Personal Injury Law

What uses does sodium hydroxide have in a hospital setting?

By Steve Lombardi

There has been a tragic death recently at Mercy Medical Center, but this time it was an employee, not a patient, who passed away.

According the WCF Courier:

A 15-year employee of Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa died Thursday evening following a chemical spill at the hospital's laundry facility, hospital officials reported Friday.

The incident involved a spill of sodium hydroxide, a cleaning agent, in Mercy-North Iowa's Textile Service Department. The laundry is located in a separate building on Mercy's West Campus, 910 N.

Sodium hydroxide is an all-purpose cleaning agent that is known to be highly caustic and acidic. It is commonly used in products like Drano, but it can also be used to clean clothes. According to one source, the symptoms of being exposed to sodium hydroxide will vary depending on the way in which the victim has been exposed.

Effects to the skin following exposure can range from reddening and swelling to blister formation and overt skin destruction. Eye exposure may result in burning, pain, redness and corneal damage.

Inhaling acid fumes can cause sore throat, coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath. Severe exposure can lead to pulmonary edema, although this is not likely to occur with most household cleaning products.

Ingestion can lead to severe oral, esophageal and/or gastric burns, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

This is obviously a very potent chemical, and while it is an effective cleaner, it must be used in a very safe and secure environment. Wouldn't it be better for hospitals to use another cleaning agent that is just as effective, but less dangerous, like magnesium hydroxide? Then no one would have to lose their life in such a painful way.

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on February 21, 2010 (boomark / email).