The Nation - News from May 18, 1987

Chlorine fumes from leaking chemical tanks spread over southwest Philadelphia, sending at least 42 people to hospitals and forcing 300 to flee their homes for several hours, authorities said. Muriatic acid and sodium hypochloride were found leaking from separate 500-gallon tanks at a manufacturer of pool supplies, police said. The chemicals produce chlorine gas, which can cause irritation to the nose, throat and eyes as well as breathing difficulties, said Tom Udicious, a poison information specialist at the Poison Information Center. The cause of the leak was not immediately known.