Over the weekend one of our customers had a pump up sprayer explode because of the following the mixed the wrong chemicals.
The sprayer contained about 3 ounces of One Restore by Eaco
Chem. An employee assumed that was enough to disregard and mixed in Sodium
Hypochlorite as well as Big Green Bruce. After the lid was installed and the
contractor set it on the ground the pump sprayer literally ruptured.
Fortunately the employee was smart enough to walk away when he heard it hissing
but basically One Restore is an acid (low PH) and the SH and Bruce are Alkaline
(High PH). When the two are mixed they react with each other, produce extreme
heat as well as gas off causing the plastic to weaken and over pressurize.
After just a few seconds it is enough to literally rupture the plastic housing
on this.
When mixing chemicals please BE SAFE, read the SDS and Technical Sheets first, wear PPE and BE SURE you know what you are doing. If you don't please do NOT mix chemicals.
Here is a cheat sheet that lists products that are SH safe >>.
Additional chemical safety tips that everyone should remember:
- When decanting bulk products into smaller containers, ALWAYS mark the contents on the exterior of the container. This is an OSHA safety requirement!
- NEVER Mix unmarked/unidentified Chemicals.
- NEVER Mix SH/Bleach with an Acid.
- NEVER Mix Acidic (low pH) and Alkaline (high pH) cleaning chemicals.
- When diluting strong chemicals (especially Acidic products), NEVER add the Water to the Chemical. ALWAYS add the Chemical to the Water.
The reaction in the pump-up sprayer could have happened when mixing either of the SH or BGB with the One Restore. Most reactions between SH and Acid create chlorine gas and heat. Most reactions between Alkaline (BGB) and Acids (One Restore) create hydrogen gas. They’re just lucky this created a burst sprayer and not a fire ball.