Go to Wikipedia and search on sulphuric acid. There will be a large page of information. On the right hand side of the page (near the top of the article) there should be links to toxicology sites.

Good luck.

Thank You Vermin

I will take a look into wikapedia and see what is there.

What was the bucket made of?

What could the bucket have been used for previously?

Are there additives in the chemistry of the battery?

What could have fallen into the bucket of acid?

What method was used to decant the acid into the bucket?

And just how did there come to be a bucket of acid laying about?

RR

Oooooo. I can tell. You're gunna be fun!!!

The buckets origin is SODASORB used in the submarine to scrub the internal breaths from riders and the sub adds oxygen for replenish.

I do not believe the bucket was left by the subs employees so keep in mind this is a boat yard next to the haul-out bay and is a normal place for maintenance on vessels.

What could have been placed or fallen into the bucket???? How knows but the submarine battery swap was completed with WET batteries and we did not fill them with electrolite (ACID) as they were already filled or (WET).

According to the Grace docs I found here be the ingredients:

"SODASORB® consists essentially of hydrated lime (CA(OH)2) and small quantities of sodium

hydroxide (NaOH) and potassium hydroxide (KOH)."

And there may be a color indicator in there too.

Haven't had time to look up what those reactions would be, if there were any product left in the bucket to react with the acid.

RR

I agree with the others in that you only state what you saw, did and knew at the time. Do not supply opinion or suppositions. The opposing lawyer may/will call you on every one and turn anything to their advantage.

As for the reactions, each one is a strong alkali that will react very strongly (violently)with the battery acid. The products would be Calcium Sulfate, Sodium Sulfate or Potassium Sulfate, along with water. If the SodaSorb was used then there could also be some CO2 released but probably not very much. The reactions are exothermic and will give off a lot of heat converting the water and other liquids in the bucket to vapor and also entraining small droplets of the acid. In my opinion (since we are not in court), this would not cause someone to pass out or become disoriented. If inhaled, your body would stop your ability to inhale and would result in coughing and other discomfort before it would affect you as mentioned above.

If the bucket was used to contain anything else then the reaction could be just about anything.

I work with acids quite a bit. There is a very small chance that the man could have been knocked out by the vapors (this assumes that there was some CO2 compounds in the bucket), but to do so, he would have had to put his entire head in the bucket and breathed slowly several times.

The chemicals that were listed as being in the bucket don't produce any fumes unless you shake them hard enough for the dust to come up. The dust would not knock a person out, but would instead destroy their lungs, as those chemicals are strong bases. If a persons lungs got destroyed to a sufficient level, then they might get knocked out, but he would have had to go straight to the emergency room if this happened.

If sulfuric (or any other acid) were dumped into the bucket, there would be a lot of bubbling (very visible / noticeable), the sound of the bubbling would be easy to hear if it is moderately quite, and there would be very acidic fumes coming out of the bucket that would look like mist. Unfortunately for the man, this would not knock you out, but would instead destroy your lungs. I have personally had a mild version of this happen to me from hydrochloric acid where I had a light cough for a little less than a week. Sulfuric acid by itself has a very low vapor pressure and therefore has essentially no fumes unless kept in a sealed container.

Basically the question is "did the man have to go to the hospital for lung injuries?" If the answer is yes then there is a chance that the accident was caused by a chemical similar to what you were using, but if you weren't transferring the electrolyte it wasn't from you. If not, then he is just trying to make a quick buck and deserves to be tossed out on his ear.

This was the opinion of a BS Chemistry, just to let you know that I am not a complete quack.

Why sleep with a clear conscience when if he plays his cards right he could be sleeping with the judge's wife.

No it is nothing like that as I entered my question I'm simply curious and not searching for information to report to anyone.

I have years of experience working with and around batteries of all shapes and sizes.

I'm only interested for my own knowledge and I'm not on a reaserch mission of any kind.

Thank You for your interest in my well being though.

Please understand it was not me that left the bucket, I was one of the maintenance personell simply exchanging batteries and I was not present at the site during the clean-up once the task was completed. Afte the swap I left the site with the old batteries via. Truck & Trailer to deliver them the buyer how purchased them.

