Let this be a warning...

[sihaya]

So, I am cursed, but maybe my swollen lips can serve as a warning to you all... I just burned them with sodium hydroxide. Now, you might think I did this by mistaking it for water and going to drink it. But no... what really happened is a much better story. You see, I keep the NaOH in a little container. The top layer had hardened from exposure to moisture in the air. So like an idiot, I squeeze the container in an attempt to loosen it. And sure enough, I squeeze too hard and it shoots up into my mouth and all over my neck and arms.

Fortunately, when it's dry and hits dry skin, there's about 15sec before it starts to dissolve in the moisture on your skin and rip through your flesh. So I wiped myself off with vinegar and saved myself from disfigurement. So now I smell just wonderful!! Unfortunately, since lips are already wet, they only had about 5 seconds. [EDIT: just to clarify... I rinsed myself off in a lot of water first. The vinegar just helps with the irritation still left after that.]

So what's the moral of this story? ALWAYS keep water near by anytime you want to play with NaOH, no matter how careful you think you're being! You can't wear gloves on your lips!

[Ninong]

Precautions

Gloves and eye protection should be worn when using sodium hydroxide, since there is a high danger of causing chemical burns, permanent injury or scarring, and blindness. A PVC apron is also recommended when concentrated solutions or the solid form are used. It should be stored well away from strong acids such as battery acid. It can create enough heat to ignite flammables (such as alcohols), so it should be added slowly in biodiesel processors. Vinegar is a mild acid that will neutralize lye, a strong base, but do not use vinegar or any other acid to neutralize a strong base that has contacted the skin; this will generate heat and cause a heat burn as well. If lye makes contact with the skin, rinse well with copious amounts of water.


P.S. -- What exactly were you doing with lye? Was it a 50% solution? You should have rinsed it off with plain water, not vinegar.

[sihaya]

Sorry, I shouldn't have implied that vinegar is what you should do first. Obviously rinsing with lots of water is what you have to do FIRST. But sometimes this stuff gets into your skin, then it can still irritate and burn after you've rinsed it. That's when a little vinegar can help. And if it's just a little residue still on you, it's not going to heat up enough to burn.

[mungus728]

Be carefull that stuff is dangerous!! Glad you are ok!!

Brian

[sihaya]

Yeah, no kidding... and I like how they say it's a "skin irritant." Uh... it's a little bit more than that!

[sihaya]

Oh, I use lye to kill aptasia... and sometimes to clean things.

[Poseidon]

I am glad to hear you are okay, I have yet to try the NaOH CaOH mix that Eric explained in another thread to kill aiptasia. I am quite sure it is VERY effective though.

[sihaya]

Oh, it's effective. The only problem is that it kills everything. It will even kill the coralline on your rock. This is why I hate doing it, but it's the only thing I know of that really works. I mean, the peppermint shrimp are helping, but there's only so much they can do! lol