An employee of the Goodwill retail store in Bel Air became sick Saturday morning after a powdered chemical substance, which is used to make tear gas, was released as he was sorting through boxes of items that had recently arrived, according to a Harford County fire service spokesperson.
Members of the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company and the Harford County HAZMAT responded to the store, in the 700 block of Belair Road, at 8:45 a.m.
The chemical, classified as 2-Chlorobenzylidene malononitrile, is used to make tear gas, according to Rich Gardiner, spokesperson for the Harford County Volunteer Fire & EMS Association.
Gardiner said the employee had some respiratory issues from the powder, but he declined to be taken to a hospital.
"There is no harm to the community or environment," he said in a text message.
The chemical, which is also known as CS, is typically used as a "nonlethal chemical agent" to gain control during riots, and people are exposed to it through their eyes, skin and respiratory systems, according to the online Toxicology Data Network, published through the National Library of Medicine.
The National Library of Medicine is part of the National Institutes of Health.
Symptoms of exposure to CS include "intense irritation" of a person's mucous membranes or skin, along with experiencing tightness in the chest, coughing, sneezing, a sore throat, difficulty breathing or nausea and vomiting, according to the Toxicology Data Network.
Anyone exposed to the chemical should wash the exposed area with soap and water, remove any clothing that has been contaminated, and use "copious amounts" of water to wash his or her eyes for up to 15 minutes.
Firefighters and HAZMAT workers could be seen in photos from the scene at Goodwill wearing full protective gear, including masks, respirators and suits.
Gardiner said the release was limited to the area of the store where the affected employee was working, and the substance remained in the box.
He said HAZMAT workers evaluated the powdered substance as well as the packaging it arrived in and then tested it.
The material was then packed up "for disposal," according to a post from Gardiner on the Association's public information Facebook page.
Emergency workers left the scene by 2 p.m., and Gardiner said the store reopened afterward.
Goodwill stores take donations of "clean, gently used clothing and household items" from the public, and the proceeds from the sales of those items support Goodwill's job training and placement programs, according to the Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake Inc. website.
Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake operates 29 stores in the Baltimore area and on the Eastern Shore.
Diana Creasy, marketing manager for the organization, said the affected employee was opening a bag of donated items in the rear area of the store when the "powdery substance" was released. Creasy said the substance came out of a donated "military bag," but she did not know where the container came from.
The chemical release happened shortly before the store opened at 9 a.m. Saturday, and all employees were evacuated from the store, Creasy said.
She said the employee who was exposed returned to work Saturday after spending several hours with EMS personnel.
"The EMTs were there, just watching over everybody, making sure they were OK," she said.
Creasy said the Bel Air store reopened a few hours after the emergency crews left, and it is open for business.
Anyone who wishes to donate items to Goodwill in Bel Air should visit the rear of the store, and an employee will collect them and provide a receipt.
A list of acceptable items is online at http://www.goodwillches.org/accepted-items.