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Feb 1 2008, 11:45 AM EST (current) Anonymous
Feb 1 2008, 11:44 AM EST Anonymous 551 words added

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By Kevin Hensey

It is a fact that mixing household cleaners are dangerous to your health. Many people are not aware of the dangers of mixing household cleaners. Some people think that mixing cleaners together will make a “super cleaner” and find themselves in the hospital. It can also be fatal to the unsuspecting person. A housekeeper was cleaning her bathroom. She was using an acid bowl cleaner. Not satisfied with the way it was removing the stains in the toilet, she added household bleach and stirred it with a brush. She died quickly from chlorine gas. This could happen in anyone’s home. There was another situation in which an unsuspecting person died. It happened at a restaurant. It was closing time and a waitress went to the restroom but she didn’t come out. Another waitress went into check on her and found she was dead. After investigating the death, they found that she died from chlorine gas. What happened is that in the afternoon the kitchen floor drain was clogged. A drain cleaner which had Hydrochloric Acid, was poured down the drain. The hydrochloric acid sat in the pipe chambers. That evening at closing time, the kitchen floor was mopped with bleach, which went down the same floor drain mixed with the hydrochloric acid, and created a chlorine gas that shot up through the floor drains into the restroom. A few years ago, 40 ROTC students were cleaning their barracks. One student got the idea of making a “super cleaner” by mixing a cleanser that had bleach, and a household cleaner that had ammonia which created an irritating gas (hydrazine gas) that sent all 40 students to the hospital. (Bleach is used as a disinfectant & whitener. Ammonia is a basic cleaner. But if they are ever mixed, it creates a deadly gas called Hydrazine.) How can we be safe with household cleaners that we are using daily? Well first, be aware of the cleaners you are using by taking inventory of all your cleaners that are under the sink, in the pantry and in the garage. You would be surprised how many different cleaning products you have. Next, separate them into 4 categories: all-purpose cleaners, bathroom cleaners, window cleaners, and bowl cleaners. Now choose what products you like the best and which cleaners are new or old? Many cleaners lose their strength in time. So the best idea is to keep the new and discard the old cleaning products. Word to the wise: Never put cleaning solutions in unmarked bottles. Always identify the cleaner in the bottle. If a child drinks a cleaner or sprays it in their face, it can have dangerous consequences. Also, remember some products that do the same thing can be dangerous if mixed. An example of this was a family which used 2 different drain cleaners to free a clog in their sink drain. The whole family went to the hospital having a burning sensation in their eyes and throats. What happened? One drain cleaner had hydrochloric acid and the other drain cleaner had a strong alkaline (lye) base as their activating ingredients. This mixture creates an invisible suffocating gas. Use the inventory idea, be aware of the cleaners you are using, and it will give you peace of mind.