Students get skin reactions from sitting on school toilets

BuzzFeed News reported that the Waterloo Region District is investigating the cases of two students at different schools in the district.

A mother who wanted to remain anonymous said her 7-year-old son could not wear pants for 11 days and missed almost two weeks of school at Stewart Avenue Public School in Cambridge, Canada.

"The first couple days were really, really, really bad," the woman told CTV. "He couldn't go to the bathroom without putting a towel on the outside of the toilet seat so that it was soft on his bum."

The woman said the toilet seat was cleaned with a harsh disinfectant. She said she later received a safety data sheet about the substance, indentified as ED Everyday Disinfectant, said the cleaning agent could be "harmful in contact with skin."

She said her son went to the restroom March 31 and later noticed a red rash on his legs that eventually oozed and "progressed to a second-degree burn."

CTV reported that the mother is suing the school board for $250,000.

Another incident was reported at Hespeler Public School at about the same time, the school board told CBC News.

The board sent a letter to parents and guardians saying that "considerable actions have been taken" to ensure safety, including making the restroom off limits, inspecting cleaning products and having toilets thoroughly cleaned.

"The investigation is still ongoing, and as a result we are not in a position to be able to comment on any cause, or the investigation itself," the school board said in a statement to CBC News. "As soon as we were informed of the situation, we developed a safety plan that was put in place at both schools that involved the principal, school superintendent, manager of health and safety and the facility manager."