My interesr here is not to take information to the court or anyone else. I mentioned I'm in maintenace and I have been for the past 22 years during that time I have worked around all types of batteries and acids so just for my own curiosity I thaught I would ask ? What kind of concentration of battery acid would it take to overcome an adult male ? Simply for my own knowledge !!!!!!

The simple answer is that a container with pure sulfuric acid that isn't reacting with anything, and is open to air causes no threat from fumes.

I have to go with the crowd on this one, disregard previous post (though it will haunt my dreams with visions of possible details...).

As interested as I am, there's just 1 job to be done with regards to court... follow the rules.

(Dern I want me a commercial submarine...)

RR

Yoompin' Yimminy! Don't nobody ever look at MSDS sheets? People pass out from breathing that stuff. One the other hand, taking a deep whiff of an unknown bucket almost qualifies for a Darwin award. Sheesh!

Couldn't agree with you more TVP45........MSDS's............a must.

Now who would leave a bucket of battery electrolyte.......just laying around.........for some goose to stick his head in it and take a good whiff...........two geese.........doesn't sound as good as two gooses.

There is the old trick of always waving your hand over an unknown to get some faint smell before sticking your nose directly over. Even someone as dumb and reckless as I knows to do that.

I suspect the person doing the whiffing in this instance had already been exposed to whatever made him pass out prior to him sticking his head in the bucket. but that is pure supposition on my part. Was he tested for blood alcohol or drug use when sent to the ER? Were I the defense attorney, that would be where I would be starting.

That may be the case, as you suppose. However, if I was prosecuting the case I would focus on the inappropriate storage and handling of dangerous and toxic chemicals. If there was no signage, and the area in question had access to the public (how did this person get there in the first place) then the responsibility still would rest with the people handling the chemicals.

Sure, the person did something stupid, however, in this case the responsibility still would rest with the people handling the chemicals and performing the maintenance. Were these people properly trained? Who's to say that maybe an innocent child could have had access to this chemical and sniffed it or put there hands into it?

To me it was an accident waiting to happen, that's why there are MSDS"s and proper handling, storage procedures for such chemicals. This was violated in the first place.

............you cannot regulate against stupidity........take this case for example!

This is why councils have MSDS's for rakes, forks, shovels, etc., to protect there backsides from those seeking to injure themselves deliberately or otherwise for compensation.

Whilst the battery electrolyte should not have been placed in the bucket, I think that the question that needs to answered is who put the bucket there and how long the bucket had been there..........the main reason for this thought is that any chemical reaction with whatever was in the bucket could have "finished".........had any gasses formed by this reaction been heavier than air, the person smelling the fumes would have had to stick his had right in the bucket.

Heck! Even the act of bending over may have made him pass out by a sudden change in blood pressure.

From an MSDS for battery acid:

SUITABLE MATERIAL HANDLING/
STORAGE PRECAUTIONS

Plastic jerry cans
(1) Store containers in a cool dry place
(2) Do not stack containers more than 4 high.
(3) An eyewash fountain and safety shower should be located in or near the storage
areas used for lead acid batteries or acid containers. Such areas should be equipped
with acid proof floors and a sump to collect, neutralise and bag spills for correct disposal.

HAZARDOUS DECOMPOSITION
PRODUCTS

Toxic fumes of oxides or sulphur when heated to decomposition. Will react with water or steam to produce toxic and corrosive fumes. Reacts with carbonates to generate carbon dioxide gas and with cyanides and sulphides to produce poisonous hydrogen cyanide and hydrogen sulphide.

LABEL HAZARD : Poison – Danger
WARNING : Corrosive liquid and mist cause severe burns to all body tissue. May be fatal if swallowed or contacted with skin. Harmful if inhaled. Affects teeth. Water reactive. Cancer hazard. Strong inorganic mists containing sulphuric acid can cause cancer. See section 3.

LABEL PRECAUTION : Do not get in eyes, on skin or on clothing. Do not
breathe mist. Keep container closed. Use only with adequate ventilation. Wash thoroughly after handling. Do not allow uncontrolled contact with water. Keep locked up and out of reach of children.
MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEET
No: MSDS

Yeah, someone dropped the ball on this one, for sure. Total failure to adhere to MSDS. But that's okay, because maybe the victim was drunk so let's blame him.

