Cleanliness can Kill You – Literally
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Beware the powers that clean. An obsessive compulsive nicknamed The Dettol Man died after continually cleaning himself and his home with the disinfectant.
Hermit Jacques Niemand may have been overcome by fumes from the plethora of bottles of the cleaning fluid he kept in his apartment. The 42-year-old had so much of the chemical in his system that his body was starved of oxygen, the inquest was told.
More than 100 bottles of Dettol were found crammed in a suitcase and buckets containing the fluid were found in his home, reports Metro.
His sister, Ruth Bain, said the man suffered from an obsessive cleaning disorder for years and wouldn’t go into his home because it was ’stifling’.
Several police officers who went into the apartment in Didsbury, Manchester, following Niemand’s death became sick with aches after being overpowered by the smell of cleaning products.
Pathologist Lorna McWilliam said it was difficult to say if the chemical got into Niemand’s system because he had breathed it in or drank it.
“I cannot be sure his death arose through using an excessive amount at one time — but I suspect there must be an element of that.” she told the hearing.
Deputy coroner Leonard Gorodkin rejected any suggestion that Niemand killed himself and recorded a verdict of misadventure.
Ruth Bain said care in the community had failed her brother. She added, “We were struggling to get help for my brother and trying to get his life back in order when he died.”
If death by cleanliness isn’t excuse enough to get you out of housework, I don’t know what is.
Tags:bizarre cleanliness kills obsessive compulsive disorder OCD offbeat weird
Okay, that’s it, I knew this organized and “clean” lifestyle was dangerous to me. I’m going back to living like a bum, would someone please tell my wife of my decision? LOL
Don
Haha, Don, now you have valid proof to give your wife.
As a kid, I played for hours in the garden, digging holes and climbing trees and such. Until I was 14, I had 2 colds. A kids immune system needs a boost sometimes.
I actually have a relative who once scrubbed herself raw with neat Dettol. She was working in a factory during WWII, doing something involving chrome I think, and she got a rash. For some bizarre reason, she thought that Dettol would help.
Solomon, that’s proof in itself that the body learns to adjust to ward off harmful bacteria quite well on its own, without the assistance of germicides and anti-bacterial cleansers.
It seems to me that we do ourselves more harm than good sometimes with these chemicals.
The cleaning products we use in our homes kill off many bacteria which are totally harmless to us. As we are no longer exposed to bacteria we become more susceptable to allergies such as asthma.
That’s a very valid point Jess, thanks for stating that.