Severe airway disease due to inhalation of fumes from cleansing agents.

A subject had severe airway obstruction and evidence of small-airway disease resulting from inhalation of "fumes" liberated during the course of mixing several drain-cleansing agents. The evidence in favor of the airways as the predominant site of damage was severe reduction of maximal expiratory flow in the presence of normal lung-recoil pressure in a nonsmoker who had no other known industrial exposures or predisposing respiratory conditions.