Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). 2002. Managing Hazardous Materials Incidents. Volume III – Medical Management Guidelines for Acute Chemical Exposures: Calcium Hypochlorite/Sodium Hypochlorite. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service.

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If you inhale chlorine gas released from concentrated hypochlorite solutions you may experience nasal irritation, sore throat, and coughing. Contact of strong hypochlorite solutions with your skin may cause burning pain, inflammation, and blisters. Contact of the eye with mild bleach solutions may cause mild and transitory irritation. More concentrated solutions may cause severe eye injuries. Long-term exposure to low levels of hypochlorite can cause dermal irritation.

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If you have questions or concerns, please contact your community or state health or environmental quality department or:

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Specific tests for the presence of sodium, calcium or chlorine in the blood or urine are not generally useful. If a severe exposure has occurred, blood and urine analyses and other tests may show whether damage has occurred to the lungs and gastrointestinal tract. Some of these tests can be performed in a doctor's office. Some testing may require hospital facilities.

This fact sheet answers the most frequently asked health questions about sodium and calcium hypoclorite. For more information, you may call the ATSDR Information Center at 1-888-422-8737. This fact sheet is one in a series of summaries about hazardous substances and their health effects. It is important you understand this information because this substance may harm you. The effects of exposure to any hazardous substance depend on the dose, the duration, how you are exposed, personal traits and habits, and whether other chemicals are present.

Sodium and calcium hypochlorite are used primarily as bleaching agents or disinfectants. They are components of commercial bleaches, cleaning solutions, and disinfectants for drinking water and waste water purification systems and swimming pools.

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Children are probably affected by exposure to sodium and calcium hypochlorite in the same ways as adults. We do not know whether children differ from adults in their susceptibility to sodium and calcium hypochlorite. In general, children may be more vulnerable to corrosive agents than adults because of the smaller diameter of their airways.

Water is made up of two elements, hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen is flammable, but oxygen is not. Flammability is the ability of a combustible material with an adequate supply of oxygen (or another oxidiser) to sustain enough heat energy to keep a fire going after it has been ignited.

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has set a limit for chlorine, as sodium hypochlorite or calcium hypochlorite, not to exceed 0.0082 or 0.0.036 pounds, respectively, of chlorine per pound of dry food starch.

When hydrogen combines with oxygen the result is water, where the atoms of hydrogen and oxygen are linked together to make a molecule with entirely different properties. You can't burn pure water, which is why we use it to put out fires instead of starting them. You can, however, break it down into hydrogen and oxygen by putting energy into it, in the form of an electric current.

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The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has determined that hypochlorite salts are not classifiable as to their carcinogenicity to humans.

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Watch out for sparks, though, or there will be a loud bang and a blue flame as the hydrogen and oxygen spontaneously recombine to form water again.

The general public can be exposed to small amounts of sodium and calcium hypochlorite by using household products that contain these chemicals. Workers in occupations that use these chemicals have the highest risk of being exposed. Sodium and calcium hypochlorite can cause irritation of the eyes, skin, respiratory and gastrointestinal tract. Exposure to high levels can result in severe corrosive damage to the eyes, skin, respiratory and gastrointestinal tissues and can be fatal. Sodium and calcium hypochlorite have been found 6 times each in the 1,585 National Priorities List sites identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Sodium hypochlorite is generally used dissolved in water at various concentrations. Although available, solid sodium hypochlorite is not commercially used. Sodium hypochlorite solutions are clear, greenish to yellow liquids with an odor of chlorine. Calcium hypochlorite is a white solid that readily decomposes in water releasing oxygen and chlorine. It also has a strong chlorine odor. Neither compound occur naturally in the environment.

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For more information, contact: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Office of Innovation and Analytics, Toxicology Section 4770 Buford Highway Chamblee, GA 30341-3717 Phone: 1-800-CDC-INFO 888-232-6348 (TTY) Email: Contact CDC-INFO

The toxic effects of sodium and calcium hypochlorite are due primarily to the corrosive properties of hypochlorite. If you ingest a small amount of household bleaches (3-6% hypochlorite) you may experience gastrointestinal irritation. If you ingest a more concentrated commercial bleach (10% or higher hypochlorite) or hypochlorite powder you may suffer severe corrosive injuries to the mouth, throat, esophagus and stomach with bleeding, perforation, and eventually death. Permanent scars and narrowing of the esophagus may occur in survivors of severe intoxication.

Household products containing sodium or calcium hypochlorite should be stored in safe locations, out of the reach of children.

We do not know if exposure to sodium and calcium hypochlorite can result in birth defects or other developmental effects.

ATSDR can also tell you the location of occupational and environmental health clinics. These clinics specialize in recognizing, evaluating, and treating illnesses resulting from exposure to hazardous substances.