WTF?

MSDS are fine, necessary and sometimes helpful, but almost always orders of magnitude over-protective... What ever happened to personal responsibility and common sense?

Why did the injured worker stick his head in the bucket?

"Why did the injured worker stick his head in the bucket?"

He was lookin' for a lawsuit, silly!

Interesting jump to conclusions on "injured worker". Where is it mentioned that the injured person was working on the dock or a "worker" who should have known better? How hard would it have been to place the acid in an approved storage container and properly label it? Very careless without regard for professionalism.

Personal responsibility and common sense? Wow! Where is the responsibility of the people performing the work? Where I come from adhering to the MSDS in handling dangerous and toxic chemicals is mandatory, and violations result in people being fired, or places of work being shut down. Worker's Compensation and safety officers are very, very strict. Why leave this to chance?

You may think that the dictates of MSDS's are "over-protective" however, they are strict because of the nature of the chemicals being handled. There are so many permutations of what can go wrong, that there is only one way to deal with them.... the correct way.

Murphy's Law applies here. The victim is entitled to sue for negligence, and will likely win, even if he was drunk and high as a kite.

Why was the victim carrying the unknown bucket??

Am I missing something? Several have stated or implied that the injured party/plaintiff is a "worker" at the harbour. In my read of the original question, I inferred that the plaintiff does not work for the harbour but was assisted by someone that was employed by the harbour.

As for MSDS's, if one were written for water it would include things like: May cause severe injury or death if inhaled in large quantities, Do not mix with strong acids or bases as extreme heat may be generated resulting in the release of toxic and/or corrosive vapor, do not apply to burning Magnesium as Hydrogen gas will be evolved resulting in an explosion.

Speaking for myself only:

I inferred that the plaintiff was a worker at one of the FBO's at the harbor (sorry I don't know the water equivalent of "FBO" Fixed Base Operator which is a business at an airport).

Only because it seems unlikely to me that a 'civilian' would be walking unattended around a busy area where submarine batteries are being serviced/installed forklifted around...

Plus, what would motivate the average civilian to investigate a lone plastic bucket in the presence of all that "really cool" marine hardware???

This is what I refer to as common sense reasoning.

Sorry to have to make example of you, Mobi, but "shame, Shame, SHAME! on you"...

... for not checking your "data/example" before posting this here.

The internet is one HORRIFIC melting pot of lies, exaggerations, and downright foolishness as it is... it can be next-to-impossible to weed out fact from fiction, truth from deceit.

Let US not use CR4 to perpetuate the proliferation of falsehoods, etc. ... SEE:

The Truth Behind The Picture Above

Its good that you have cleared up that picture story, but I am sure our learned friend and colleague Mobi did not perpetrate the wrong story just for fun, he's simply not like that. He was (as many are) just caught out by someone with a kinky brain.....if thats what they call fun!!

It could happen to any of us really, its certainly happened to me.... (you should see my plastic nose!!!)

This case may not be true, (and like Andy says, I'm sure MOBI had no intent to deceive.), but there are thousands of instances of plaintiffs who sue based on some perverted definition of "failure to warn". so it is only natural that MOBI would be tricked.

Thank you for those thoughts Andy and others...........I most certainly thought the story was true...........somethings I do check.........but I had no reason to doubt it.

One thing that annoys the hell out of me me is these "guests" that make smart arsed remarks, under the guise of secrecy........have the decency to enrol as a member of CR4 and at least list your country that you do not seem to proud of..........and THAT I think is more shameful than making an honest mistske.

I am a Marine Engineer ............and very proud of it..........WHO the hell are YOU????..................Speak up .............identify yourself!!!!

Yes, a cesspool of iniquity and error

I'm convinced that we're all going about this the wrong way. Truly.

I think it's high time we started thinking outside the MSDS, high time to hit the warpath running and high time to stop barricading our products behind yet more legal razor-wire and costly safeguards only to see profligate morons like Mr. Harleny circumvent them at their own peril and receive huge settlements for doing so - at our expense.

This has got to stop and stop NOW.

What to do? Here's my proposal: Manufacture products designed specifically to chlorinate the gene pool in the course of performing their regular, day-to-day functions. No MSDSes, no locks, caps, shields, guards, seals, no crap - no nothin' but good, quality, affordable products that do the job and do it well...in the right hands.

