How about,
“The dye was cast, leaving upon her name a permanent stain.”
Was looking at this situation as your thought processes indicated, Erasmus. Thinking of a canister going off, as in a bag of bank robbery money. The bag is tainted or stained. The money is tainted. Person holding bag is tainted. Those surrounding the bag are tainted. Cleaning up is required for the perpetrator. Those who surrounded the perpetrator were also tainted or stained and had no part in the spew or the robbery and tainting of minds. The culprit or perpetrator is suspended with pay. Only in America.