National Class Action Lawsuit Over OxyCide Cleaners

A nationwide class action lawsuit was filed this week against Ecolab, Inc. related to injuries caused by its products, OxyCide Daily Disinfectant Cleaner and OxyCide Dilution Management System.  Both cleaning products were first distributed to 500 hospitals nationwide in 2013. Since then, hospital workers have reported serious injuries such as burning of the eyes, nose, and throat, nasal problems, coughing, headaches, dizziness, nausea, nose bleeds, respiratory irritation, skin burns, rashes, and other reactions affection pulmonary and respiratory function. 

Testing of the products revealed dangerous chemical compounds known to cause adverse health effects.  Peracetic acid, or peroxyacetic acid, is a known asthma-causing substance with causes immune response and adverse respiratory effects, even at low exposure levels.  The lawsuit alleges Ecolab knew this yet, continued to sell the products and refused to perform any testing of their products.  In addition, it alleges there were no, or inappropriate warnings, on the cleaning products, so users could not take the necessary precautions to protect themselves while using the products.