r/hazmat • u/Plsletmehaveausrname • May 05 '25
Questions workplace - air tastes spicy? (no food)
Hello,
Sorry if this is the wrong place to post, please feel free to remove this if so (though I would appreciate if someone pointed me to elsewhere if so). I work somewhere with those rage rooms - people can sometimes bring their own things, old electronics and the sort. It's all that, or broken bowls/cups, kind of thing. But the other day the air was almost spicy? I don't know how else to describe it, it felt like breathing in chili, but I know there was no food there.
Would anyone know what that might be and what to do about it?
3
u/Mmoor35 May 05 '25
Did you see what was smashed? If so, was there any small aerosol cans? It could have been pepper spray (OC spray) cans. It can smell kind of like roasted peppers, if you grew up in a Mexican household then you know what smell I mean. The capsaicin will cause a stinging sensation in your mouth and throat and it could make ur eyes water. Smashing a can of pepper spray in a rage room is a weird move tho, they could have accidentally smashed a CS pellet which would release the CS “gas” in the room but it would not be very potent after several minutes. I can’t think of any other items that would have a similar effect to what u are describing
4
u/HazMatsMan May 05 '25
If someone smashed personal electronics... that's probably what the odor is from. I don't know what your policies are, but I assume you forbid anything with batteries unless the batteries are removed and don't allow people to smash energized equipment. If someone punctures or shorts a lithium battery... the resulting reaction is both a fire hazard and a respiratory hazard.
If people are smashing old electronics like stereo equipment, those can contain large capacitors that when punctured, can produce similar odors. If enough of them are ruptured, they can be a respiratory hazard as well. If the smells are lingering or reaching other parts of the building, your "rage room" isn't properly ventilated.