What happens if i drink sodium hydroxide

Gastric lavage is useful in certain circumstances to remove caustic material and prepare for endoscopic examination. Consider gastric lavage with a small nasogastric tube if: 1 a large dose has been ingested; 2 the patient's condition is evaluated within 30 minutes; 3 the patient has oral lesions or persistent esophageal discomfort; and 4 the lavage can be administered within one hour of ingestion.

Placement of the gastric tube should be guided by endoscopy because blind gastric-tube placement may further injure the chemically damaged esophagus or stomach. Endoscopic evaluation is essential in cases of sodium hydroxide ingestion, and surgical consultation is recommended for patients who have suspected perforation. Signs and symptoms do not provide an accurate guide to the extent of injury. All patients suspected of significant caustic ingestion must have early endoscopy to assess injury to the esophagus, stomach and duodenum, and to guide subsequent management.

Severe esophageal burns have occurred even in cases where burns of the mouth or oropharynx were not seen. The ingestion of large amounts of sodium hydroxide may also result in shock. Endoscopy may be contraindicated in cases where the patient is unstable, has upper airway compromise, evidence of perforation, or ingestion took place more than 48 hours previously.

Because children do not ingest large amounts of corrosive materials, and because of the risk of perforation from NG intubation, lavage is discouraged in children unless performed under endoscopic guidance. Toxic vomitus or gastric washings should be isolated e. There is no antidote for sodium hydroxide. Various treatments to decrease stricture formation have been proposed including administration of ascorbic acid and steroids , but are not recommended.

The diagnosis of acute sodium hydroxide toxicity is primarily clinical, based on symptoms of corrosive injury. However, laboratory testing is useful for monitoring the patient and evaluating complications. Routine laboratory studies for all exposed patients include CBC, glucose, and electrolyte determinations. Patients who have respiratory complaints may require chest radiography and pulse oximetry or ABG measurements.

Patients with symptoms of severe burns or perforation may require renal function tests and blood typing. Consider hospitalizing patients who have ingested sodium hydroxide or who have eye or serious skin burns or histories of significant inhalation exposure. Patients with signs of perforation may require emergency surgery. Those with significant dermal injury should be admitted to the burn unit and patients with significant ingestion may need admission to the intensive care unit.

Injury may continue to progress in severity for up to 48 hours after exposure. Patients may develop upper airway obstruction, perforation, and shock. Patients who have minimal skin exposure or patients who show no progressive symptoms 6 to 12 hours after a mild-to-moderate inhalation exposure may be discharged with instructions to seek medical care promptly if symptoms develop see the Sodium Hydroxide-Patient Information Sheet below.

Obtain the name of the patient's primary care physician so that the hospital can send a copy of the ED visit to the patient's doctor. For patients who have ingested sodium hydroxide, esophagoscopy should be performed within 48 hours of ingestion to assess severity of injury; a flexible instrument should be used. If perforation has not occurred, consider follow-up endoscopy or a barium swallow 10 days to 3 weeks after the initial burn to further assess the injury. Patients who have corneal, conjunctival, scleral, or lid lesions should be reexamined within 24 hours.

If a work-related incident has occurred, you may be legally required to file a report; contact your state or local health department. Other persons may still be at risk in the setting where this incident occurred.

If the incident occurred in the workplace, discussing it with company personnel may prevent future incidents. If a public health risk exists, notify your state or local health department or other responsible public agency. This handout provides information and follow-up instructions for persons who have been exposed to sodium hydroxide.

Print this handout only. Sodium hydroxide is a white, solid material that picks up moisture from the air. If put in water, it produces a large amount of heat. Both the solid and its solutions are very corrosive and can cause severe burns. Sodium hydroxide is a member of a group of chemical compounds also known as bases or alkalies, which can neutralize and are neutralized by, acids, releasing a lot of heat.

Solid sodium hydroxide or strong solutions produce immediate pain when they come in contact with any part of the body. Weak solutions may not produce pain for several hours, but serious burns can result even from weak solutions if they are not washed off quickly. Spilling sodium hydroxide over large areas of the skin or swallowing sodium hydroxide may cause shock and even death. Sodium hydroxide can break down proteins and generates heat when dissolving in water. Contact with sensitive tissues, such as the eyes, is particularly dangerous and can cause permanent damage or even blindness.

There is no antidote for sodium hydroxide, but the burns and shock it can cause can be treated. Patients who develop serious symptoms need to be hospitalized. A single small exposure from which a person recovers quickly is not likely to cause delayed or long-term effects.

