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Cleaning supplies could be cause of 8 children’s seizure-like symptoms at Cambridge concert, fire department says
All eight children, between the ages of 11 and 13, had been released from local hospitals as of Wednesday morning.
After eight children were hospitalized with “seizure-like” symptoms in Cambridge Tuesday night, fire officials determined that “hazards no longer existed” but attributed an odor to cleaning supplies.
Members of the Cambridge Fire Department responded to St. Paul Parish on Mount Auburn Street around 7:30 p.m. for a medical emergency, officials said in a statement. The eight children, between the ages of 11 and 13, were performing a free concert as part of a French youth choir group touring the United States.
Crews initially responded to the church for reports of a single child experiencing “seizure-like symptoms,” according to an update from the department Wednesday morning. Around 70 other people in attendance were not affected. The Chœur d’Enfants d’Île-de-France began their concert around 6 p.m. at St. Paul’s, according to a church announcement.
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Cambridge fire said its members then arrived to find “seven additional children (pre-teens and early teens), part of a choir group complaining of similar symptoms, though not witnessed by our EMS crews on scene.”
The department’s HazMat Team evacuated the building, the department said, with equipment “to locate and isolate the source.” Some adults and children at the scene reported odors, according to WCVB, but the crews said they didn’t smell anything concerning.
An initial review of the church determined that there were no hazardous conditions present, the department said Tuesday night, which crews confirmed Wednesday morning.
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“It was determined by our HazMat team that the source of the odor may have originated with cleaning supplies that had been used shortly before the initial complaint,” Gelinas said. “After ventilating the building and utilizing metering equipment, we determined that hazards no longer existed, and the building was turned over to the owners.”
The children were treated at the church for non-life threatening emergencies and transported to hospitals with non-life threatening injuries, fire department spokesperson John Gelinas told Boston.com. All had been released from local hospitals, as of Wednesday morning.
St. Paul’s did not immediately return a request for comment.
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