AVOID THIS "WITCHES DREW"
A tip on Home Safety
CAUTION; Recent tragedies among housewives necessitates repeating a warning that
appeared in both the "Employees• Bulletin" and the "Plan of the Day" some time
ago. It is recommended that this article be clipped to a permanent calendar or
other equally prominent place for future reference. It is further suggested that
you thoroughly indoctrinate your children with the danger associated with the
following household chemicals.
1. NEVER MIX A CHLORINE BLEACH WITH A TOILET-BOWL CLEANER; A RUST REMOVER; OR
HOUSEHOLD AMMONIA.
2, Recently, a goverment medical news letter reported that 20 people were over
come from a gas or gases released from a cleaning mixture which was being used in
a government establishment. Investigation revealed that a mixture of cleaning a
gents had been employed for a "sanitizing’' operation, The mixture included a well
known liquid household cleaner, a chlorine bleach, and ammonia.
This brings to mind other similar accidents and particularly the tragedy and near
tragedy of a few years back reported by the National Safety Council, in which two
housewives, on separate occasions, were using a well-known cleaner in toilets.
Not satisfied with the way the cleaner was working on stains, both women made the
mistake of adding chlorine household bleach end mixing the two chemicals with a
brush. One women died; the other underwent long hospitalization,
WHAT HAPPENED: (a) A posisonous gas was liberated when the users decided to employ
a mixture of two or more comon household cleaning agents. When the widely used
household chlorine bleach, which is a solution of sodium hypochlorite, is combined
with the acid or acid-producing substance, such as toilet-bowl cleaner(sodium acid
sulfate) or vinegar, there is a sudden release of a quantity of chlorine gas.
Lidewise,1 when a chlorine bleach is mixed with ammonia, lye, or other alkaline
substance, the action will liberate a highly irritating gas. If the gas is inhaled,
in either case, particularly in a poorly ventilated room, it can cause serious
injury and possibly death. Accidents of this type have occured not only in the
kitchen and bathroom bat also in cleaning and treating the water of swimming pools.
Last year, one of the vessels which serves the Port of Adak, suffered a serious
injury to one of the crew members, as a result of mixing the above named solut
ions. As previously mentioned, this danger was exposed, in our local news media,
but people need to be reminded that poisoning from this cause can be sudden ana
serious, ’
3* BE SAFE; Don't make the mistake of thinking that because certain household
products are good and useful, the combination of two or more of them will do a
better job than one alone. Very often mixing them is useless and unnecessary,
since combined they will not make the job of cleaning easier or give better re
sults s and sometimes combining them may be disastrous* Follow the safe rule - USE
CHEMICAL CLEANERS AS THE MANUFACTURERS DIRECT ON THE LABELS. If in doubt, NEVER
combine a scouring powder and a toilet-bowl cleaner (since several scouring powders
now contain chlorine bleach), or a toilet-bowl cleaner and a bleach, or a bleach
with any other chemical material or cleanser since the composition of many clean
ing compounds with commonly be'unknown. Keep bleaches and cleaning materials stor
ed in separate places, and keep all household chemicals out of the reach of child
ren at all times. It is .best, anyway, not to use a hypochlorite (chlorine) bleach
in toilet-bowls, sinks, ‘‘or bathtubs, or on electrical appliances, as it can in
time injure, dull, roughen a fine, smooth, porcelain surface. Some manufacturers,
namely Clorox and.Sani-Flush, include brief words of worning on their labels a
gainst use with "toilet-bowl cleaners" and "Chlorine type bleaches", respectively.
The labels would be improved if the cautionary notes were made more emphatic and
more prominent in each case. It is hoped that all manufacturers of chemical house
hold products will follow suit. The chart on page 2 lists a few of the dangerous
mixtures.There may be more* Don*t run*the-risk of serious injury or possibly
death by becoming an amateur chemist.