Two Honolulu Police Department employees were treated yesterday afternoon at the main station after they were exposed to a form of pepper spray.

The male employees, one who appeared to be in his 30s and the other in his 50s, were sickened shortly before 2 p.m. at the station on South Beretania Street. Ambulance personnel treated the two for nausea and eye irritation at the scene, said Bryan Cheplic, spokesman for the city Emergency Services Department.
Capt. Earle Kealoha, Honolulu Fire Department spokesman, said the men became ill after they were exposed to a derivative of pepper spray. Kealoha said a male janitor was transferring trash from a bin to a bag in the basement of HPD headquarters when the powder apparently was released.
The maintenance man and a police officer complained of nausea and began choking, he said. HFD’s Hazmat team entered the building and determined that the substance was a form of pepper spray, Kealoha said.