Sodium dichloroisocyanurate
The chlorine donor in sanitising and sterilising tablets. A state health department records it as reacting explosively with bleach in the presence of water.
What not to do
These are the combinations an authority has warned about. A substance nobody has warned about has not been cleared, and none of this is permission to mix.
Never mix
The regulator's own wording is that the two react EXPLOSIVELY in the presence of water — which is to say, in the only circumstances either product is ever used in. Both are chlorine sources, so chlorine gas is released as well, and chlorine is a severe respiratory irritant whose effects can be delayed. If this has happened, get into fresh air at once, do not go back into the room to ventilate it, and seek medical advice. Feeling better shortly afterwards is not an all-clear.
Never mix
Chlorine gas is released. The regulator lists soda ash — washing soda — among the substances sodium dichloroisocyanurate is not compatible with, alongside ammonia, amines, strong bases, oxidising agents and hydrogen peroxide. Chlorine irritates the eyes, nose, throat and lungs and its effects can be delayed. Ventilate by leaving, not by staying.
Sodium dichloroisocyanurate must never be mixed with Sodium hypochlorite (chlorine bleach)
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
A chlorine-releasing tablet and a bleach bottle, which a state health department describes as reacting explosively in the presence of water — which is the only state either is ever used in.
Precautions
- Never mix with other cleaning products
- Ventilate the area
- Keep away from children and pets
- Consider professional help
Evidence
Strongly supported
Sources
Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet: Sodium Dichloro-Isocyanate (RTK 1694)
New Jersey Department of Health, 2002 · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That sodium dichloroisocyanurate reacts explosively with calcium hypochlorite or sodium hypochlorite in the presence of water. (states this directly)
Sodium dichloroisocyanurate must never be mixed with Sodium carbonate
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Soda ash is washing soda. The regulator lists it among the substances the chlorine donor is not compatible with, and nothing on either package suggests a connection.
Precautions
- Never mix with other cleaning products
- Ventilate the area
- Keep away from children and pets
Evidence
Strongly supported
Sources
Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet: Sodium Dichloro-Isocyanate (RTK 1694)
New Jersey Department of Health, 2002 · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That sodium dichloroisocyanurate is not compatible with soda ash, ammonia, amines, strong bases, oxidising agents and hydrogen peroxide. (states this directly)
Precautions
- Never mix with other cleaning products
- Ventilate the area
- Keep away from children and pets
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
- Rinse thoroughly afterwards
In detail
Sodium dichloroisocyanurate is the compound in the tablets sold for sterilising baby bottles, sanitising surfaces and purifying water, and it is a chlorine donor rather than a chlorine solution: it holds its chlorine in a stable solid until water releases it. The regulator states that mechanism as its first reactivity line — it reacts with water to produce chlorine gas and nitrogen trichloride — which is unusual, because that reaction is also the product working as intended. What follows is the finding. It reacts explosively with calcium hypochlorite or sodium hypochlorite in the presence of water. Two chlorine products, both sold to households for the same purpose, both likely to be in the same cupboard, and the combination is recorded by a state health department as explosive rather than merely as gas-producing. It is also incompatible with ammonia, amines, strong bases, oxidising agents, hydrogen peroxide and soda ash — which is washing soda, a cleaning agent in its own right and one nothing on either package connects to the other. A consumer tablet is a formulated product and may contain more than this compound, so the label governs.
Properties
- Chemical name
- Sodium dichloroisocyanurate
- pH
- Mildly acidic
Why
- Sodium dichloroisocyanurate is explained by Oxidation and bleaching
- Sodium dichloroisocyanurate is explained by Cleaning, disinfecting and sterilising
- Sodium dichloroisocyanurate is explained by Contact time
Sources for this page
Sources
Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet: Sodium Dichloro-Isocyanate (RTK 1694)
New Jersey Department of Health, 2002 · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That sodium dichloroisocyanurate is used in detergents, bleaching and laundry products and swimming pools, that it reacts with water to produce chlorine gas and nitrogen trichloride, that it reacts explosively with calcium or sodium hypochlorite in the presence of water, and that it is incompatible with soda ash and hydrogen peroxide. (states this directly)