How?

I haven't quite worked out all the details yet but, as I envision it, every product will sport 500g of C4 plastic explosives, a detonator, a battery, a big red button and a great big red label that says "DON'T EVEN THINK OF PRESSING THAT BUTTON!"

Almost forgot: Ambulance Chasers are sent promotional materials that differ only in that they sport a big green button and a great big green label that says "PRESS BUTTON TO DISPENSE CASH"

I prefer a spring loaded syringe with a couple hundred CC's of cyanide. C4 might hurt people around them.=D

What is the chemistry if it is Lead-Acid Hydrochloric acid fumes.

Is there such an animal?

I'm pretty sure they're all sulfuric acid, even the gel cells.

?

RR

Since the CO2 adsorbent might have been present, is it possible that H2S might have been released along with the CO2? H2S is heavier than air so it would tend to stay in the bucket.

Based on the chemical composition listed of the SodaAdsorb the answer is no. Strong Acids and Strong Alkali react to form salts, normally solids that in this case would be dissolved in the liquid. Also, H2S is a strong Reducing agent while Sulfuric Acid is a strong Oxidizer so the H2S would react to form other compounds not evolve as a gas.

You are correct that H2S is heavier than air and would remain in the bucket for a period of time. H2S smells similar to rotten eggs and will paralyze your sense of smell for a period of time so if you ever smell the odor you will not smell it again although it is still there. If the concentration is high enough, it will kill you.

If there were other chemicals present in the bucket then yes there could have been a myrid of other chemical products generated.

The bottom half of the answer I liked, but I take exception to the top. I believe you meant SO4 for the solution, and there are also two hydrogens that got left out, thus giving H2SO4. If it were SO3, no one would use it, as it would have deadly fumes.

SO3 + H2O -> H2SO4 + heat

sulfur trioxide aka (sulfur VI oxide) + dihydrogen monoxide (heh-heh) -> sulfuric acid and heat.

then with more water i.e battery electrolyte...

H2SO4 + H20(excess) -> 2H3O+ (hydronium ion) and SO4-- (sulfate ion) in aqueous solution.

H2SO4 is more than a solution, it's actually a new and different compound. Just because it's been used forever, we allow folks to minimize the 'chemistry' of the reactions, and trivialize the details.

But y'all knew this already ^_^

Actually I did mean H2S. I was responding to Rorschach's question concerning the possible generation of H2S from the SodaAdsorb/Battery Acid reaction. My intent was to explain that chemically a reaction to form H2S would not occur from these reactants.

As for the SO3 comment, Sulfuric Acid is formed by SO3 being dissolved in H20. Because of the solubility being greater, in industry, SO3 is dissolved into 93-96% H2SO4 then diluted with water to maintain the correct concentration. A special type of Sulfuric Acid called Oleum is Sulfuric Acid supersaturated with SO3. If titrated to determine acid strength, the result will be over 100% Sulfuric Acid due to the hydrolysis of the excess SO3 to H2SO4 during the titration.

SO3 has many industrial uses and yes the fumes can be deadly if inhaled just like many other industrial chemicals.

Thanks, I'm not a chemist. Chemistry is actually one of my worst subjects which is why I went with Mech engineering. It's kinda funny that I ended up specializing in metallurgy and corrosion given that....

I used to work as a battery technician in a carpet plant. I checked the water level in the industrial truck batteries and made sure that had been through a charging cycle. Some of these batteries weighed 3000 lbs. and were stacked side-by-side during the charging process. I do not ever remember the batteries being foul smelling when they were not being used. Depending on the water level in each cell the battery acid would get strong enough to make me sick to the stomach during the charging or right out of the industrial truck after the operator had ran the battery dead. Keep in mind that this would take place in a battery station located inside of the factory. Some ventilation, but not like you would get outside.I worked at this job for a year and I felt that working around the batteries seven days a week was not healthy. During the year, I don't remember ever being to the point of passing out.

If the battery acid was in the sun on a hot day, the man would have had to take a breath of the acid and I doubt that it would have been enough to make him pass out. I think he would have gotten sick to the stomach from my past experience. Everybody is different. I have taken a breath of caustic acid and lost my breath but did not pass out. I felt like I was close to death because I was unable to breathe but was able to step far enough away to clear my lungs.

