What are the main health hazards associated with breathing in sodium hydroxide?
Sodium hydroxide does not readily form a vapour and inhalation exposure is only likely to occur to aerosols. Three case reports suggest that sodium hydroxide aerosols may cause severe irritation of the respiratory tract. In one case, permanent lung injury resulted. Due to its corrosive nature, sodium hydroxide aerosols could cause pulmonary edema (severe, life- threatening lung injury). A worker, exposed to hot mists of sodium hydroxide in a confined space, experienced tightness of chest, dyspnea (difficult breathing) and cough during each exposure. The symptoms resolved when exposure stopped. Irreversible obstructive lung disease resulted when an individual applied about 5 L of a 5% sodium hydroxide solution with a brush in a small room with very limited ventilation. Severe lung injury occurred in a man who inhaled in an aerosol given off when water was poured on sodium hydroxide pellets. What happens when sodium hydroxide solutions comes into contact with my skin? Sodium hydroxide is
