What will ammonia do to you

Rescuers should be trained and appropriately attired before entering the Hot Zone. If the proper equipment is not available, or if rescuers have not been trained in its use, assistance should be obtained from a local or regional HAZMAT team or other properly equipped response organization.

Ammonia is a caustic and corrosive chemical that causes irritation and chemical burns upon contact of the gas or liquid with the eyes, skin, respiratory tract, or alimentary canal. Respiratory Protection : Positive-pressure, self-contained breathing apparatus SCBA is recommended in response situations that involve exposure to potentially unsafe levels of ammonia. Skin Protection : Chemical-protective clothing is recommended because ammonia can cause skin irritation and burns.

Quickly access for a patent airway, ensure adequate respiration and pulse. If trauma is suspected, maintain cervical immobilization manually and apply a cervical collar and a backboard when feasible. If victims can walk, lead them out of the Hot Zone to the Decontamination Zone. Victims who are unable to walk may be removed on backboards or gurneys; if these are not available, carefully carry or drag victims to safety. Consider appropriate management of chemically contaminated children, such as measures to reduce separation anxiety if a child is separated from a parent or other adult.

Victims exposed only to ammonia gas who have no skin or eye irritation do not need decontamination. They may be transferred immediately to the Support Zone. All others require decontamination as described below. If exposure levels are determined to be safe Quickly access for a patent airway, ensure adequate respiration and pulse. Stabilize the cervical spine with a collar and a backboard if trauma is suspected.

Administer supplemental oxygen as required. Assist ventilation with a bag-valve-mask device if necessary. Rapid skin and eye decontamination is critical. Victims who are able, may assist with their own decontamination. Remove contaminated clothing while flushing exposed areas. Double-bag contaminated clothing and personal belongings.

Flush liquid-exposed skin and hair with water for at least 5 minutes. If feasible, wash exposed skin extremely thoroughly with soap and water. Use caution to avoid hypothermia when decontaminating of children or the elderly. Use blankets when appropriate. Irrigate exposed or irritated eyes with plain water or saline for at least 15 minutes. Remove contact lenses, if easily removable without additional trauma to the eye.

Continue irrigation while transferring the victim to the Support Zone. In cases of ingestion do not induce emesis , perform gastric lavage, or attempt neutralization. Do not administer activated charcoal. Victims who are conscious and able to swallow should be given 4 to 8 ounces of water or milk.

Consider appropriate management of chemically contaminated children at the exposure site. Also, provide reassurance to the child during decontamination, especially if separation from a parent occurs. If possible, seek assistance from a child separation expert. As soon as basic decontamination is complete, move the victim to the Support Zone. Be certain that victims have been decontaminated properly see Decontamination Zone above. Victims who have undergone decontamination or have been exposed only to vapor pose no serious risks of secondary contamination.

Support Zone personnel require no specialized protective gear in such cases. Quickly access a patent airway, ensure adequate respiration and pulse. Ensure adequate respiration and pulse; administer supplemental oxygen as required. Establish intravenous access if necessary. Place on a cardiac monitor. Continue irrigating exposed skin and eyes, as appropriate.

In cases of ingestion, do not induce emesis, do not administer activated charcoal, and do not attempt to neutralize with weak acids. If the patient is conscious and able to swallow, administer 4 to 8 ounces of water or milk if it has not been given previously. In cases of respiratory compromise secure airway and respiration via endotracheal intubation. If not possible, perform cricothyroidotomy if equipped and trained to do so. Patients who are hypotensive or have seizures should be treated according to advanced life support ALS protocols.

Treat patients who have bronchospasm with aerosolized bronchodilators. The use of bronchial sensitizing agents in situations of multiple chemical exposures may pose additional risks. Also consider the health of the myocardium before choosing which type of bronchodilator should be administered. Cardiac sensitizing agents may be appropriate; however, the use of cardiac sensitizing agents after exposure to certain chemicals may pose enhanced risk of cardiac arrhythmias especially in the elderly.

Ammonia poisoning is not known to pose additional risk during the use of bronchial or cardiac sensitizing agents.

Consider racemic epinephrine aerosol for children who develop stridor. Dose 0. Patients who are comatose, hypotensive, or are having seizures or have cardiac arrhythmias should be treated according to ALS protocols. Note to reader: This fact sheet is intended to provide general awareness and education on a specific chemical agent. For information on preparedness and response e. Ammonia NH 3 is one of the most commonly produced industrial chemicals in the United States.

It is used in industry and commerce, and also exists naturally in humans and in the environment. Ammonia is essential for many biological processes and serves as a precursor for amino acid and nucleotide synthesis. In the environment, ammonia is part of the nitrogen cycle and is produced in soil from bacterial processes. Ammonia is also produced naturally from decomposition of organic matter, including plants, animals and animal wastes.

Ammonia is also used as a refrigerant gas, for purification of water supplies, and in the manufacture of plastics, explosives, textiles, pesticides, dyes and other chemicals. It is found in many household and industrial-strength cleaning solutions. Most people are exposed to ammonia from inhalation of the gas or vapors. Since ammonia exists naturally and is also present in cleaning products, exposure may occur from these sources.

The widespread use of ammonia on farms and in industrial and commercial locations also means that exposure can occur from an accidental release or from a deliberate terrorist attack. Anhydrous ammonia gas is lighter than air and will rise, so that generally it dissipates and does not settle in low-lying areas. However, in the presence of moisture such as high relative humidity , the liquefied anhydrous ammonia gas forms vapors that are heavier than air.

These vapors may spread along the ground or into low-lying areas with poor airflow where people may become exposed. Ammonia interacts immediately upon contact with available moisture in the skin, eyes, oral cavity, respiratory tract, and particularly mucous surfaces to form the very caustic ammonium hydroxide.

Ammonium hydroxide causes the necrosis of tissues through disruption of cell membrane lipids saponification leading to cellular destruction. Industrial strength cleaners can cause severe burns and injury. Survival past 48 hours most often indicates recovery will occur. Chemical burns that occurred in the eye frequently heal; however, permanent blindness may result. Levine MD. Chemical injuries. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; chap Meehan TJ.

Approach to the poisoned patient. Inhaled toxins. Editorial team. Ammonia poisoning. Poisonous Ingredient The poisonous ingredient is: Ammonia. Symptoms Symptoms can affect many parts of the body. Exposure to chloramine gases can cause coughing, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, irritation to the throat, nose and eyes or pneumonia and fluid in the lungs. Swallowing a cleaning product that contains ammonia can burn the mouth, throat, and stomach and cause severe abdominal pain.

If a cleaning product containing ammonia is accidentally ingested, read the product label for safety instructions, or call the National Poison Control Center at , and be sure to have the label from the cleaning product in hand.

Medical tests can detect ammonia in blood or urine. But because ammonia occurs naturally in the environment, people are regularly exposed to low levels of ammonia in air, soil and water, so these test results are not considered effective biomarkers of exposure.

About 90 percent of ammonia produced is used in fertilizer, to help sustain food production for billions of people around the world. Ammonia has other important uses; for example in household cleaning products and in manufacturing other products. Ammonia , also known as NH 3 , is a colorless gas with a distinct odor composed of nitrogen and hydrogen atoms. It is produced naturally in the human body and in nature—in water, soil and air, even in tiny bacteria molecules.

In human health, ammonia and the ammonium ion are vital components of metabolic processes. Ammonia occurs naturally and is found throughout the environment in soil, air, and water.

Ammonia also is renewed naturally as part of the nitrogen cycle that already occurs as plants fertilize.