How to deal with ammonia poisoning

If the area is full of ammonia, quickly remove the victim to a more open place, remove the clothes that are contaminated with ammonia; clean mouth in case of swallowing toxic gas .

Ammonia (NH ₃ ) is lighter than air, so it does not condense in low places. However, in a humid environment, ammonia can turn into a heavier form of water vapor than air, or spread on the ground and in low areas. Most victims of ammonia poisoning are caused by inhalation, in some cases swallowing or direct skin contact.

Ammonia is corrosive. The severity depends on the route of exposure as well as the dose and duration. High concentrations of NH ₃ can immediately cause skin, eyes, nose, throat, respiratory tract burns, even leading to blindness, lung damage and death. Inhalation of lower concentrations of ammonia causes cough, nose and throat irritation. Swallowing the body causes burns of the mouth, throat and stomach.

When entering human body, NH ₃ acts with body water to form ammonium hydroxide . This chemical is corrosive and damages cells. The damaged tissue is drained, which converts the ammonia to ammonium hydroxide and continues to cause skin, eye, respiratory and digestive burns. It also destroys the villi and respiratory mucosa which protect the body against infection. The tissue is necrotic, cell death, swelling and reaction of smooth muscle contraction can cause airway obstruction. Respiratory lesions can be replaced by granulation tissue and leave chronic lung disease sequelae behind.

Inhalation of lower concentrations of ammonia causes cough, nose and throat irritation.Swallowing the body causes burns of the mouth, throat and stomach.(Illustration).

Steps to manage when poisoning ammonia

• Quickly remove the victim from ammonia infection.If the incident happened in the house, go outside.If outside occur, go inside, close all doors and windows, turn off the air conditioner.
• Quickly remove clothes that are sticky with ammonia.If it is a shirt, the head should be cut off, avoid going over the head to limit contact with chemicals.Put clothes in a plastic bag and seal the mouth to avoid infecting victims and others.Keep these bags in a safe place, away from people, especially children.
• Quickly clean ammonia from the skin with soap and water, rinse your eyes clean with plenty of water.If you wear inner glasses, remove them, wash clean glasses with soap and water before putting them back on.Do not use detergent to wash ammonia on the skin.
• In the case of NH₃victims swallowedquickly need to loosen the tie, the towel, the victim's collar and let the victim rinse several times with cold water and spit it out.Continue giving the victim one to two cups of milk.Do not induce vomiting and do not allow the victim to drink oils for the purpose of neutralizing acids, not giving victims sodium carbonate or carbonated soft drinks.If the victim vomits, the head should be lower than the leg to avoid vomiting into the lungs.Then take the victim to the clinic or hospital for treatment.
• In particular, it is necessary to observe victims with severe symptoms such as severe, prolonged cough, throat irritation . should be taken to emergency hospital immediately.Note: The test may help detect ammonia in the blood and body but it cannot be confirmed that external ammonia infection is present because it is normally present in the body.When exposed to ammonia, the victim can immediately identify it because of its strong, unpleasant taste, taste and irritation to the skin, eyes, nose and throat, so testing in this case is not necessary.