Chemical Burn by Industrial Degreaser

mintycbo · #21 ● 03-22-2014, 04:20 AM

What was the active in the degreaser? It is usually sodium hydroxide.. same thing as in easy off and other industrial kitchen degreasers. You may know it by it's common name - Lye.

Kind of late for it now, but a simple rinse with water then lemon juice would have neutralized it.. (Yes, an acid that neutralizes degreaser. though considering his skin was already blistered, the lemon would have hurt.. a good bit.)
Lemon juice, vinegar, pickle juice etc.

If you ever find yourself having to use degreaser to clean a stainless steel surface or a flat top grill etc.. Degreaser, scrub it down, rinse with water, then lemon juice or vinegar it and wipe it off with a towel..
Will turn from tarnish/black to shine instantly.

I would say hope he heals up fine.. But I know he will. if he scars from it, will fade in like a year.

(Worked foodservice/food prep for 11+ years in the past.. I've seen sodium hydroxide and alkalis do a lot worse with minimal scarring. Now if it were TRUE acid..that's a tad different.)

mintycbo · #22 ● 03-22-2014, 04:35 AM

Lo and Behold..
I look it up...number one first ingredient - Sodium Hydroxide...
(Followed by what it is also known as... Lye...)

http://www.zepcommercial.com/product...er-Concentrate

Ditch the boots if you didn't already.. socks as well..
Lest he'd try and wear the boots and his foot would sweat .. Rehydrated sodium hydroxide.. yay..

If you didn't take him to the doc, just use general burn care, clean and dry.. bandage it if he has to wear shoes (Of course he will). Any dead skin that is no longer a closed blister? remove it if you or he can.
Put no oils or butter or margarine on the wounds. (wtf was wrong with people back in the day?)

Soap and water.. Dermaplast is handy for pain relief/antiseptic purposes. If it were me? I'd toss some peroxide on it on occasion, but that hurts, though it wouldn't bother me, may bother someone else...
So stick with soap/water. (Dial soap preferably)

Doctor would probably give you silver sulfadiazine cream and possibly debride the wound. (Remove dead skin). may also prescribe an antibiotic.

Hope he gets well soon, burns are one of the worst pains.. be it from fire, chemical, electric, cold or whatever.

mintycbo · #23 ● 03-22-2014, 04:37 AM

MSDS :

http://www.cleanandpolish.com/msds/I...easer_MSDS.pdf

MisterX · #24 ● 03-22-2014, 09:13 AM

industrial strength degreaser is some strong stuff i use it to clean my dirt bikes and the engines in my vehicles and it just dissolves the nasty oils and grease and dirt or whatever else like nothing i the stuff all over my hands all the time but i always rinse them off right away but after seeing this I’m going to be a little more careful

Faline · #25 ● 03-22-2014, 12:04 PM

Looks like that stung

Sharon · #26 ● 03-22-2014, 02:46 PM

Respect to you for fostering children

Thanks for sharing your 17yo's terrible burn and I hope he heals up without any problems

TwistedSisterr · #27 ● 03-22-2014, 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by mintycbo ↗

Lo and Behold..
I look it up...number one first ingredient - Sodium Hydroxide...
(Followed by what it is also known as... Lye...)

http://www.zepcommercial.com/product...er-Concentrate

Ditch the boots if you didn't already.. socks as well..
Lest he'd try and wear the boots and his foot would sweat .. Rehydrated sodium hydroxide.. yay..

If you didn't take him to the doc, just use general burn care, clean and dry.. bandage it if he has to wear shoes (Of course he will). Any dead skin that is no longer a closed blister? remove it if you or he can.
Put no oils or butter or margarine on the wounds. (wtf was wrong with people back in the day?)

Soap and water.. Dermaplast is handy for pain relief/antiseptic purposes. If it were me? I'd toss some peroxide on it on occasion, but that hurts, though it wouldn't bother me, may bother someone else...
So stick with soap/water. (Dial soap preferably)

Doctor would probably give you silver sulfadiazine cream and possibly debride the wound. (Remove dead skin). may also prescribe an antibiotic.

Hope he gets well soon, burns are one of the worst pains.. be it from fire, chemical, electric, cold or whatever.

I feel like im at work! Hello doctor, how is your day? lmao!!

no seriously, I got this, Sulfadine is my bff lol use it on almost everything! I rinse bid with sterile saline, epsom salt soaks every evening, I have dermaplast as of this morning ( u read my mind).. and I never use alcohol or peroxide because it causes further tissue damage is these cases so its good ol' povidone for him!! THANK YOU for confirming the proper tx!!