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TSA agents sickened by bag odour at Boston’s Logan airport

Rat repellent in luggage causes more than a dozen employees to become ill

Many people cringe when they open their luggage after a flight and find that note saying security officers have opened it.

At this time, feeling our privacy has been violated, we may curse the agents but leaping through people's personal things can sometimes be dangerous.

The TSA agents who opened my ski bag the last time I flew probably weren't too surprised to find skis, poles and ski clothes, however, my luggage didn't have anything in it that would send people to hospital.

That wasn't the case at Boston's Logan International Monday.

Four TSA officers were hospitalized after they became ill after opening a bag. The handlers opened a suspicious-smelling bag and a short time later 15 of them complained of headaches and eye and throat irritation, reports the Boston Herald.

The passenger said rat repellent was the reason for the smell, according to the Boston Globe. A couple put camphor in their bags and were going to use it to ward off mice and rats when they got to China, shows a CBS Boston article.

Officials evacuated the room to air it out and they disposed of the chemical.

The four agents sent to hospital are now in good condition and the couple who owns the bag was allowed to continue flying to Beijing.

(Reuters photo)