Poison gases released by mixing common household cleaners probably killed two female Allegheny County Jail inmates, county officials said Monday.
Valeriya Whetsell, 50, of Homewood died early Monday at Mercy Hospital, Uptown, after falling ill earlier in the day. Amy Sartori, 31, of Mt. Washington died Sunday afternoon at the hospital.
A third woman was treated at the hospital and released yesterday after suffering symptoms similar to those of the two women who died, including breathing problems and spitting blood. Four other inmates were being treated at the jail infirmary.
Allegheny County Coroner Cyril H. Wecht said tissue and toxicology tests are still pending, but ruled that Whetsell and Sartori died of accidental asphyxiation due to inhalation of chemicals. He said he is relatively certain the women were exposed to poison gas created by mixing a cleaner with chlorine bleach.
Jail reports said the products involved were bleach and a product known as Zep. The Zep Co. makes a wide variety of cleaners for multiple uses, according to its Web site.
"The two, when mixed, can produce the release of chlorine gas," Wecht said.
Dr. Bruce Dixon, head of the Allegheny County Health Department, said chlorine gas can cause severe inflammation of the lungs and hemorrhages of lung blood vessels. In severe cases, victims suffocate in their own fluids, he said.
Symptoms of exposure to chlorine gas can take several days to show up, Dixon said, adding that lung damage caused by inhaling chlorine gas can be reversed.
"This isn't the sort of thing that makes you high," Dixon said. "Do not mix cleaning compounds of any sort."
Jail Warden Ramon Rustin said it is not known how, when or why the women came into contact with the mixed chemicals, or if they were all exposed at the same time.
The exposure might have happened as early as Friday, he said.
Rustin said the victims lived in the same pod in the jail, but were not cell mates. He said he believes at least one victim was a pod worker, a designation given inmates responsible for cleaning common areas in the jail outside their cells. All inmates are responsible for cleaning their own cells.
Health checks were given to all inmates in the victims' pod and no more cases of breathing problems were found, Rustin said.
Other causes were ruled out.
"I think we can be quite certain this is not an infectious disease," Dixon said.
Rustin said he was shocked that such an outcome could result from using chemicals that are commonly used in large quantities around the jail.
"It's just surprising to me there are these two isolated incidents when they're not new products," Rustin said. "They've been (used) throughout the institution."
Dixon said injuries stemming from mixing cleaners are common.
Sartori was awaiting trial on a drug possession charge, while Whetsell had an April 28 trial date on a burglary charge.
Sartori had a lengthy criminal record that included convictions for prostitution, theft and other charges. Whetsell's record included convictions for theft and drug possession.
A family friend, Marsha Hall, said Whetsell had been in jail for the last two months.
"We were expecting her to come home, and this happens," Hall said, looking at pictures of her friend as she sat in Whetsell's living room. "Instead of welcoming her home, now we need to make funeral arrangements."
Whetsell leaves behind a son, 30, and two grandchildren.
Sartori is survived by her parents, Edward Sartori and Dianne Ogden Sartori, two sisters and two grandparents.
