How to deal with burns from sulfuric acid?

In daily life, I believe many people are familiar with sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid is a well-known highly corrosive chemical liquid. When human skin comes into contact with sulfuric acid, it can easily cause serious damage to the skin, and even corrode the skin, leading to life-threatening danger. In life, if the body is accidentally burned by sulfuric acid, the treatment method is very critical. You need to take off clothes in time, pay attention to the residual sulfuric acid on the skin, and try to rinse with clean water.

What to do after being burned by sulfuric acid?

1. Quickly leave the injury environment, take off contaminated clothes, keep quiet and keep warm.

2. For those who have direct skin contact with acid burns, use cotton cloth to absorb the sulfuric acid on the skin first, and then rinse with plenty of running water for at least 15 minutes. Neutralizer is generally not needed after rinsing. If necessary, 2%~5% sodium bicarbonate, 2.5% magnesium hydroxide or soapy water can be used to treat the wound. After neutralization, rinse with plenty of clean water to remove the remaining neutralization solution, the heat generated during the neutralization process and the neutralization products. The wound should be cleaned thoroughly to remove blisters to prevent acid from remaining and continuing to seep in. Shallow wounds can be treated with exposure therapy, waiting for the scab to heal, or bandaged with vaseline gauze, oils, or creams to promote the dissolution and shedding of the scab and accelerate healing. If it is a third-degree burn, eschar excision and skin grafting should be performed early.

3. Eye burns should be rinsed with clean water or saline for more than 30 minutes. If the pain is obvious, 0.5% dicaine eye drops can be used. To prevent irido-ciliary adhesion, you can use 1% atropine eye drops or eye ointment or 10% phenylephrine (phenylephrine) eye drops to dilate the pupil (do not use for patients with glaucoma). Acetazolamide 0.25 g/day can be taken orally to prevent secondary glaucoma. For those with conjunctival and corneal edema, use a mixture of hypertonic glucose solution + vitamin B6 and vitamin C for eye drops, and at the same time use antibiotic and cortisone eye drops or eye ointment.

4. Patients with laryngeal spasm or asphyxiation should undergo tracheotomy, oxygen inhalation or mechanical ventilation as soon as possible. Nebulizer inhalation: salbutamol 2mg, or 0.5% isoproterenol 1ml + dexamethasone 2mg + 1% procaine 2ml, and use 5% sodium bicarbonate 15ml + 0.9% sodium chloride solution to 30ml.

5. For those who take the medicine orally, gastric lavage, vomiting and laxative are generally prohibited to prevent esophageal and gastric perforation. You can take 2% chlorpromazine suspension, aluminum hydroxide gel, or egg white orally, and then take neutralizing agents such as milk and soy milk. But avoid taking sodium bicarbonate as it may react with acid to produce carbon dioxide, causing gastrointestinal bloating and perforation. Gastric lavage through a gastric tube or the use of emetics is prohibited. Prednisone can be taken orally to reduce fibrosis and prevent scarring and narrowing of the digestive tract.

2. Treatment methods for sulfuric acid leakage:

If a sulfuric acid leakage accident occurs, people in the leakage contaminated area should be quickly evacuated to a safe area, and the area should be isolated and entry and exit should be strictly restricted. It is recommended that emergency response personnel wear self-contained positive pressure respirators and acid- and alkali-resistant work clothes. Avoid direct contact with leaking material. Cut off the source of the leak if possible. Prevent it from flowing into sewers, drainage ditches and other restricted spaces. Small spills: Mix with sand, dry lime or soda ash. It can also be rinsed with plenty of water and the washing water diluted and put into the wastewater system. Large-scale leakage: build dikes or dig pits to contain the leakage. Use a pump to transfer to a tank truck or special collector for recycling or transport to a waste disposal site for disposal.