The poop may not have hit the fan. But it looks like poop spray did hit the air conditioning system at West Florence High School in South Carolina. A 32-year-old teaching assistant named Alexander Paul Robertson Lewis allegedly used poop spray at the school on multiple occasions from August 25 to September 19 leading to damage, distress and his arrest, as reported by Minyvonne Burke for NBC News
Teaching Assistant Arrested For Allegedly Using Poop Spray In High School
Yep, this smelly situation left a bunch of students requiring medical attention for respiratory issues and around $55K in damages to the air conditioning system. For allegedly doing the doo-doo spray deed, Lewis was arrested and charged with disturbing the school and malicious injury, according to news release from the Florence County Sheriff’s Office. It’s not clear yet what Lewis’s motivation may have been. But presumably making the school smell like poop wasn’t part of his job description.
Use Of Poop Spray Has Gone Viral On TikTok And Other Social Media Platforms
If you are wondering, “Gee, how can I get arrested too,” you can readily purchase such poop sprays online. Note that there is a big difference between such sprays and the ones designed to cover up fecal odors in the bathroom or wherever else people happen to poop. No, the sprays like the one that stunk up West Florence High School are serving one very opposite purpose: to leave everything in the vicinity smelling like, well, poop.
You can find videos on TikTok, Instagram and other social media platforms of people using such sprays to befoul elevators, cars, homes and other places. The motivation seems to be seeing people subsequently gasp, writhe, spasm or whatever in disgust because isn’t seeing people suffer such a ha, ha, hee, hee thing for everyone? Well, not exactly. Plus, as the South Carolina situation showed, using such poop sprays can have its bad consequences.
The Risks Of Using Poop Spray
The risks of using poop sprays may not be as obvious as other social media trends I’ve covered in Forbes such as dropping heavy objects on your feet, eating dirt or urinating in public. But like these sprays, the risks can go unseen.
As everyone knows, a very foul smell can be very unpleasant. Speaking of knows or nose, your olfactory system—which is the fancy medical way of describing the system that allows you to take in and process smells—is integrated with your brain in many different ways. That’s why different smells can affect your emotions and make you feel different ways. Therefore, an unpleasant smell could cause much stress and even distress.
Plus, it may not be clear what may be in these poop sprays. It’s not as if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will give any poop sprays its seal of approval and say, “can be used to make your best friend hate you.” Who knows how the ingredients, which could include different chemicals, might irritate your and others’ respiratory tracts, eyes, skin and other body parts? As seen at the South Carolina high school, inhaling different chemical or substances could cause breathing difficulties and even trigger asthma attacks.
There’s also the possibility of allergic reactions to whatever may be in a given spray. Allergic reactions can range from itching, rashes and sneezing to much more serious and life-threatening situations like anaphylactic reactions. Yeah, it’s all fun and games until someone goes to the hospital.
Moreover, who knows what the long-term consequences may be? If you search PubMed for long-term studies on poop sprays, you aren’t going to find a whole lot. Additionally, as suggested by the South Carolina high school air conditioner situation, a sprayed substance can linger in an area for a lengthy period of time, leading to repeated exposure.
In general, it’s not a good idea to use any type of spray whether it’s poop spray or anything else before first getting the poop, so to speak, on what’s in it. And how the stuff in the spray can affect everyone.
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