Chemical Cloud in Italy Causes Spots

A chemical cloud from a dye factory covered residents of a nearby factory town with blue, red and green spots and colored their food as they ate dinner, Italian newspapers reported Sunday.

Officials at the Sandoz Italia plant in Paderno Dugnano, six miles north of Milan, said the cloud was caused Saturday by a zinc-based dye mixture that was left untended by two workers who went to eat, state television and newspapers reported.

“It’s a compound that is used to dye clothes and which has a very low irritation level,” Giuseppe Visciglio, vice president of the firm, was quoted as saying in Corriere della Sera.

Town Mayor Gianfranco Mastella posted a sign near the factory that said the chemical irritated eyes and mucous membranes. It advised people to wash with liquid soap, not to eat spotted food, and avoid salad greens from the area for several days.