Food desiccant becomes "invisible killer" and explodes when in contact with water

Recently, a 5-year-old boy from Gao'an City, Jiangxi Province, put a packet of desiccant in a seaweed food bag into the water, intending to use it to blow bubbles. Unexpectedly, an explosion occurred and the boy's face and eyeballs were burned, and he might become blind.

Will food desiccant and food deoxidizer really explode when they come into contact with water? How do you usually dispose of these desiccants? How to deal with an accident? Yesterday, the reporter verified this and issued a reminder.

Experimental Procedure

Experimental supplies:

Lime desiccant in seaweed food bags and food deoxidizer in ham food bags.

Experimental methods:

Use scissors to cut the desiccant and food deoxidizer into pieces and pour them into the prepared mineral water bottles respectively.

Experimental results:

After pouring the fine particles of food deoxidizer into the bottle for 30 minutes, there was no abnormality.

Five minutes after pouring the lime desiccant particles into the bottle, the water level in the bottle continued to rise, the originally transparent water continued to turn white and turbid, the bottle expanded rapidly, and then the bottle deformed, and then a bursting sound was heard, and the water in the bottle flowed out.

Cause of explosion

Lime absorbs water and releases heat

Why does the bottle expand and deform rapidly and then explode? The reason is actually very simple. Because the main component of the desiccant in the bottle is lime, the lime will release a large amount of heat after absorbing water, and the air in the bottle will expand rapidly and explode. It is understood that desiccant mainly plays a role in moisture-proofing and can also protect goods. At present, the main components of food desiccants on the market are silica gel and quicklime. Silica gel is relatively safe and has lower chemical corrosiveness. However, quicklime is low in cost and is a strong alkaline ingredient. If quicklime is accidentally ingested or gets into the eyes, it will damage the digestive tract or conjunctiva. The latter may even cause blindness in severe cases, which is relatively dangerous. No matter what the desiccant is made of, as long as it is not damaged or exposed to water, it should be safe.

HOW DOES IT HANDLE?

Put it in a high place, keep children away from it

After purchasing packaged food with desiccant, consumers should keep it out of reach of children. In case of accidental ingestion, silica gel desiccant will not cause too much problem and can be directly excreted from the body after ingestion. If it enters the eyes, just rinse with clean water from the inner corner of the eye to the outer corner of the eye; if it is lime desiccant, it can be diluted with water or milk after accidental ingestion. Do not drink too much water. Go to the hospital for treatment immediately after dilution. Do not use vinegar or acid to neutralize it; if the skin is accidentally contaminated with lime desiccant, it needs to be rinsed with plenty of clean water, and go to the hospital immediately after simple treatment; if the eyes are infected, wash with water, and pay attention to rotating the eyeballs and flipping the upper and lower eyelids, and then go to the doctor immediately. Do not be afraid to move or rinse with water, as this will delay the best time for first aid.

How to deal with desiccant in food bags? After opening the food package, the desiccant should be thrown away immediately, otherwise it will absorb moisture in the air and change. But it cannot be thrown into a place with water. It is best to throw it away together with the packaging.