By Jill Erzen

Kelly Marsh never used to think about breathing as soon as she woke up. But she does now — after doctors told her that exposure to disinfectant chemicals used to meet COVID-era workplace rules permanently damaged her lungs.

Kelly told CHD.TV’s “The People’s Study” that before 2020, breathing was effortless. She was an active young mother who volunteered and loved running, biking and walking.

“I just was full of life,” she said.

That changed after Kelly returned to the U.S. with her husband, Kent Marsh, following years abroad while Kent served in the military. Kelly went back to work as a hair stylist in January 2020, just as pandemic protocols began reshaping workplaces.

“Unfortunately, that was the worst choice that she could have made,” Kent said.

New COVID-era sanitation rules required salons to disinfect between each client. Kelly said her workplace began using a Lysol multi-surface cleaner that hadn’t been part of their routine.

She noticed symptoms almost immediately. At work, a burning sensation hit her nose and throat, but faded when she got home and removed her mask. Soon, the irritation moved into her chest — and didn’t go away.

“That is really where my nightmare started,” she said.

Every day potentially ‘becomes a rescue situation for me’

Later in 2020, doctors diagnosed Kelly with reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS). The condition, which causes persistent asthma-like symptoms, can develop after exposure to respiratory irritants.

Her doctors attributed the condition to chemicals in the workplace and told her she couldn’t return to her job. Kent said there is no cure and no way to reverse the injury, only manage it.

Federal health officials knew of the risks well before COVID-19 mandates were in place.

In 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) wrote that “some ingredients found in disinfectants and sanitizers can trigger work-related asthma. They may also cause new asthma.”

Those ingredients include quaternary ammonium compounds found in Lysol.

Kent said the danger isn’t hidden — just overlooked. The risk that the chemical in Lysol can cause asthma is “quietly listed on the bottle,” he said.

Quaternary ammonium compounds — often called “quats” — are widely used disinfectants. Product information tied to these chemicals noted links to asthma and RADS, and warned that even liquid cleaners can pose risks with heavy use or poor ventilation.

Kent said ventilation in the building where Kelly worked was limited, especially after the pandemic shutdowns. That intensified her exposure, he said.

More recent research has reinforced those concerns. A March study from the University of California, Davis, found that “breathing in common disinfectant chemicals known as quaternary ammonium compounds, or QACs, may be far more harmful than swallowing them.”

For Kelly, the diagnosis reshaped every part of daily life. “My entire life now is completely wrapped up around specialists, appointments, doctors, therapies,” she said. “It’s overwhelming.”

She said exposure to common irritants like cigarette smoke, perfumes and cleaning sprays can quickly escalate into a crisis. “It becomes a rescue situation for me,” she said. Even routine outings are “extraordinarily difficult,” she said.

Kelly sometimes has to wear a mask even when she’s alone in her car, and she avoids places where airborne irritants may be present. Trips to the grocery store or church carry risk, and the fatigue that comes with breathing challenges turns simple tasks into major obstacles.

Proposed bill requires transparency to inform workers of their rights

After her diagnosis, Kelly turned to the workers’ compensation system for help. Her claim was denied.

Kent said cases involving “invisible injuries” are often rejected early. The couple sought help from the state and attorneys, but said they found little guidance and didn’t understand their options.

They assumed the denial was final.

Only later did they learn they had the right to appeal — and that filing an appeal is free. By then, the deadline had passed. South Carolina does not require officials to notify injured workers of their right to appeal or explain the process.

Kelly also received no disability benefits, including long-term support, because she had not built up enough work credits under Social Security.

That experience prompted a push for change.

The Marshes reached out to state Rep. Mark Smith. Together, they proposed the Injured Workers Transparency Act, introduced in January and now under consideration in the South Carolina House Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry.

The bill aims to close the information gap that they say left them without options. It would require workers’ compensation claim and denial forms to clearly explain workers’ rights, including that the insurance carrier represents the employer, not the worker.

It would also explain how to appeal a denial, where to file and what deadlines apply.

If enacted, the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission would have to update its forms by Jan. 1, 2027.

Lawmakers must ‘take a stand, make it right’

Kelly said she wants others to understand both the risks that changed her life and the rights she didn’t know she had.

“Look what this has done to me,” she said. “Who is going to stand up and do something about it?”

She urged lawmakers to act, asking them to “take a stand, make it right.”

Kent said while injuries like his wife’s may not always be preventable, the system that follows them should not make recovery harder.

Lawmakers may not be able to stop every injury case, he said, “but you can change the laws and the procedures that follow to give them support and … to help them through that process.”

Watch Kelly and Kent Marsh on ‘The People’s Study’ here:

Related articles in The Defender

• Chemicals in Hand Sanitizers, Disinfectants May Harm Children’s Brain Development
• Ingredient in Popular Disinfectant Wipes Linked to Reproductive Health Issues
• Researchers Sound Alarm About Harmful Chemicals in Common Disinfectants

The post COVID Cleaning Protocols Left Woman With Permanent Lung Damage — and No Compensation appeared first on Children’s Health Defense.

 

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