After a serious exposure to large areas of the skin, scarring may occur that will require skin grafts. A serious eye exposure can result in blindness. If sodium hydroxide mist was breathed, permanent injury to the lungs may result. If a solution was swallowed, damage to the mouth, throat, and esophagus may cause permanent scarring, making swallowing difficult.

Specific tests for the presence of sodium hydroxide in blood or urine are not available. If a severe exposure has occurred, blood and urine analyses and other tests may show whether the lungs, eyes, or stomach has been injured.

Testing is not needed in every case. More information about sodium hydroxide can be obtained from your regional poison control center; your state, county, or local health department; the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry ATSDR ; your doctor; or a clinic in your area that specializes in occupational and environmental health.

Ask the person who gave you this form for help in locating these telephone numbers. Keep this page and take it with you to your next appointment. Fuel cells work like batteries to cleanly and efficiently produce electricity for a range of applications, including transportation; materials handling; and stationary, portable and emergency backup power applications. Epoxy resins, manufactured with sodium hydroxide, are used in wind turbines.

Municipal water treatment facilities use sodium hydroxide to control water acidity and to help remove heavy metals from water. Sodium hydroxide is also used to produce sodium hypochlorite , a water disinfectant. Sodium hydroxide is used in several food processing applications, such as curing foods like olives or helping to brown Bavarian-style pretzels, giving them their characteristic crunch. Sodium hydroxide is used to remove skins from tomatoes, potatoes and other fruits and vegetables for canning and also as an ingredient in food preservatives that help prevent mold and bacteria from growing in food.

In many paper making processes , wood is treated with a solution containing sodium sulfide and sodium hydroxide. This helps dissolve most of the unwanted material in the wood, leaving relatively pure cellulose, which forms the basis of paper.

In the paper recycling process, sodium hydroxide is used to separate the ink from the paper fibers allowing the paper fibers to be reused again. Sodium hydroxide is also used to refine raw materials for wood products such as cabinets and furniture and in wood bleaching and cleaning. Sodium hydroxide is used to extract alumina from naturally occurring minerals. How well a person does depends on how fast the poison is diluted and neutralized.

Extensive damage to the mouth, throat, eyes, lungs, esophagus, nose, and stomach are possible. The long-term outcome depends on the extent of this damage. Damage to the esophagus and stomach continues to occur for several weeks after the poison was swallowed. Death may occur as long as a month later. Keep all poisons in their original or childproof container, with labels visible, and out of the reach of children.

Atlanta, GA: U. Updated October 21, Accessed August 23, Hoyte C. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; chap Thomas SHL. Davidson's Principles and Practice of Medicine. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; chap 7. Editorial team. Sodium hydroxide poisoning. Immediately flush with lukewarm, gently flowing water for at least 60 minutes. If it can be done safely, continue flushing during transport to hospital.

Immediately call a Poison Centre or doctor. Treatment is urgently required. Transport to a hospital. Thoroughly clean clothing, shoes and leather goods before reuse or dispose of safely. Eye Contact: Avoid direct contact. Wear chemical protective gloves if necessary. Quickly and gently blot or brush chemical off the face. Immediately flush the contaminated eye s with lukewarm, gently flowing water for at least 60 minutes, while holding the eyelid s open.

Take care not to rinse contaminated water into the unaffected eye or onto the face. Ingestion: Have victim rinse mouth with water. If vomiting occurs naturally, have victim lean forward to reduce risk of aspiration. Have victim rinse mouth with water again. First Aid Comments: All first aid procedures should be periodically reviewed by a doctor familiar with the chemical and its conditions of use in the workplace.

Suitable Extinguishing Media: Not combustible. Use extinguishing agent suitable for surrounding fire. Specific Hazards Arising from the Chemical: Contact with water causes violent frothing and spattering. Reacts with metals to produce highly flammable hydrogen gas. Closed containers may rupture violently when heated releasing contents.

Toxic sodium oxide fumes can be generated at high temperatures. Personal Precautions: Evacuate the area immediately. Isolate the hazard area. Keep out unnecessary and unprotected personnel. Use personal protective equipment as required. Remove or isolate incompatible materials as well as other hazardous materials.

Methods for Containment and Clean-up : Contain and soak up spill with absorbent that does not react with spilled product. Shovel or sweep dry sodium hydroxide for recycling or disposal.