To make a fuss about this? (DH thinks I was being ridiculous)

[Livingtothefull]

I got home from shopping this afternoon to find DH had been using caustic soda (which he had just bought, never used before). It turns out he had been using it with his bare hands, no gloves or goggles etc, and of course it had got on his hands.

I gave him a long lecture on how this stuff can actually be dangerous, can cause severe burns as indicated by the warnings on the bottle (it was also marked 'corrosive' - he wasn't aware of any of this as of course had not bothered to read the packaging).

I asked him if his hands were OK, he insisted they were fine then mentioned that they 'felt a bit tingly'. So I rang the non urgent NHS 111 number for advice - all the time with my DH ranting away in the background about how I was being ridiculous and 'panicking'. But I was worried in case any damage took some time to show up.

Was he right & was my reaction over the top?

You were right. Chemical burns are horrible.

He's a numpty. I knew someone whose hands were permanently scarred by caustic soda. Really nasty stuff.

Surely the name should have given him a clue? He's a numpty.

you were ridiculous to lecture an adult! so in that respect he was right.

Only unreasonable if you made him sit down and take notes from your lecture.

Will you be giving him an assignment on the topic?

Caustic soda is just sodium hydroxide. Dangerous if you get it your eyes, but otherwise fully water soluable, so far from the worse thing to get on your hands.

He is an idiot and should have been wearing gloves. This is sodium hydroxide and is a very dangerous chemical. It can cause very nasty burns. People in labs would wear gloves and probably safety specs when using it.

Oh, interesting cross post. I wonder which poster is right...

Copied from BMJ journal:

NaOH, often called ?caustic soda?, is a strong alkali frequently used in a variety of industries and also in domestic environments as a cleaning agent. Unlike acid burns, which are usually self-limiting and more superficial, caustic soda burns result in deep-liquefactive necrosis and are a cause of significant morbidity due to their late presentation.1 Early recognition and prompt management consisting of copious and prolonged wound irrigation is the mainstay of treatment.2 Following initial management, these patients usually require a surgical debridement and grafting or conservative wound care until complete epithelialisation. Our patient was lost to follow-up after she was referred to the plastic and reconstructive surgery department. This case illustrates the detrimental effects of NAOH content cleaning solutions. Extreme care should be taken when handling caustic chemicals, either by wearing protecting gloves or preferably by using less-irritating cleaning agents.

You aren't the ridiculous one !

I have a degree in biochemistry if that helps in making your decision on who is right.

I have received lectures from DH on other topics many a time so feel justified on lecturing him on this occasion. I said several times that I was just concerned about him, not having a go. I have a DC also to think about...need to be sure DH is aware how dangerous this stuff is so it NEVER gets near DC.

It's called 'caustic' for a reason

Considering it can dissolve corpes I think it's not something to get on your hands.

Ooooo, littlewhitebag to entirely derail the thread, where were you on the Calpol down the toilet 'wash and reuse or throw away' thread?

Thanks for the quote littlewhitebag, I will pass that on to him.

Calpol down the toilet?

MrsTerry 😃

op he's an adult so he should have taken care but my dh has done exactly the same thing.

does your dh also insist in carrying all the bloody shopping bags in together..?

MrsTP No i wasn't on that thread. Why? Did i miss something good?

I have worked with caustic soda in the past. Gloves thick lab coat and eye protection were compulsory, as was a safety briefing.

It is incredibly dangerous stuff and plenty of people including clueless members of the public have been severely injured by it. You are not being ridiculous and your DH should consider himself lucky that he has not blinded himself and I hope he hasn't burnt himself either.

It's men people like your DH failing to read instructions that makes me think that such dangerous chemicals shouldn't be freely available to the public.

I suspect your dh feels very stupid, knows you are right, but doesn't want to lose face. Typical bloke reaction. I have lost count of the times I've ended up being proved right after a few days of saying 'have it seen to' in a situation where any normal person (ie sensible woman lol) would have taken themselves to the gp or the local a&e walk in clinic.

The lecturing probabaly wasnt a good idea, but ringing the non-emergency line was appropriate.

Well if he had so little regard for heath and safety in the work place he would be fired.

If I allowed someone to use bare hands, no gloves or goggles etc, on one of my building sites I would be shut down.

Really stupid thing to do, very arrogant and foolish.

If someone behaves like a child they tend to get spoken to as if they are a child, he can hardly complain if a responsible adult has to point out the error of his way.

Did he get it anywhere else, clothes carpets, surfaces.

Get a locked cupboard and keep all dangerous chemicals out of his reach until he is prepared to educate himself.

YANBU. I too have degrees in biochemistry and the reaction and heat you get when dissolving "just" NaOH is really surprising. Goggles, gloves, lab coat all required when we used to make up our strong stick solutions.

He's sulking as he's in the wrong and could have really hurt himself. Get him to google caustic soda burns. Looking at them has made my face go like this

I think you are right FastWindow about him not wanting to lose face. He is just being really annoying at the moment. He has put the CS bottle in the kitchen cupboard under the sink, in easy reach of DC. I just said that I didn't want it there or in the house at all, but in the garden shed - he has insisted it is staying where it is. I won't bother arguing, will wait till he has gone out then move it (DC is out at the moment anyway).

His latest line: 'Well you should have warned me at the time I bought it if you feel so strongly'. I didn't know he had bought it as I don't scrutinise his shopping - that is a part of 'treating him like an adult'.

I found the BMJ article and want to show it too him but he won't read it if I do - will leave it on the screen for him to find. It may scare him as there is a fairly graphic picture of a burned hand and apparently these burns can take hours to show up? -though the clinician I spoke to on the helpline thought the situation could be managed at home.