoms. She attributes these injuries to OxyCide, saying Ecolab was well aware of the dangers of its cleaners but sold them anyway.

Sabrina stresses that she used the products correctly, in compliance with all instructions and warnings provided by the manufacturer. Nonetheless, she claims that because of OxyCide, she experienced headaches, dizziness, eye pain, stomach pain, skin irritation, and swelling. On one occasion, Sabrina says, her lips became so swollen that her employer documented the adverse reaction.

On another occasion, she says, the back of her ears became severely irritated by the chemical, leaving her skin permanently discolored.

Sabrina says that she told her supervisor about the issues she was experiencing with OxyCide, but the supervisor’s response was to cover up as much as possible and wash irritated skin with soap and water.

The OxyCide lawsuit goes on to say that Sabrina saw her doctor for help with the symptoms and told her medical provider that she believed she was experiencing an allergic reaction to OxyCide. Sabrina noted prior to using OxyCide, she had not experienced the symptoms she attributed to the cleaner.

She then reportedly complained to management, noting that other hospital staffers and patients had made similar complaints about the cleaner.

To support her claim that Ecolab is aware of OxyCide’s dangers yet continues to sell it, Sabrina cites OxyCide’s history. She states that from the beginning of the product’s sale, the company did not sufficiently warn the public about its problems.

According to the OxyCide lawsuit, the popular chemical cleaner was first sold in early 2015. Even in its earliest distribution to just 500 hospitals around the country, healthcare workers complained about its negative effects on their health, the suit states, specifically that it caused burning eyes, throat, and nose, cough, headaches, nasal issues, nausea, respiratory problems, skin rashes and burns, and other problems.

Sabrina goes on to say that OxyCide cleaning products were tested and found to contain dangerous chemicals that can harm humans. The cleaner contains peracetic acid, which can cause asthma and trigger immune responses and respiratory problems, according to Sabrina’s OxyCide lawsuit.

Even at low levels, peracetic acid may cause health problems. Some studies have indicated that exposure to peracetic acid can cause liver and kidney problems, according to the OxyCide lawsuit. Industry experts have reportedly said that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) method for examining concentrations of the dangerous chemical is flawed, leaving healthcare workers exposed to possibly damaging amounts of the chemical.

In 2015, more than 200 healthcare workers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center reportedly complained to OSHA about OxyCide health problems, Pittsburgh City Paper reported. 

Ecolab maintains that OxyCide is safe, saying it is essential to fight serious bacteria and viruses like Clostridium difficile, virulent bacteria that plague hospitals.

The OxyCide Lawsuit is Case No. 0-20-cv-01647, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.