Sulphuric acid
The acid in the acidic class of drain openers, and the one household substance where the standing advice to flush a spill with water is wrong.
What not to do
Sulphuric acid is unsafe on Stainless steel
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Precautions
- Ventilate the area
- Wear gloves
- Wear eye protection
- Consider professional help
Evidence
Strongly supported
Sources
Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet: Sulfuric Acid (RTK 1761)
New Jersey Department of Health, 2016 · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That sulphuric acid reacts with most metals to produce flammable and explosive hydrogen gas. (states this directly)
Precautions
- Never mix with other cleaning products
- Ventilate the area
- Wear gloves
- Wear eye protection
- Keep away from children and pets
- Consider professional help
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
In detail
Sulphuric acid is the acid side of the drain-opener aisle, and no authoritative source gives a domestic method for it. What matters is that anyone with a bottle of it should know what it is. The New Jersey Department of Health's hazard banner carries four terms that rarely appear together — carcinogen, corrosive and reactive, oxidiser, and do not use water — and the reactivity list explains the last: it reacts violently with alcohol and with water to release heat. Almost every other chemical spill is answered by flushing with plenty of water, and this is the exception to that rule. It reacts with most metals to give flammable hydrogen, and violently with organic material, combustibles and strong bases. The UK poisons service's own drain-cleaner guidance divides these products into enzymatic ones and non-enzymatic ones, and names sulphuric and hydrochloric acid on the acidic side of that division alongside sodium and potassium hydroxide on the alkaline side. It also names the two ways people get splashed: pouring from a height, and overpouring into a drain that is completely blocked so the product has nowhere to go.
Properties
- Chemical name
- Sulphuric acid
- pH
- Strongly acidic
Why
- Sulphuric acid is explained by pH in cleaning
Sources for this page
Sources
Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet: Sulfuric Acid (RTK 1761)
New Jersey Department of Health, 2016 · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That sulphuric acid is corrosive, reactive and an oxidiser, that its hazard banner states DO NOT USE WATER, and that it reacts violently with alcohol and water to release heat. (states this directly)
What's in drain cleaner and what happens if you drink it?
National Capital Poison Center (Poison Control) · Poison or chemical-safety authority
Relied on for: That non-enzymatic drain cleaners are strong acids or strong alkalis, with sulphuric and hydrochloric acid named on the acid side. (states this directly)