h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

For reasons best kept private (nothing illegal, don't you worry!) I have been mulling over mixing Bleach and Ammonia. Time and time again I have been told not to do this. However, I'm planning on working with the two chemicals in small doses.

I'll most likely have nothing but a cloth over my nose and mouth and air-tight goggles over my eyes. Since I'll only be using small amounts, do so outdoors, and probably hold my breath and leg it after they have been added together, do I need to worry?

Oh, by 'small doses' I mean something like an eyedropper full, perhaps more.

I... dont have any experience in this field, and am a bad typest and speeler. A gas mask, maybe?

Whoops, I replied wrong. sorry.

I really would like some clarification on how mixing drano and ajax could cause death. Almost a week ago I had a close friend pass away because supposedly he was cleaning his home and got to the bathrooms where he supposedly put ajax or comet in the sink and realized there was a clog in the drain and put drano gel in there as well. We are not sure how long he was cleaning the bathroom. Anyways, he was feeling light headed and walked over to the neighbors home and was distraught and disoriented from what his neighbor said. He told them that his face felt numb and that he could not smell anything. He told them that he was cleaning and I'm sure they both agreed to go to the hospital at that time. As they were walking out of the neighbors house, my friend told them he forgot to take his 2 dogs out of the house. So, the niegbors 16 yr old son and my friend went back into his house and the kid said that he and my friend were trying to open up all the windows as well. I'm sure thats when it dawned on my friend that there was something really wrong. My friend was first out his front door and the kid shortly after. As the kid walked out he said that my friend sat down and looked unconscious. I'm sure he was trying to wake him up and panicking trying to figure out what to do. They called 911 and he tried CPR. The ambulance came about 8 min later and got his heart to start 2 times but we ended up losing him. Do you think drano and ajax or comet could produce that much of a toxic gas? If it could, would it have been visible right away? And when he told his neighbor his face felt numb and he could not smell anything, is that what happens when you have been in that environment for a prolonged peiod of time? I just want to say that my friend was very intelligent and always paid attention to detail. He was college educated and earned his degree in business. Something does not add up. He had to have seen the gas forming right away right? COULD SOMEONE WHO HAS KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE ON THE MATTER PLEASE REPSOND TO ME AND CLEAR UP SOME OF THESE QUESTIONS. WE ARE CONFUSED, SHOCKED, AND STUNNED THIS HAPPENED TO OUR FRIEND. SORRY FOR THIS BEING SO LONG AND WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF SOMEONE TOOK THE TIME TO READ THIS AND ANSWER OUR QUESTIONS. IF YOU NEED MORE DETAILS PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. Here's some info to maybe help you figure out what you need to know.

Drano contains highly caustic basic substances (such as sodium hydroxide, NaOH). These are likely to react with many substances, especially those found in other cleaners. I don't know exactly what Ajax or Comet contain, but it seems that some Ajax products contain bleach, and I expect that Comet would contain similar substances. Mixing any cleaners together is likely to produce toxic gases, and I know that, in general, most strong basic (and acidic) substances are likely to produce toxic products in chemical reactions.

The majority of gases that you can produce with cleaners don't have a color, and many that do aren't visible until they're highly concentrated. Chlorine, for example, only has a visible color at a concentration WELL above its toxic level. Also, many of these gases can take a while to fully set in, well after a person has been exposed to deadly levels. To give you a better idea of this, VX nerve agent is the most potent man-made neurotoxin that exists. It takes less than a drop to kill you. However, it can take nearly a full day for the effects to set in (it varies depending on many factors, like what one is doing, what the environment is like, etc.)

The fact that your friend's face felt numb and he lost his sense of smell suggests, to me, that the gas was probably a basic substance because bases often have anesthetic-like effects on nerves. It doesn't take a prolonged exposure to produce this feeling; it's almost immediate.

I hope that helps you.

When I saw your plea for help, I felt compelled to research your question. I’ve developed a hypothesis that might be the culprit.

Two forms of chlorine that contain cyanuric acid are known as Sodium Dichloro-s-triazinetrione Dihydrate (dichlor) and Trichloro-s-triazinetrione (trichlor). When these are added to water, they form free chlorine (Cl2) and cyanuric acid (C3H3N3O3). Cyanuric acid is odorless commonly used as a crystalline powder.

Both Comet and Ajax cleansers contain sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione dehydrate (NaC3N3O3Cl2•2H2O). On heating, sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione has a hazardous decomposition which includes chlorine (Cl2), nitric oxide (NO), and cyanogen chloride (CNCl).

Now, drano contains sodium hydroxide and aluminum (6NaOH + 2Al → 3H + 2Na3AlO3) which reacts with water to produce free hydrogen gas in an exothermic reaction. Assume that 1.2% sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione dehydrate (Comet Cleanser) is present in the water and the exothermic reaction of the drano starts to heating the sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione dehydrate.

One can now postulate that a hazardous decompression starts and forms, amount the above list gases, cyanogen chloride (CNCl). Now we have all the elements to make hydrogen cyanide (HCN). By balancing this equation CNCl + H2 + NaOH = HCN + NaCl + H2O yields freed hydrogen cyanide. Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is a colorless gas with a faint bitter almond-like odor.

I just realized that if you balance the equation sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione dehydrate with the chemical reaction of Drano you get NaC3N3O3Cl2 + 5 H2 + NaOH = 3 HCN + 2 NaCl + 4 H2O which also yields freed hydrogen cyanide to the air.

In any event, I think your friend my have inhaled enough hydrogen cyanide to produce a lethal affect.

I hope this can help your friend’s family because I didn’t realize the potential deadly reaction between Drano and Ajax or Comet cleansers. I’d suggest that you contact a chemist and have him review my results.

Allen