| Cleaning Mixes May Hurt
Lungs If you're looking for a
stronger cleaner, be wary of mixing your own.
Arizona doctors reported in the New England Journal
of Medicine on the case of a 53-year-old worker who nearly died when she mixed bleach with
an over-the-counter liquid cleaner and inhaled the fumes while wiping down a walk-in
freezer.
The woman's throat was so swollen that doctors were
forced to perform an emergency tracheotomy; and the woman remained in the hospital for
seven days.
In a letter to the Journal, Dr. David Tanen and his
colleagues at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Phoenix, say the combination of
ammonia and bleach releases chloramine gas, which can react with the moisture in the
throat to release ammonia, hydrochloric acid and free radicals
"Although it occurs infrequently, exposure to
chloramine gas represents a substantial risk when household cleaners containing bleach and
ammonia are mixed," said the doctors. |
