Thin air causes “itchy eyes,” fainting, and even “sores.” The workers of the National Center for Microbiology, fed up with the same situation being repeated for the third consecutive year, protested this Thursday at the doors of the institution in Majadahonda (Madrid). “We cannot avoid this situation reminding us of what happened with asbestos. We don’t know in the future what the consequences will be,” explains one person among the hundred protesters who prefers to remain anonymous.
The truth is that the center has not been able to resolve the situation that began in October 2022 when a substance poisoned 48 workers, forced work hours to be limited for weeks and disrupted work with research animals at the center, such as elDiario.es revealed with the documents obtained by Nietzche’s Horse. The panorama, according to the workers, has not changed and the fears remain: “The mice in the animal facility are aborting, so we do not know what could happen, for example, with women who are of fertile age,” they say. About 500 people pass through the Majadahonda Campus of the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII) a day, of which 300 enter and leave the National Center for Microbiology building.
Acrolein is ruled out as a possible cause
After investigating what could be behind these irritations and poisonings, the researchers concluded that it must be the substance acrolein. This chemical agent is generated in combustion processes, incineration, in landfills and is contained in aquatic biocides. It is toxic if inhaled or ingested. The problem is that it was not used in the center and it had not been detected where it could come from. However, those affected point out, this hypothesis was recently discarded, even though they did not receive many explanations as to why.
A year later, the situation was repeated. There were also workers affected in the eyes and mouth. The ISCIII did not reveal how many people needed assistance, although worker sources estimated that it had been something similar to 12 months earlier. And, as then, the source of the problem could not be located either.
“They send us to MAPFRE, but since MAPFRE does not have notification from the institution that there is a gas problem, when we go with abrasions on our tongue or nose they simply say that we have that, an abrasion, but they cannot justify it as a occupational disease. “I have gone to the Social Security doctor to have it recorded in my clinical history,” says one of the people who work in this laboratory.
“If in a few years there are serious consequences on our health, surely no one will be responsible for it. What if in a few years five women in the laboratory have breast cancer? How are they going to prove that it was because of what they have been breathing here, if one in three women already suffers from it? However, a long time ago they took away the litters of mice because they were not thriving and were no longer breeding,” explains a worker.
On both occasions, the leaks were detected starting in October. And in 2024 the same thing is happening, according to what the workers tell elDiario.es. The origin of the chemical agent remains a mystery, although it is thought that it could be related to the heating system. “In the summer I have not had any symptoms of anything, but it has been to turn on the heating again or whatever they do, come back now in October, and start to have symptoms,” says one of those affected.
“The facilities meet the standard”
The Institute explains to elDiario.es that “the facilities comply with the standard regarding ventilation,” and assures that “no toxic substances of any kind have been detected at any time nor has there been any release or discharge of any toxic substance.” However, it admits that “the automated control of ventilation in facilities may be insufficient when certain circumstances occur, such as an accumulation of activities or processes that produce a large amount of odors such as sterilization, cleaning of equipment or the production of certain products. which can cause discomfort to workers.”
The management states that “renovations have been planned to increase the ventilatory flow” in the facilities. In addition, they assure, to order the “limitation of activities, implementation of maintenance and control procedures for facilities, and continued monitoring by the Institute’s occupational health services.”
This Wednesday, the workers received a message calling them to an “information session” on October 29 about the “audit and actions carried out in relation to the air quality situation of building 53. They will also be informed about the new measures to be taken,” the communication states.
“An external company has been hired to carry out an audit of the ventilation system and they have not obtained conclusive results either,” say the workers, who say that Occupational Health has told them that it is “suggestion.” But, they insist, “a sore is not a suggestion.” “It is happening to more than one of us and frequently. There are people who have even fainted and fallen to the floor,” says a person employed at the center who prefers to preserve his identity.
They assure that if they were dedicated to another sector they would have “given up” a long time ago, but they emphasize that since it is a center that receives samples from all the hospitals in Spain, they cannot and do not want to do so: “It is about people.”
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