Trading my health for a paycheck: Part 2: A Pregnant Engineer Faces A DMSO Spill

Send us Fan MailThe moment the office air turns into a chemical cloud, theory becomes real. We’re at corporate offices in Dobbs Ferry, New York, and a spill across the street sends a foul smelling DMSO vapor through the air conditioning system. I’m pregnant, I can still smell it even after moving outside, and every breath turns into a single question: what, if anything, is reaching my unborn child?We walk through what chemical inhalation exposure actually means, without hiding behind jargon. I talk about the lungs’ alveoli and why certain chemicals can cross into the bloodstream, which is exactly why “it’s just a smell” never felt like a comfort. You’ll hear the split-second risk decision that follows, the confrontation with a supervisor, and the drive home with the kind of fear only a parent understands.Then the story widens into environmental compliance and workplace culture. A meeting about industrial discharges into a nearby creek takes a shocking turn when we learn the plant manager died in a fire at the facility, and the first response in the room is about project leadership. That’s the day something changes inside me, setting me on the path out of chemical engineering and into a career built around clearer communication and safer systems. If you care about DMSO safety, chemical spill response, hazard communication, ventilation, PPE, and the human cost of weak safety culture, this one will stick with you. Subscribe, share this with a colleague, and leave a review with your own story of the moment you chose safety over pressure.Support the show