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?

'Well you should have warned me at the time I bought it if you feel so strongly'.

Oh ffs. How old is he? How about he takes responsibility for himself?

Bugger. Bold fail.

The pictures are pretty gruesome. Hopefully if he sees them the message might get through to him.

Definitely move it from under the dunk. People can die or be seriously inured from ingesting caustic soda.

Your dh is taking not backing down / losing face to dangerous extremes. He is a twat. Hope that helps.

He should have read the packaging. That stuff is dangerous.

(also has a degree in Biochemistry, if that helps).

Injured not inured thanks dyac....

Oh ffs sink not dunk!

How to derail your serious message by not proof reading....

Aha there's your fatal error op. You don't treat men like adults. You just let them think you are. Example: you're moving the bottle later... Its a shame but there it is. Obviously not all men are like this ( I assume, anyone got a sensible dh on here?) ;-)

For littlewhitebag and the other scientists.

Yes it is frustrating that I can't treat him like an adult in this. What I want him to think is something along the lines of: 'I am appreciative that Living intervened before I was seriously injured'. How naive of me to think that pointing out the danger to him would get such a rational and straightforward reaction.

Or even the following would do: 'I think that Living had exaggerated the danger and her reaction is over the top. However, as she feels so strongly that she does not want the caustic soda in the house, I will take it outside despite thinking that this precaution is unnecessary. Her wanting this is a good enough reason fowhee to do it, whatever my personal views. Because I respect her'.

Instead of which, it seems he can't bear the idea that I might be right and him wrong. It is not enough for him to BE right, he has to be SEEN to be right. And some men claim that they are the rational, logical ones and women are over emotional? DH has just accused me of 'panicking', I think that is very far from what I am doing.

'for me' not 'fowhee'

If this is a "live event" still then I would advise the husband of the original poster to check his hands with great care. Make sure you wash them well and wash under the fingernails to make sure no caustic is trapped there.

If you feel a soapy feeling then this is a sign that the caustic has started to turn the fats in the outer layer of your skin into soap.

I have no idea how strong the NaOH solution was that the man had on his hands or if it was NaOH pellets or powder, but just trust me (I have a PhD and an even higher degree [Docent] in chemistry) getting caustic soda AKA sodium hydrooxide AKA Lye on your skin can result in some very nasty chemical burns.

If the skin is hurting, blistering, going red or changing in some other way I would advise going to A+E for help.

When I was a PhD student I heard of some man who foolishly choose to clean out his motorcycle tail pipe with caustic, when he put the caustic into the hot tail pipe the heat made it spray back at him. He ended up with skin graft operations which are very painful !

I'd not be backing down on having him remove it from the kitchen where the kids could get it. I'd be telling him that he's a stupid twat who's willing to put his own children at risk for the sake of his injured male pride, and if he doesn't move it, I'd be moving the children to my mother's or suchlike place until he sees fucking sense.

It is a bit of a no brainer to me, you need to keep toxic, flammable, corrosive etc chemicals out of the reach of children.

I have recenty had a baby and I have started working out how to keep him away from paint, weedkiller and all the other household chemicals.

Think you do not want to wake up and find.

1. The kids have redecorated the house with paint
2. The kids have started spraying each other with weedkiller
3. The kids have been eating wall paper paste
4. The kids have been playing with caustic soda
5. The kids have been mixing cement in saucepans

You can use your imagination to think up more nightmare senarios

Simple solution lock up all household chemicals

Lol at long lecture but always follow the instructions

Bloody hell, I'd be livid if he wouldn't move it from under the sink when there are children in the house! It's on my list of chemicals not to even think of keeping indoors. Fortunately DH's degree is in chemistry and he completely agrees with me.

I'm astonished you can buy the stuff so easily, to be honest (ditto sulphuric acid - I spent ages wondering where people got the stuff from for acid attacks, and then discovered that some drain cleaners are basically neat sulphuric acid).

Get him to watch this:

Caustic Soda is what they use to scar one another in Fight Club this may change his mind!

Oh and get him to wash his hands with vinegar. That'll sort him out

I already got him to rinse his hands with vinegar.

Several hours on he seems to have suffered no ill effects....so he still thinks I am making a fuss about nothing. He won't be told.

The bottle will be gone from under the sink by the time DC comes home (is away overnight). I won't allow it to stay there and endanger DS. I am biding my time. It is ridiculous that I have to go through this performance but so it is....will quietly move the bottle when no longer a sore subject & DH has forgotten about it.

I am really astonished that such chemicals are readily available.

Sodium hydroxide turns fat into soap and bloody quickly. Your husband was very lucky. YANBU

I teach chemistry in high school, and if I handle solid NaOH, it's lab coat, gloves and goggles! Very dangerous stuff, and am always amazed its available to the general public with no training!

I certainly wouldn't keep it under the sink, and second the poster who said if his hands feel at all "soapy" then he needs to continue rinsing with water/ vinegar, as there will still be sodium hydroxide on his skin.

NaOH is probably the one chemical that makes me most nervous when the kids use it, after seeing an awful accident at uni when someone had got some in their eye - they lost the eye :-(