It isn't surprising that a lot of people do not read the caution or 'how to use' section of things. I am one of such people and even part of the group that reads and sometimes ignores.
My bad experience with an insecticide yesterday served as a permanent warning to take product instructions seriously. With insecticides, the instruction is to hold and spray a few meters away from yourself while the windows in the room have been locked. When you're done spraying, you should go outside.
Yesterday, my mum used an insecticide spray while I was busy doing the dishes in the kitchen. She was targeting a pest with so much intent and used a whole lot of the insecticide. I should have left immediately she began but I wanted to finish up my task at hand since I was almost done.
I really should have left when I began coughing but I stayed there holding my breath and cleaning the sink. I eventually left about a minute later but then I really regretted the few minutes I inhaled the insecticide spray. The coughing continued, head and eyes were aching, mild nausea and light-headedness. I tried sleeping and it felt like I was walking in and out of consciousness.
Drinking a lot of water and showers helped but I felt really sick for the most part. Over 36 hours later and I still have a cough, an itch in my throat and I'm a bit lightheaded.
Insecticide sprays contain pyrethroid and pyrethrins amongst other ingredients and these two are made from flowers that are not very poisonous to humans. I did see pyrethroid listed on this particular insecticide but can't tell if that is the culprit ingredient.
Insecticide sprays also contain organophosphates and carbamates which can cause poisoning when inhaled, swallowed or absolved through the skin. Symptoms of such poisoning range from mild coughing to severe heart problems.
My title might or might not be misleading because you'd need a blood test and diagnosis from a doctor to say you got an insecticide poisoning (which I don't have) but then I did get allergic reactions from inhaling the insecticide spray.
I've learnt my lesson to never expose myself to any insecticide/pesticide spray ever again. Not even the ones that are odourless or made with a nice fragrance. It wasn't a pleasure being a lab rat but let's just say I did this for humanity.