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Exposure to mystery A mystery chemical at the Mililani Wal-Mart has stricken as many as 30 people with various ailments within the last two days, according to Honolulu fire officials.
substance ails Mililani
Wal-Mart employees
As many as 30 people suffer
rashes, nausea and other symptomsBy Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.comEmergency crews on the scene last night said the symptoms included skin rashes, itchy throats, nausea, and skin and eye irritation.
Fire Capt. Kenison Tejada said the problem started Thursday when Wal-Mart employees opened a shipping container to unload a number of items. That first exposure sent 13 Wal-Mart employees to the hospital for treatment.
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Then, yesterday morning, employees tried to unload the same container, thinking that the problem had passed, Tejada said. This time, whatever was in the air sent 17 people to either Wahiawa General Hospital or the Fire Department's hazardous materials team."I guess they felt safe to go back into the container," said Tejada. "There were no visible spills or leaks."
"We pulled all the products that were delivered in that container according to the manifest," said Tejada. "We did tests for ammonia and chlorine and we got negative readings, so we're not quite sure what it is yet."
A pallet with products from the container had made it into the store and eventually forced Wal-Mart to evacuate and shut down for several hours yesterday. The store closed at 3:15 p.m. and reopened at 7:20 p.m.
Officials from the state Department of Health were on scene to try and identify the agent that caused the irritation. Tejada said the products in the container included household cleansers and paper plates.