All Crew members began to feel irritated eyes; nose; throat; nausea and headaches during a climb phase in an DC-9-87 aircraft. Flight diverted. The Crew was informed that Maintenance had recently lubed the JT8D-217C engine Bleed Valves.

Narrative

During the climb phase of flight we began to smell a very strong odor (to me smelled similar to a bleach or Clorox type smell). We had no smoke associated with this smell and so I opened Ram Air to help ventilate the aircraft. This helped a great deal but we as a Crew had still been affected by this odor/fume. This caused headaches; nausea; burning eyes; nose; and throat. We then contacted Dispatch to patch us through to Maintenance and we all agreed it would be best to divert and have the plane and Crew checked out before putting any passengers on board. All the Crew members had irritated eyes; nose; throat; and headaches. We were told this event occurred due to a recent Maintenance Servicing Check in which they lubed the engine bleed valves. Not a safety issue or toxic fumes or any emergency; just a very uncomfortable situation for the crew members. The Flight Crew contacted Dispatch and Maintenance to inform them of the situation and help trouble shoot the problem and determine a solution. We all have communicated among each other in the various departments to make everyone aware of the situation. This should help to prevent this problem in the future.