Sewer Gas Health Issues

[jpezz]

Ive lived in my apartment since July, 1998. A couple of days after moving in, there was a great gushing of a white substance coming up from the kitchen drain. It was followed by the most awful smell which took over the apartment. After maintenance snaked the drain several times, the substance now stays inside the drain but the smell comes up every few days and takes over. It is so bad that the windows have to be opened or I must leave the apartment until the smell dissipates. My question is: what are the health risks of breathing sewer gas inside an apartment. Sometimes it happens while Im sleeping and either I am not aware of it or its too late in the night to be getting up to leave the apartment; therefore, I have to grin and bear it while choking and coughing. Lately my cat has been getting sick every few days. Also, I had bronchitis and a respiratory infection over the Christmas holiday; something Ive never had in all my 44 years. Could the breathing of this sewer gas be the cause of my illness and/or the cause of my precious feline vomiting up his food? Please help me. Ive called the City Health Department and gotten nowhere. The apartment managers have told me that if Im not happy living in my apartment, to move. Im angry,frustrated, and at a loss as to what to do next while I continue to pay exhorbitant rent on time monthly.

[Lauren KingParticipant]

Lauren:–Call the Board of Health..The Health Department..The Center for Disease Control and what ever other Agency that is supposed to look after the health and safety of the Tax Payer Citizen. You should not have to live with a situaion such as you describe in your post. Insist that the management ofthis building install a Back Water Valve or a Swing Check valve in the waste arm that serves your kitchen sink. The odor that you smell is actually composed of tiny particles of the material that is causing the problem (ugh). If you dont get any action..call OSHA for their recommendation…Lots of luck…Bud.

[Lauren KingParticipant]

: Ive lived in my apartment since July, 1998. A couple of days after moving in, there was a great gushing of a white substance coming up from the kitchen drain. It was followed by the most awful smell which took over the apartment. After maintenance snaked the drain several times, the substance now stays inside the drain but the smell comes up every few days and takes over. It is so bad that the windows have to be opened or I must leave the apartment until the smell dissipates. My question is: what are the health risks of breathing sewer gas inside an apartment. Sometimes it happens while Im sleeping and either I am not aware of it or its too late in the night to be getting up to leave the apartment; therefore, I have to grin and bear it while choking and coughing. Lately my cat has been getting sick every few days. Also, I had bronchitis and a respiratory infection over the Christmas holiday; something Ive never had in all my 44 years. Could the breathing of this sewer gas be the cause of my illness and/or the cause of my precious feline vomiting up his food? Please help me. Ive called the City Health Department and gotten nowhere. The apartment managers have told me that if Im not happy living in my apartment, to move. Im angry,frustrated, and at a loss as to what to do next while I continue to pay exhorbitant rent on time monthly.

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