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A Strong Set of Cards?

It's been a while since the odor from the stockyards wafted across Chicago, but now the Windy City is grappling with a new source of olfactory offensiveness.

It's been a while since the odor from the stockyards wafted across Chicago, but now the Windy City is grappling with a new source of olfactory offensiveness.

At the end of April, when packages of new paper transfers were distributed to bus garages around the city, the transit authority started receiving complaints from some bus drivers about an ammonia- like smell. One driver was taken to the hospital after apparently having an allergic reaction, possibly from the cards, and at least four other drivers have fallen ill.

Maria Toscano, Chicago Transit Authority spokeswoman, says there is no danger from the cards and the vendor confirmed as much in a letter, saying they are not toxic. The company is working to eliminate the odor and perhaps also change the packaging the cards come in. If the packaging is perforated, for example, smells have a chance to dissipate after manufacture.

Toscano says there have been no customer complaints and the more than 1 million cards that have already been distributed will not be taken out of circulation. She says she did not smell anything from a package of cards on her desk until she took one out and sniffed it. "When you bring them up to your nose, right up to your nose, there's a faint smell of ammonia."

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