At work we deal with shipping containers. Most are from China. Lately I've had a burning cough and an itch in my lungs. It is affecting my wife also since she works with me now. Funny thing is, The exterior on these containers look very old and worn where the interior looks new. Few other coworkers are experiencing this also. Management swears nothing is wrong.
It has been three days now and not getting better. If not worse. Doc is not possible. No insurance even through employer. I don't think its the trailers I'm loading because they're different carriers from different places. And all are major carriers like Schneider, Swift, JB Hunt, Wal-Mart etc... and when I worked at a receiving dock for a store it never happened. what could this be?

 

Whatever it is it can`t be good. Thinking contaminated dust

 

why do the insides look new? hmmmm
Just an example -Starting in2001 China began contaminated drywall, heres an excerpt: Over 3,000 homeowners have reported that drywall imported from China has caused health problems and metal corrosion in their homes. The contaminated drywall has high levels of sulfur, which may be responsible for a rotten egg smell in affected homes, blackened or corroded pipes, failure of air conditioners and other household appliances, and health problems such as asthma, coughing, headaches, sore throats, and irritated eyes.

Sneaky country for sure. Wish you well

 

check the outside of the container for markings present/scrapped off (generally located at the doors) that indicate the container was fumigated.

 

All we can see is the very back where the doors meet the body and part of the trailer chassis. Doesn't help we work at night. Tomorrow night I'll see if I can see anything.

 

What state are you in now? Most have some sort of worker's comp, here it's called L&I, and even if your boss tells you to quit whining you can go to the hospital and get checked out. I have done this a few times and found things like severe shin splints and tendonitis. In some cases, if the boss threatens your job or fires you for seeking aid, they can be massively fined.

 

Get you and yer Miss to the Damn Doc ya Fool. Think of her health if not yer own.
Ya promised to take care of her when ya married did you Not?
Heath is more important than money. Just think about suffering from some lung
problem for 20 years or so before ya die. And not being able to breath, And watch yer
wife suffer. All because ya was stubborn and trying to save a buck.
Yes I know all about being young and stupid. Thinking I would be fine and the job
was most important. But I wasn't killing my wife at the time either. Just sayin
Bud. Get you guys looked at before ya become a burden on the Health system.

 

I can't attach pictures but do a Google image search: type in "fumigation markings on containers" then you will know what to look for. Alot of times they are somewhat scrapped off.

 

I agree your health is more important.. There are other jobs...

If they threaten you then report it to the EPA and OSHA.. They should be giving you respirators to wear..

If they do have them wear them..

 

Relax.
Who said "saving" money? What I said was we could not afford it. Doc costs more than we currently have. Been out of work for few months.

I'm in TX. Earlier she couldn't breath then her nose was bleeding. She won't go to the ER like I told her.

 

I gotta agree with the others, get you and your wife to the doc for a check. The cost of the visit could be paid off by skipping the cost of some cigs, cocktails, a few fast food meals. If the doc says it's nothing serious then at least you and your wife will be comforted in knowing that. Just ignoring the symptoms and not knowing if you both are exposed to something serious may lead to serious complications.

If your employer does not provide the respirators, I'd plunk the money down on a couple half masks and use the cartridges for organic filtration.

You two may have been exposed to something simple like exotic fruit/veggie pollens that you have not been around before. Or maybe the smog remnants from one country was so full in the containers that it was enough to affect you both. There are so many possibilities, as those crates come and go all over the world.

Oh ya, if you two smoke that would make you more supseptable(sp?) to airborne crud that may adversely affect your respiration. Giving that up could only benefit you. I gave up cigars a few years back and my lungs have been doing much better and I rarely get sick anymore.

 

While typing that last response, She came from the bedroom this morning around 3:30 and said she has a nose bleed and coughing up blood. I didn't get a chance to finish typing. I told her we're going and I don't care about the $18,000 bill. After a UA, some bloodwork, Xrays, and treatment, it was found she has a severe case of bronchitis and I have a mild case. Doc asked what we do for a living and I told him and he said almost exactly what cigar did. Some of those containers smell bad or just funky. She is thinking of taking a day or two off because she is so easily winded now from the inhaler and meds. I noticed some of these boxes have yellow dust that looks like chaulk but it has dark spots in it... The one we we're in tonight was "hanjin" and had a label inside that said it has Zinc rich paint and primer. Also seen the dust reflects light from the LED dock lights we have. Aparently we're the first people to open these containers since they come into this country. I don't know at this point.

 

Good that you went to the doctor and found out early enough before a more serious condition developed..

 

Whew. Glad ya'll got diagnosed and checked out. Wow, that must be a very very serious case of bronchitis to have nose bleed and coughing up blood. I've had really bad bronchitis that made me go to the hospital but never bad enough to have blood come out. I hope ya'll recover soon. The horse pill sized antibiotics really work well for that crud.

Also, if your employer does not pay for it, i'd still plunk the money down and get the half face respirators, if ya'll plan to keep doing that job. I use one in my garage at home, and had work pay for one that I keep in my desk drawer while on shift. I actually used it a month ago during a smokey building emergency evacuation.

And don't know if you know, but once you get bronchitis you will be way more supsceptable to reoccurring bronchitis. I got it for the first time at work a few years back because someone was too dumb to stay home sick instead of coughing up their lungs at work. They spread it to several people. Me being a cigar smoker at the time, made my lungs weaker. Each year after that I got bronchitis each year. After quiting cigars my lung function came back to as close to normal as possible and haven't had bronchitis in years. If ya'll smoke i'd highly consider trying to quit. Best of luck to both of you on your recovery.

 

Between the yellow, "sparkling", and black "dust" then BLACK MOLD on the ceiling on another....Lets not add the mosquitos from all the marsh land. Its a wonder we're all not dead. Employer doesn't provide any kind of PPE. And if they do, you barrow it. Which means if you ask for a back brace, you may get one with someone elses sweat and "funk" on it. Hope no one wants a space furnance from a certain large retailer.......