Hi folks, just got back from a short vaca and found out a new client of mine just spent 4 days in the hospital after we cleaned her cheering gym.

Specifics: about 3k SF, Releasit DS @ 4oz/gal mixed with Odorcide @ 6oz/gal.

Never had issues before, and the entire gym was just about dry before we left. Apparently an hour or so after we left, her throat swelled and she had to be rushed to the emergency room.

I asked if she had any allergies to Tea Tree Oil before we started and she said no. I haven't had a chance to check the Odorcide MSDS in detail yet.

Any info would help!

Matt we have never heard of anyone ever having a reaction like that to Odorcide or any of the Releasit products. For her throat to close up, it sounds like she had an allergic reaction of some kind. These two products are safe and non-hazordous. How were the products applied? Were they scrubbed in using a solution tank? Or were they sprayed onto the carpet?

Encap-Clean DS is comprised of ammonium laurel sulfate (same stuff that's in hair shampoo), polymer, isopropyl alcohol, a small amount of tea tree oil, and small amount of fluoro-protector. None of the ingredients are considered hazardous as you can see from their descriptions on the MSDS below.

Even though the products are very safe, everyone has different physiologies. Perhaps there is an ingredient that this woman was susceptible to. Perhaps there was a reaction to something in her carpet that was activated when the carpet was cleaned. Or perhaps it may have been triggered by a combination of various factors.

I am very sorry to hear that your client appears to have had some kind of a reaction to the cleaning. This has me puzzled since the products are used so widely and no one is experiencing conditions like this. Literally millions of square feet of carpet have been cleaned with Releasit Encap-Clean DS, and no one has ever had a strong reaction like this. And Odorcide is a very prominent odor counteractant product that is used in many applications including a very large base in veterinary field.

I don't have more information than this. The whole thing is a bit of a mystery. The products are mild. It sounds like she may have had an allergic reaction to one of the ingredients in either of the products. Or it might have been triggered by a contaminant that was in her carpet which reacted to the cleaning. Or it may have been something entirely unrelated to the cleaning. It is hard to say for sure. However I am sorry to hear that your customer experienced these conditions and I am sorry for the concern that it has caused you.

Here are the MSDS sheets...

Here is the MSDS for Encap-Clean DS
http://excellent-supply.com/msds/encap-clean-ds_MSDS.pdf

And here is the MSDS for Odorcide 210
http://excellent-supply.com/msds/MSDS_Odorcide.pdf

Please contact me if you have any need at all --- rick@excellent-supply.com 1-800-330-1888 ext 301










Rick Gelinas

Never take blame for somethinh that probably is not your fault.
What if it was something she just ate or drank with in that time frame, or even put on a new outfit but did not wash the sizing our of it and reacted.
There are other things it could be also, you just do not know. While it could be something in your cleaning agents, Rick pointed out other factors again that could be the cause.

Accepting blame can lead to someone trying to empty your pocketbook

This is my pet peeve when I read about cleaners mixing two different products, who is at fault when a problem like this happens.

Don I have to agree about mixing chemicals, but remember those two product have been tested to work together safley

Thanks for the info Rick. It was applied via the Mex.

I know it can't be the DS, and have never had a problem with Odorcide either.

As Dave said, It could be something totaly unrelated to the cleaning, and NO I will not be taking responsibility to her reaction.

As a cleaning professional Im not going to use something that could possibly harm my client, however, as unrelated as her reaction quite possibly could be, it is a disaster for future/refered work that I will be getting from her clients that use the gym. They all have assumed it was the cleaning.

Can't win them all!

Tested by whom? Maybe tested to not effect the encapsulation of the product. Bet it was never tested for how it could possibly effect humans!!!!!

That is probably very true Don. But the intent of many products such as Odorcide, enzyme additives and other deodorizer type products are designed by those manufacturers to be added to other products to enhance performance to remove odors. with so many people becoming chemically sensitive, it's almost impossible to get a product that would be totally safe for every person and still do the necessary task. Heck, just put some peanut oil in your pre spray and I guarantee that in a year you will literally kill many people and that is a food item.

I'm not sure that there is any possible way to get something totally safe that will not negatively affect somebody. I really wish there was an answer.

Rick Thode
rick.thode@releasit.ca
Your Canadian Source for Releasit/Cimex

We are all made differently.

We all may react to different substances diferently.

What may not effect one hundred million people, may affect one.

Even water, which we can't live without, is a deady killer in it's own right.

Try holding your head under three feet of water for thirty minutes and see what your reaction is. !!



Just because one person got ill from an UNKNOWN substance, doesn't mean that the product being blamed for the illness, should never ever be used again in the same manner.

Many people are allergic to fish, papaya, prawns, mangoes, peanuts, etc;

This doesn't mean that they can't be eaten safely by the rest of the population worldwide.



Maybe the lady should have an allergy test to see what she is unaware of what she is allergic to.

Just because she is healthy in her body from gym workouts, doesn't mean that her body physiology is not immune from all substances.

She may even find that it was not the products that are being blamed.

A toxicologist can do this.

Whatever, we as carpet cleaners are not qualified to ascertain what prompted her illness, that is best left to the medical profession who don't clean carpets.

Ooroo,

Shortestwun.

I've seen the light, and changed my wicked ways.
www.get.shorty.com.au