I came across this today, and had never even though it could be a problem, but evidently it is.
Police: Carbon dioxide led to death in McDonald’s bathroom
I am a bit skeptical of the claim because basic science tells us that you need way more CO2 than comes out of a blow off tube to fill even a bathroom sized room, but even if it isn’t the case, the PR damage is already done.
I do not use fountain drinks , so I don’t know this, do they put an indicator scent in CO2 like they do natural gas? CO2 is naturally oderless and tasteless. I would think if they put an odor in the gas it would carry over into the drinks. The story said they had a strong odor present which would make me think it was not the CO2.
That’s odd that there is a claim of CO2 being the culprit. The original story when it broke mentioned cleaning chemicals applied incorrectly and the initial teams on site were reporting a chemical odor in the bathroom areas.
CO2 had no odor . . . but it will burn your nose like all hell if you take a big sniff of it. Long time beer maker . . . made that mistake a couple good times at least.
Seems chlorine gas would be more likely if cleaning chemicals were part of the actual report.
Improper use of cleaning chemicals seems much more plausable. For example, how many people realize that the simple mixing of chlorine and ammonia produces what is essentially mustard gas (made popular in WWI). Because carbon dioxide is heavier than air, it flows and seeps therough cracks like you have under a door, and it is cold too, so it actually produces a fog. I’ve been in commercial production facilities with cryogenic freezers where the carbon dioxide was literally knee deep at times, you couldn’t hardly see your feet, but the air was fine above it. Something isn’t adding up in the story.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
Chlorine and Ammonia or bleach and urine. I had an employee fill a toilet bowl with bleach to clean it and then left to do something else. I stopped by to use the restroom and it made me really sick in a matter of seconds. I knew what had happened because we use to use a lot of bleach in my bar owning days and were really strict about making sure urinals were rinsed well.