Safety
Like other corrosive acids and alkalis, drops of sodium hydroxide solution can decompose proteins and lipids in skin, eyes or other living tissues via amide hydrolysis and ester hydrolysis which consequently causes chemical burn and may induce permanent blindness if it contacts eyes. Solid alkali may also express its corrosive nature if there is water so protective equipment such as rubber gloves, safety clothing and eye protection should always be used when handling the material or its solutions.
Moreover, dissolution of sodium hydroxide is highly exothermic, and the resulting heat may cause heat burns or ignite flammables. It also produces heat when reacted with acids.
The standard first aid measures for alkali spills on the skin is, as for other corrosives, irrigation with large quantities of water. Washing is continued for at least ten to fifteen minutes.
Sodium hydroxide is corrosive to some metals, e.g. aluminum, which produces flammable hydrogen gas on contact. Sodium hydroxide is also mildly corrosive to glass, which can cause damage to glazing or freezing of ground glass joints. Careful storage is needed.
Read more about this topic: Sodium Hydroxide
Famous quotes containing the word safety:
“[As teenager], the trauma of near-misses and almost- consequences usually brings us to our senses. We finally come down someplace between our parents’ safety advice, which underestimates our ability, and our own unreasonable disregard for safety, which is our childlike wish for invulnerability. Our definition of acceptable risk becomes a product of our own experience.”
—Roger Gould (20th century)
“Perhaps having built a barricade when you’re sixteen provides you with a sort of safety rail. If you’ve once taken part in building one, even inadvertently, doesn’t its usually latent image reappear like a warning signal whenever you’re tempted to join the police, or support any manifestation of Law and Order?”
—Jean Genet (1910–1986)
“An evident principle ... is the principle of justice to all peoples and nationalities, and their right to live on equal terms of liberty and safety with one another, whether they be strong or weak.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)