Dozens of Amazon warehouse employees sickened after robot discharges bear repellent


One person is in critical condition after a robot in a New Jersey Amazon warehouse punctured a can of bear repellent spray, sending concentrated capsaicin — the major ingredient in pepper spray — into the air.
Officials said 24 employees in Robbinsville Township were sent to area hospitals on Wednesday morning, while 30 more were treated at the warehouse. "All of the impacted employees have been or are expected to be released from hospital within the next 24 hours," Amazon said in a statement Wednesday night. "The safety of our employees is always our top priority and a full investigation is already underway. We'd like to thank all of the first responders who helped with today's incident."
Stuart Applebaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, said in a statement that the robot "put humans in life-threatening danger today, the effects of which could be catastrophic, and the long-term effects for 80-plus workers are unknown. The richest company in the world cannot continue to be let off the hook for putting hard-working people's lives at risk." Amazon, he added, must be "held accountable for these and so many more dangerous labor practices."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
‘Are we just going to stand in passive witness to the degradation of our democracy?’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Do Republicans have a health care plan?
Today's Big Question The shutdown hinges on the answer
-
The new age of book banning
The Explainer How America’s culture wars collided with parents and legislators who want to keep their kids away from ‘dangerous’ ideas
-
Gold tops $4K per ounce, signaling financial unease
Speed Read Investors are worried about President Donald Trump’s trade war
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B deal
speed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance