Cleaning her house changed woman’s lifestyle forever

People move to Kaua’i to take advantage of the slower pace of life, the sunshine and beaches.

Washington state native Peggy Kadey is the exception. She moved here with her husband to extend her life and to recover from an incident in which she says she was chemically poisoned in her old home.

The incident changed her life forever, permanently damaging her respiratory system and dramatically lowering her resistance to any illnesses, she claims.

On Kaua’i, she occasionally dons a mask to protect her from air pollutants and has equipped her vehicle with an air tank for use in emergencies.

The incident also separated her from loved ones and robbed her of a career as a successful interior designer, Kadey said.

About six years ago, Kadey said she was overwhelmed by a higher than normal concentration of ozone discharged from a machine during the cleaning of her home in Shoreline, Wash. The exposure severely damaged her respiratory system, leaving her vulnerable to chemicals that could trigger “burning respiratory pain,” leading to disorientation, nausea, loss of breath, loss of memory and blackouts, she said.

A medical evaluation determined Kadey became disabled because of her exposure to ozone.

Kadey’s only respite is the moist, tropical ocean breezes found in a place like Kaua’i.

Kadey, who moved here with her husband of 37 years last December, says she is on a mission to warn Kauaians about the potential dangers associated with exposure to ozone, which is produced by air cleaners sold on Kaua’i.

“What happened to me shouldn’t happen to anyone,” she said. “I want to save lives.”

Ozone, also known as trivalent oxygen, seeks out pollutants and eliminates them at their molecular source.

Because ozone has been found to be an irritant, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Hawai’i Department of Health have recommended people not buy purifiers that produce ozone, said Janice Okubo, spokeswoman for the health department.

The American Lung Association of Hawai’i also recommends people not buy such devices that use the technology.

The EPA says ozone can potentially cause harmful health consequences. When inhaled, ozone can damage the lungs, with small amounts able to cause chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath and throat irritation, according to the federal agency.

Ozone may worsen chronic respiratory disease as asthma and compromise the body’s ability to fight respiratory infections, the EPA said, adding no federal agency has approved air-cleaning devices that produce ozone safe for use in occupied spaces.

The sale of air-cleaning devices that use ozone is not regulated by the EPA, according to Lisa Fasano, a spokeswoman with the EPA office in San Francisco, Calif.

“Congress has not mandated the EPA to regulate indoor air quality,” Fasano said. “Because of the different uses related to air quality in the home, it would be difficult for any agency to regulate.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, however, has “granted the use of ozone as a sanitary cleaning device,” said Ed Otero, a member of the International Ozone Association, located in Orange County, Calif.

One state is attempting to head off any potential problems with the use of the ozone-producing equipment. The Alaska Department of Health has advised residents not to use the equipment in vehicles or buildings.

The ozone from air purifiers is safe when used properly, but can become dangerous when not properly used, said Otero, owner of Aqua Sun Ozone International, a Palm Springs, Calif.-based manufacturer of air and water purifiers that use ozone.

“In eight years of manufacturing devices that use ozone for cleaning air and water, I have never had a problem,” Otero said. “No lawsuits or claims against me.”

Air and water purifiers using ozone are used throughout the United States and in Europe, Otero said.

In the manufacturing of air and water purifiers, Otero said his company uses two different processes to combat air pollution, the production of negative ions and ozone.

Like ions, ozone attaches to airborne pollutants and forces them to drop to the ground, clearing the air of pollutants.

“The machines are used to make someone’s life cleaner,” Otero said.

Five years ago, Kadey would have agreed with Otero.

On Aug. 19,1995, Kadey said she accidentally left a container of soup boiling on her kitchen stove at her home in Shoreline while she went shopping with her husband. The home filled with smoke and the smell of burnt bean soup permeated it, she recalled.

She said she contacted Alpine Cleaning and Restoration in Everett, Wash. to get rid of a lingering odor. The company brought over two large ozone generators, which ran for two days while the house windows were closed, Kadey said.

