ROCKDALE COUNTY, Ga. — One-year-old Ivan Perez is a miracle Charmine Hall-Perez promised to protect. She didn't think it'd be possible to have a child of her own — until he was born seven weeks early.
"As a mom, my job is to make sure my son is happy, healthy and safe," she told 11Alive. "We sacrificed a lot as new parents in order to protect him because he is our future."
She said the fire at the BioLab plant in Rockdale County made her job impossible. She believes she and her son inhaled some of the dangerous chemicals when they were trapped on the highway nearby.
"I felt the gas -- the irritation in my throat that caused me to cough," Hall-Perez said. "He's never had a cough his entire life until now."
11Alive reviewed medical records from a handful of patients who — like Ivan — experienced unusual symptoms after potential chemical exposure in Conyers. Many of them noted difficulty breathing, coughing, itching eyes, headaches and vomiting.
The paperwork showed they were treated for their symptoms but not diagnosed with chemical exposure or anything to that effect. Hall-Perez worries about what that will mean in the future.
Her family lives just 5.3 miles from the BioLab plant.
"The smoke might not be there anymore, but nobody has told us what the long-term effects would be of this, especially on a premature lung," she said. "I don't know what is going on, and because I don't know and I don't have answers, I don't know how to move forward with this."
11Alive reached out to BioLab to see if they've consulted with medical professionals about the potential health impacts on the community. As of 5 p.m., they had not responded.