[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-451105346.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n
\n\tWorkers at the Columbus Museum of Art in Ohio have complained to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) about headaches, nausea, and dizziness thought to be caused by a chemical sealant used on gallery floors.<\/p>\n
\n\tAs reported Tuesday by the Columbus Dispatch<\/em>, the museum used the floor sealing product GT 275 during recently commenced renovation work on its Ross building, and employees have complained about fumes throughout the institution in the weeks since work began. A former gallery associate told the paper that several museum workers have called in sick and that the \u201cmaintenance team gave the workers information on the sealer and handed out N95 masks.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAccording to the Dispatch<\/em>, which cited safety information from the manufacturer of GT 275, \u201cInhalation of the sealer can adversely affect the central nervous system, causing symptoms like drowsiness, dizziness, headache, nausea and \u2018lowering of consciousness.\u2019 Acute overexposure via inhalation can cause respiratory distress, confusion and unconsciousness.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe product is supposed to be used outdoors or otherwise in well-ventilated areas, and instructions for use include words of caution: \u201cDo not breathe dust\/fume\/gas\/mist\/vapors\/spray.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tEric Clift, the former gallery worker who spoke with the Dispatch<\/em>, said, \u201cI think part of some people\u2019s concerns is that if they stopped work today and gave us all that information today we can\u2019t un-breathe in what we\u2019ve already ingested and who knows what the long-term ramifications for that could be for particular people.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAccording to the paper, Clift claimed that the museum remains open during renovations and \u201ca tour for young babies and their caregivers occurred on one of the days when the fumes were the worst.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tReached for comment by ARTnews<\/em>, a spokesperson for the Columbus Museum of Art said, \u201cThe museum is aware of and takes seriously the concerns related to recent renovation work. We are actively reviewing conditions and responding to the OSHA inquiry. The safety of our staff and visitors is our top priority, and we will continue to take any necessary steps to ensure a safe environment as work continues.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/art-news\/news\/columbus-art-museum-workerscomplaints-chemical-fumes-1234777850\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-451105346.jpg?w=1024″] Workers at the Columbus Museum of Art in Ohio have complained to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) about headaches, nausea, and dizziness thought to be caused by a chemical sealant used on gallery floors. As reported Tuesday by the Columbus Dispatch, the museum used the floor sealing product GT 275 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,226],"class_list":["post-1834510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-artnews-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1834510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1834510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1834510\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1834510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1834510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1834510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}