While the work was being done, Kadey and her husband, Ron, stayed at a motel and returned to the home five days later after being told by the owner of the company, Bill Christopher, that it was safe to be in their home.

While Kadey made calls to tell others that she had returned home, at least one of the ozone generators continued to operate in a master bedroom.

After an hour in her home, Kadey said she noticed her nose, eyes and mouth became dry. Christopher instructed her, Kadey said, to unplug the ozone machine, leave the house for a day and to leave the windows open. He also told her she could sleep in the house at night, she said.

Relatives who stayed at the home told Kadey they woke up the next morning with dry mouths and throats. Kadey said when she awoke, she had extreme difficulty breathing and found it hard to think.

For the rest of the day, she said she struggled with chest pain and was unable to lift anything.

She and her husband checked into an inn. From Aug. 26 to Aug. 28, Alpine continued to run ozone generators in the house, Kadey said. They were shut down Aug. 28, and the windows were opened to air out the house, but the ozone concentration was high, she said.

She said she sought out medical and health authorities, and on Aug. 30, the Kadeys went into their home. After a while, Kadey said, her throat became dry and pain in her lungs worsened, prompting her and her husband to leave again.

She contacted the EPA and the American Lung Association for advice and help. Kadey was told that ozone could interact with products in the home to change the atmosphere, producing formaldehyde.

Kadey was later hospitalized, and after an examination, was told that her lungs were operating at 50 percent capacity.

After she took a low-dose inhalant, Kadey said she felt tingling in her fingers, hands and arms and had negative reactions, including the jerking of an arm, elbow, hip and knee.

Kadey also experienced pain in her head and on the back of her neck, but was released by the doctor and was told to take more medication, she said.

On Sept. 2, while resting in bed at a motel, Kadey said she felt dizzy, nauseated, weak and exhausted, and had heart palpitations.

In subsequent days, while driving to a medial appointment in Seattle in an air-conditioned vehicle, Kadey said sher respiratory pain intensified. Testing at a hospital in Seattle triggered chest pain and coughing binges, Kadey said, but she was told the effects of the ozone exposure would wear off in time.

She said she began to understand the gravity of her exposure to ozone.

“The day before the treatment, I had no allergies, no dryness, no burning respiratory pain. I had no loss of memory,” she said. “I went from being a sharp person who could go anywhere and do anything, to a person with a burning pain inside and out.”

Otero said he doesn’t know anything about the case, but speculated that Kadey was probably chemically sensitive before her exposure to the ozone.

Otero said Kadey’s experience is not common, although he has heard a half-dozen cases of people who were adversely affected by ozone treatment.

Prior to her problems, Kadey said she led a productive and active life. During a seven-year career as a commercial interior designer, she redesigned 200 company buildings in Washington’s Puget Sound area and ran a discount travel business in her home. She also worked part-time for her husband, who ran an accounting business. Away from work, she volunteered with youths at a local church.

Kadey said she and her husband wanted to take life a bit slower pace to spend time with their two grown sons and five grandchildren.

“We were ready to enjoy life, and this accident came and changed everything,” Kadey said.

In a civil lawsuit, Kadey sought damages against Alpine, but the case was resolved in favor of the company. The matter, however, could still be appealed.

Contacted in Washington, Christopher said he was advised by his attorneys not to discuss the case.

Because Kadey is sensitive to chemicals – perfume, men’s cologne, detergents, gas fumes, pesticides – she and her husband, on the advice of the their doctors, moved to Langley, a town on Whidbey Island in Washington, to be close to ocean breezes that would bring her relief. But cold winter air aggravated her condition, prompting the couple to move to Kaua’i.

Kadey said they enjoy island living and have made new friends, but the move has not been without some doubts because they lived almost their entire lives in Washington and miss family and familiar surroundings.

“I met my husband in high school in 1963. My father is in his 80s and my husband’s mother is in her 80s,” Kadey said. “But we moved for me. It is a new beginning, but I have no choice.”

Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and maito:lchang@pulitzer.net