Caustic Soda or Lye or Soduim Hydroxide is a highly toxic chemical. There is no two ways about that.
From personal experience, I was using the granules mixed with water to unblock the drains. I accidentally dropped TWO drops of it on my leg and it started burning through my flesh before I could get my leg under the tap to rinse it off. Over a year later, and the two marks are still on my leg, not healed properly.
I found this really interesting bit about it on Wikipedia: “sodium hydroxide is used to digest tissues, such as in a process that was used with farm animals at one time. This process involved placing a carcass into a sealed chamber, then adding a mixture of sodium hydroxide and water (which breaks the chemical bonds that keep the flesh intact). This eventually turns the body into a liquid with coffee-like appearance, and the only solid that remains are bone hulls, which could be crushed between one’s fingertips.]Sodium hydroxide is frequently used in the process of decomposing roadkill dumped in landfills by animal disposal contractors. Due to its low cost and availability, it has been used to dispose of corpses by criminals. Italian serial killer Leonarda Cianciulli used this chemical to turn dead bodies into soap. In Mexico, a man who worked for drug cartels admitted disposing over 300 bodies with it.”
What are potential harmful effects of sodium hydroxide exposure?
Sodium hydroxide is a potentially dangerous substance. It can hurt you if it touches your skin, if you drink it or if you breathe it. Eating or drinking sodium hydroxide can cause severe burns and immediate vomiting, nausea, diarrhea or chest and stomach pain, as well as swallowing difficulties. Damage to the mouth, throat and stomach is immediate. Breathing it can cause severe irritation of the upper respiratory tract with coughing, burns and difficulty breathing.
The harmful effects of sodium hydroxide depend on several factors including the concentration of sodium hydroxide, length of time exposed, and whether you touched it, drank it or inhaled it.
Contact with very high concentrations of sodium hydroxide can cause severe burns to the eyes, skin, digestive system or lungs, resulting in permanent damage or death. Prolonged or repeated skin contact may cause dermatitis. Repeated inhalation of sodium hydroxide vapor can lead to permanent lung damage.
odium hydroxide is a poisonous ingredient found in many industrial solvents and cleaners. It is a highly corrosive substance. Severe oral toxicity may cause necrosis of the gastrointestinal mucosa, esophageal and gastric perforation, and gastrointestinal bleeding. Esophageal carcinoma is another long term complication.
Coming into contact with or accidental poisoning of this substance may cause the following side effects:
Body systems affected by lye
Sodium hydroxide poisoning or exposure may severely affect the ocular, olfactory, dermal, respiratory and gastrointestinal systems.
Items that can contain lye
Sodium hydroxide is known for making solid, opaque bar soap, as opposed to potassium hydroxide (KOH) which is used in making liquid soap.
Lye can also be found in many different everyday products and objects. These include:
How to avoid lye
As previously mentioned, sodium hydroxide or lye is highly corrosive and can burn the skin. According to SoapQueen.com, lye can be safe to use when handled properly. It goes without saying that “wearing protective safety gear is a must.” Protect your eyes and skin with safety goggles, thick gloves, long sleeves and long pants. You can also opt for a mask to avoid inhaling its fumes.
Lye is white in solid form and easily dissolves in water. It is most corrosive after being dissolved.
How is sodium hydroxide poisoning treated? If you eat or drink sodium hydroxide, a doctor will perform an endoscopy. This is a test that allows the doctor to see inside parts of the body. Steroids may be used to treat severe damage to the esophagus, the tube that carries food to the stomach. Other treatments will depend on the damage found.
Does sodium hydroxide affect children or damage the unborn child? Exposure to sodium hydroxide at concentrations that do not affect the mother, are unlikely to affect the health of the unborn child.
Toxic by all routes of exposure
Chemical classification: corrosive(A corrosive substance is one that will destroy and damage other substances with which it comes into contact.)