Management of a household cleaning product ingestion (soap, detergent, bleach, etc.) depends on the chemical nature of the product.
NOTE: This does not cover ingestion of a solvent-based cleaning solution.
Steps:
(1) Immediately dilute ingested material and irrigate exposed surfaces.
(2) Determine nature of cleaning product ingested.
(3) Treat based on product ingested.
Product |
Additional Information |
Management |
soap |
|
observe for symptoms |
anionic (negatively charged) or nonionic detergent |
|
observe for symptoms |
cationic (positively charged) detergent; quarternary ammonium compound |
nontoxic amount |
observe for symptoms |
cationic (positively charged) detergent; quarternary ammonium compound |
potentially toxic amount |
emesis or lavage |
bleaching agent, hypochlorite solution |
household product (<= 5%) |
observe for symptoms |
bleaching agent, hypochlorite solution |
industrial strength (> 5%) |
treat as possible corrosive |
ammonia-containing product |
household product (<= 5%) |
observe for symptoms |
ammonia-containing product |
industrial strength (> 5%) |
treat as possible corrosive |
strong acid or base (caustic corrosive) |
|
treat as possible corrosive |
Specialty: Toxicology, Emergency Medicine, Critical Care