By Associated Press - Monday, March 3, 2014

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - Nearly 20 Forsyth County employees have gone to the hospital for evaluation after a toxic dry cleaning chemical spill at the county jail.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports (https://bit.ly/1kOSDob ) Deputy County Manager Damon Sanders-Pratt said not all the workers exposed to the chemical odor Monday felt ill. But he said the county sent them all to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center as a precaution.

Sanders-Pratt said one person vomited after exposure to the odor from the chemical, which he identified as perchloroethylene.

The spill occurred below the floor where inmates are held, and Sanders-Pratt said the area has been closed off. He said building maintenance workers tried to move a dry cleaning machine, which had a label saying it was empty as of 1998. When workers disconnected it, fluid came out.

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Information from: Winston-Salem Journal, https://www.journalnow.com

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