Hazard to Health — Liquid Lye

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The development and promotion of a concentrated sodium hydroxide drain cleaner has resulted in a marked increase in esophageal injury due to accidental ingestion. Unlike granular-lye drain cleaners, this type causes severe injury even when only a small amount is ingested. In seven patients treated at the University of Kansas Medical Center its ingestion resulted in severe strictures that were refractory to dilatations, so that colonic Substitution was required in all seven patients. Experimentally, quantities as little as 1 ml and duration of contact of only one second are sufficient to cause full-thickness esophageal necrosis. The small amounts and the brief contact required make effective treatment impossible once ingestion has occurred. This product is sufficiently hazardous that it should be removed from the market to prevent further injuries.

This publication has 6 references indexed in Scilit: