Sodium hydroxide for skin

• Murat Eroglu • Mesut Mutluoglu • Gunalp Uzun • Hakan Ay • 1Department of Emergency Medicine, Gulhane Military Medical Academy Haydarpasa Teaching Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey • 2Department of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine, Gulhane Military Medical Academy Haydarpasa Teaching Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey • Correspondence to Dr Mesut Mutluoglu, drmutluoglugmail.com Description A 75-year-old, previously healthy, woman presented to the emergency room with bilateral hand wounds. Her medical history revealed the use of a sodium hydroxide (NaOH)—impregnated swab without gloves for approximately 2–3 h. Within several hours she felt a burning sensation and noticed significant hyperaemia and blisters over her left interdigitals and her right tenar eminence and fingertips. The next day her complaints aggravated and she developed several wounds over the affected areas. On examination she had a significant dry, necrotic, eschar-covered full-thickness ulcer over her right tenar eminence and several other dry necrotic wounds on the described locations ( 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.

Share on Pinterest Getty Images/SolStock Even if you aren’t familiar with the term sodium hydroxide, you might know this chemical compound by one of its other names: lye or caustic soda. Sodium hydroxide isn’t at all hard to find. This common ingredient, which consists of solid white, odorless crystals, features in a vast array of skin care products. Of course, as one of its names suggests, it’s Naturally, this has raised some eyebrows about its use in the beauty and Sodium hydroxide is overall considered safe for general use — but only in small amounts, at lower concentrations. At higher concentrations, sodium hydroxide is unsafe. It can cause chemical burns, as noted above, along with very harmful if you eat it or inhale its fumes. But here’s the good news: Skin care and beauty products only contain this ingredient in small amounts, so you’re unlikely to experience a chemical burn from any skin care products you’ve purchased. You also don’t need to worry about toxic fumes from your skin care products. In other words, there’s no need to do a clean sweep of your cabinets or completely overhaul your skin care routine. Beauty and skin care products, like Other common products with sodium hydroxide include: • • • nail polish • Name a skin care product, and there’s a good chance you’ll find sodium hydroxide in it — in small amounts, that is. You’ll also find it in plenty of cleaning products, including laundry detergent, drain cleaner, and oven cleaner. These substances, of co...

Sodium hydroxide is a popular ingredient in tons of skin care products that can seem hella scary due to its caustic nature. But while there’s def some risk, it’s generally safe if you spot sodium hydroxide in your fave cleanser. Here’s the scoop on why sodium hydroxide shouldn’t actually burn your face off when used in skin care products. What does it do? Sodium hydroxide helps stabilize and maintain a skin care product’s pH. It also helps fats and oils form into soap via saponification. What skin care products use it? You’ll find sodium hydroxide in makeup, cleansers, and soaps. What are the side effects? In high concentrations, sodium hydroxide can cause chemical burns, Is it safe in skin care? Sodium hydroxide is generally considered safe in skin care because of the small amounts used. Doing a patch test can help you check for any adverse reactions. Psst: think of alkaline, aka basic, as the opposite of acidic). It’s also the key ingredient in helping fats and oils become one in soaps and cleansers. It’s also used in facial and body care products. Sodium hydroxide’s basic properties also make it a solid addition to cleaning products like oven cleaners, drain cleaners, Concentrated amounts of sodium hydroxide are extremely Real talk. This makes sodium hydroxide sound pretty darn scary. But when added to skin care products, sodium hydroxide is used in low doses that are generally completely used up in the reaction process. So, the harsh vibes are gone by the time a produc...

I'm under training of becoming floorman in the rig. We use a lot of chemicals and one of them is caustic soda or sodium hydroxide. In case it touches my skin can you tell me of ways to treat it? I have thought of neutralizing it by slowly going less basic by using for example household ammonia then hand soap then sea water. $\begingroup$ I suggest that you look on the web for the safety data for this any any other compounds you use. Sodium hydroxide will make the skin feel soapy. I would not use ammonia but wash with copious amounts of soap & water as soon as possible. Then wash again when you think you have removed it all. $\endgroup$ $\begingroup$ I don't think you understand how neutralization works. Adding more base (ammonia) will not help you. As with most (but definitely not all) chemicals, the correct response is to flood the affected area with water immediately. You want to get it off you as quickly as possible, not go slow and add more base. $\endgroup$ We use a lot of chemicals […] • Before you start to use potentially hazardous compounds and products, get their Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) and read them. • Learn about storage, handling, disposal and emergency measures in case of • eye contact • skin contact • inhalation For a $50\%$ sodium hydroxide solution, a typical MSDS looks like Skin Contact: In case of contact, immediately flush skin with plenty of water for at least $15$ minutes while removing contaminated clothing and shoes. Cover the irritated sk...