It's highly recommended to stick to using one household cleaner at a time per surface to avoid mixing chemicals. Vy Dong Ph. You should be especially careful with bleach.
According to chemist Alexander Lu of Dong Research Group, bleaches are made up of highly reactive chemicals that make it effective at killing bacteria and viruses, but its high reactivity is also what makes it respond to other chemicals, which can result in new toxic chemicals.
Ammonia and Bleach: According to Dong and Lu, this is a combination that commonly occurs by accident because many cleaning products contain ammonia. Mixing ammonia and bleach results in chlorine gas. The ammonia will react with the chlorine, creating chloramines.
Lu says large enough quantities of chloramine can be toxic and dangerous and cause symptoms such as chest pain, coughing, and tearing. In the right quantities, this combination can be fatal. Bleach and Vinegar: The key thing to know here is that vinegar is an acid and its potential for toxicity should not be underestimated.
It has a low pH, usually under three. When vinegar is mixed with bleach, a toxic chlorine gas is produced. This is not a mixture you want in your home. Hydrogen peroxide and vinegar: A component of vinegar is acetic acid, and according to Lu, this acetic acid will form a chemical called peracetic acid when mixed with hydrogen peroxide.
Peracetic acid is toxic and corrosive, meaning it can damage or break down the surface it's applied to. Bleach and Rubbing alcohol: R ubbing alcohol alone can be used for cleaning , but it can be dangerous, especially if mixed with bleach. Lu says bleach reacts with alcohol to form chloroform and chloroacetone, both of which are toxic and dangerous. Chloroacetone is no better, having been used as tear gas in World War I," says Lu.
Two different drain cleaners: Depending on the brand and type of drain cleaner, chemical ingredients will vary. Bleach will likely be an ingredient in a drain cleaner, and you should not mix on drain cleaner with another.
There is also the risk of generating chloroform if bleach is mixed with products containing alcohol. The reaction is very complicated, but can be simplified to:. Mixing acid and bleach will also generate the strong oxidising agent hypochlorous acid, which will further react with hypochlorite to generate chlorine gas. This is an equilibrium reaction the balance of which depends on the acidity of the solution:.
We might assume that a hydroxide solution will react with an acid in a conventional way to generate water and a salt. But in concentrated form, rapid mixing generates a lot of heat and fumes, which could contain chlorine or chlorine-containing gases depending on the acid.
The first signs of incompatibility between cleaning products could be a hissing noise, vapours, heat and bubbling, explains Olga Kuzmina , faculty safety manager at Imperial College London. If the volume of the mixture is small, it is advisable to immediately dilute the mixture by adding copious amount of water, she adds. Ensure increased ventilation if possible or leave the location to avoid breathing in the vapour.
Wait until the visible signs of any reaction are gone and clean up the remaining liquid wearing gloves and dispose of the wastes down the drain. If there is any sign that the reaction is still taking place add more water but do not try to neutralise the mixture with other chemicals. The basic advice is to evacuate the area, says Robert Geller , medical director at the Georgia Poison Center. If safe to do so, he adds, open windows and start externally venting extractor fans.
A call to the emergency services should be made and emergency care for severe symptoms sought. Specific advice from a poison centre should be sought for mild symptoms if they do not subside after a few minutes in fresh air. Of course, there are specific rules and protocols in laboratories where other hazardous chemicals might be involved and ventilating may not be advisable. Additional reactions and advice provided by Olga Kuzmina.
One chemistry professor received four month prison sentence for producing the drug in a university lab, while another was acquitted. Site powered by Webvision Cloud. Skip to main content Skip to navigation.
What potentially hazardous cleaning products are out there? Sodium hydroxide Solid sodium hydroxide, caustic soda and solutions of this basic chemical are widely used to break down fatty deposits in ovens and drains. Hydrochloric, nitric and phosphoric acids Acids are less common in domestic cleaning agents but are used in commercial ones. Heating or contact with metals can also cause bleach to decompose via a different route. What to do if you accidentally mix cleaning products?
Another highly toxic combination!! This combination can be highly corrosive. Business Owner Information. Carbon Monoxide Detectors. Do I Need a "Knox Box"? Fee Schedule. Fire Hydrant Obstruction Code. High-Rise Safety. Home Fire Inspections. Household Fire Extinguishers. Expired or Discharged Household Fire Extinguishers.
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