just for the fun of it, what is your scaryest chemical

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ericrm

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Jun 27, 2011
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what is your scaryest chemical hot/cold concentrated diluted what ever

for me it was concentrated sulfuric ... i was so scared of it that i build my first fume hood mostly (with door that closed)just because i wanted to try the wet ashing(for those who will look at this method- it can do a massive boil over of hot concentrated sulfuric acid... go with with the regular ashing)

but im not scared of it anymore i just see it as a chemical and take extra precaution when i endle it... (i put a full face when transfering it bottle to beaker, this is the kind of respect that this chemical deserve)

now i got a new horrible , flesh destroying , oxydizing meany ,hydrogene peroxide :lol: , not the regular 3% the 30% that stuff seem totaly harmless at first (this is also why i find it so terrible, i dont give it the chemical respect that it must have)
for those who laft ,i dont find the picture but i have a burned finger about 3/8 by 1 inch that the skin was peeling off in the shower about 1/32 inch deep because of it. i had spill some on the side of a beaker (i didnt whear glove ,it is just oxygetated water... and rather than wash my hand i just rubed it on my pant and go on until it start to tickle more and more... eventualy i has turned brown and peeled off...

i would add that if you gave me the choice of putting my hand in 30%sulfuric acid or 30% hydrogene peroxide, i would go with sulfuric acid..

so what is yours worst chemical?????
 
For me I guess it would probably be the silent killers, like gases you cannot smell or cannot see,
these killers which can come from reactions with acids or just melting stuff.
 
Dimethylmercury.

Absorption of doses as low as 0.1 mL has proven fatal.

The symptoms of poisoning may be delayed by months, possibly too late for effective treatment.
 
nitric acid hands down.theres other chemicals and acids and bases that can main and disfigure but the smell of nitric acid fumes means death to me. it may not dissolve your hand or foot but it will kill you in a slow horrible way. drowning on your own body fluids. its not the lack of oxygen that kills you as you can be given oxygen and on a shallow breath be ok, rather the the body's inability to expel carbon dioxide. carbon dioxide poisoning or "hypercapnia" http://www.buzzle.com/articles/carbon-dioxide-poisoning.html is caused by and because of pulmonary edema.
 
For me, I would say a bag of lime with a shovel sitting next to it!!! That's a scary combination.
 
The one I dislike the most is hot A/R. Not really scared of it, I do treat all chemicals with respect, There is just something I don't like about it.
 
Doe's alcohol count? It's killed more people than any other chemical ever will I suspect. How's that for fun :mrgreen:
 
I have worked with virtually all the chemicals used in recovery and refining including cyanide, I can smell it and I dont like it, but for me it's hydrofluoric acid that gives me the wobbles.
 
Arsine. One good whiff will kill you. It takes about 5 or 10 minutes to take effect, and by then, you will welcome death. It's a horrible way to go.
One small overdose sent me to Hospital with tens of thousands in medical bills to deal with.
Be very careful working with ores. Ones containing Arsenic compounds are nothing to fool with. Selenium is another related Element that works in a similar fashion.
 
Smack said:
Doe's alcohol count? It's killed more people than any other chemical ever will I suspect. How's that for fun :mrgreen:
I'm fifteen years, four months, & twenty-four days sober this morning, so that's less of a direct threat to me anymore. (At least until I have to contend with the drunken idiots who get behind the wheel and hit the roads.)
 
I'm comfortable with my saftey precautions and chemicals, Its when im casting copper and aluminum ingots I get that fear tingle in my stomach. I dont know why but moltin metal of any kind is mine.
 
grance said:
I'm comfortable with my saftey precautions and chemicals, Its when im casting copper and aluminum ingots I get that fear tingle in my stomach. I dont know why but moltin metal of any kind is mine.

i hear you on that one. i was melting aluminum in a homemade furnace (a 100# propane tank mounted horizontal on "I" beam and a drive axle crossways for a pivot).the aluminum puddles in the nose and makes a good 10 pound pour.motor stators was used as a counter weight. i had a transmission in the tank and it was ready to pour. i placed the mold under the nose and tilted the tank forward. the large internal steel parts of the transmission rolled to the front jerking the handle from my hand and hitting the edge of the mold.it threw a whole mold full of melted aluminum every where and splashed down from my neck to my boots. it went through my apron and my "T" shirt like it wasnt there.my son was standing to my left and as luck happens sometimes,he was holding a bucket of water to fill the "dunktank" we put ingots in once they were solid. as soon as the tank hit the mold with a loud bang, David threw the bucket in the air drenching me in water. it couldnt have worked better if we had planned it. thankfully i only received a few small burns on my neck and chest that didnt even bubble into a blister. to me, things happen. i added more counter weight and kept on melting.
 
I hate sulfuric it makes me itch when I work with it. Can't stand the stuff. I haven't worked with all that many types of chemicals.

Eric
 
By far, without exception, I have a deep seated fear and respect for Hydrofluoric acid

This was taken from Wikipedia

Hydrogen fluoride gas is an acute poison that may immediately and permanently damage lungs and the corneas of the eyes. Aqueous hydrofluoric acid is a contact-poison with the potential for deep, initially painless burns and ensuing tissue death. By interfering with body calcium metabolism, the concentrated acid may also cause systemic toxicity and eventual cardiac arrest and fatality, after contact with as little as 160 cm2 (25 square inches) of skin.

I would NOT suggest anyone use this for anything. There was a process that I came across that uses Hydrofluoric acid with another very nasty acid to dissolve certain types of metals, but the resulting risks were too high in my opinion to actually attempt it. You couldn't pay me to keep any of this on hand for any reason.

Scott
 
I'm with nickvc and Scott on this one....
Hydrofluoric Acid is evil :evil:

I drive trains for a living and a few years ago an incident happened that still upsets me today.

There was a period when youths would board the trains and use Hydrofluoric Acid to etch graffiti onto the carriage windows.
I was busy driving one day when i started to hear someone shouting and then screaming.
This screaming sound then turned into something like i have never heard before.
Turns out this youth had been etching the windows from a pot of acid which had overturned onto his leg after we went over a bump in the track. Someone went to fetch the guard who then came to tell me we had a medical emergency on board and we needed to get to the next station asap. I called the signaller and requested emergency clearance and paramedics to the nearest station 10 mins away. We arrived 5 mins before the paramedics and it was the longest 5 mins of my life. I have never heard a person make the kind of noise this young lad was making. The paramedics hadn't got a clue what to do either and took him to the nearest hospital about 20 mins away.

We found out about three months later that he had to have his left leg amputated just above his knee.
 
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