By Shawn Raymundo
The three-hour lab, taught by Professor Anne Healy, had been using pure Ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol or drinking alcohol, when the two girls began to feel nauseous. Classmate, Diane Hannan, said, "they turned red and blush and couldn't breathe."
Early speculation, from administration, over the cause of the incident was
possible equipment failure in the air vents. However, according to Healy an inspection took place after the students were sent home, and found no problems or malfunctions.
possible equipment failure in the air vents. However, according to Healy an inspection took place after the students were sent home, and found no problems or malfunctions.
It is still unclear what caused the sudden complications but Healy believes it was a mixture of the heat and chemicals in the air. According to Healy, the lab gets warm due to the use of sterilizers in order to inoculate needles and other supplies the lab uses.
"I think (it's) just a combination of a lot of smelly chemicals and it gets warm in there," said Healy. "Some people just find it really irritating and unpleasant. So I think that's all it really was… weird chemical odors."
The two girls began to feel better after paramedics treated them with oxygen to breathe. Healy ran into one of the students some time later and said she had been feeling a lot better since the incident.
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