Hope this helps.

yes, very possible...out in the open air the water that dilutes the acid would evaporate off making the acid almost pure, which in that case, it could happen that way....however, I am not a chemist, curious to see what everyone else has to say about it....

Sulfuric acid (at higher concentations) will absorb water diluting it.

What I find hard to believe is that a man would fake (as you are implying) passing out/getting knocked senseless, deliberately spilling acid on himself and letting it burn him until someone came along with enough sense to help the man up and wash him down.

Last fall I took a course in hydrogen sulfide (sour gas) training for the petroleum industry, and learned how dangerous this gas can be in very small concentrations (it is a nerve agent). I have taken a deep breath from a freshly poured glass of pop, and was startled by the effect of one breath of carbon dioxide, which caused some brief personal distress until I was able to get it purged from my lungs.

I am not a chemist, but what I know is that there are some gasses (as the mentioned H2S) that require very minute concentrations to knock a person out, even kill them.

My response was to the reactions of the sulfuric acid with the chemicals listed in the SodaAbsorb. There would not be anything to cause one to pass our/get knocked sensless.

As I indicated, if the bucket had been used for anything else or something had fallen into the bucket there is no telling what chemical compounds might be generated. Some very well may cause these symptoms.

You are correct, Hydrogen Sulfide is VERY deadly even at low concentrations.

Around the house two common causes of toxic gas release are mixing household cleaning products with one that contains hypochlorite (bleach) or mixing swimming pool/hot tub chlorination products with other water treatment chemicals.

I am of a similar opinion, I feel also that the man was not faking either....

This will go to court....

For the court case, the only way possibly to get out of this is for the company to prove that he was in an area (tresspassing) that he should not have been....

As to the complete idiot who left the bucket there, he should be out of a job instantly....

Andy, from the original post, it seems more likely that the company will establish at least reasonable doubt that they were responsible for the bucket being there. From what the poster says there was no "loose" battery acid involved in the battery swap.

For the court case, three interesting and related questions need answering -
1) Was the bucket definitely from that submarine,
2) if so, could someone not connected to the company have got hold of the discarded bucket and used it for their own (waste) battery acid, and
3) is it likely that the sub had waste battery acid not directly connected to the battery swap, as the swap apparently did not generate/involve "loose" battery acid.

I don't know if establishing trespass would be sufficient. Might depend on local laws, and/or the judge/jury. There seem to have been some "interesting" verdicts awarding damages to injured or traumatised tresspassers in some countries in recent years.

Very pertinent points.

One can never guess what is in the brain of a jury.....if brain is the correct word!!!

It was the OP's comment that this occurred in the open air that makes me highly skeptical of the whole incident.

If the acid spilled on concrete then there would be some CO2 & acid mist that should have warned the victim away. If the area was gravel, common in harbors, then the acis soaked into the ground. Let's say the gravel had recently been washed with seawater, and thus a salty residue was present, then the acid and the salt *might* have created a smell of chlorine... but I keep coming back to the scale problem of a bucket and the open air.

I just don't buy it.

The sulfuric acid in batteries is far too dilute to produce toxic fumes unless something dangerous such as cyanide was dropped in. If you had used sodium carbonate or something similiar to neutralize it it would produce a lot of foaming as carbon dioxide is released. If lime was used, you would get a suspension of calcium sulfate. No toxic fumes are produced from these reactions. However, neutralizing agents such as aodium carbonate should only be used where there is adequate ventilation to avoid a buildup of CO2.

Just tell the court exactly what you saw, no more no less. if you're unsure, state very clearly that you think you saw such and such a thing happening, but you're not really sure.

Good luck.

1) Since everyone's talking about what you should and shouldn't say in court, I'll add my 2 cents worth - if it happens to come out that you researched whether the fumes could knock someone out, it's perfectly reasonable that you, as someone who works with batteries, would want to check whether the fumes were more likely to knock you out than you thought! Anyway, it seems that the company's defense will more along the lines of "we didn't do it".

2) People are strange. Something that is harmless to one person can knock another out. Unlikely to be an allergy to sulphuric acid, but could be an extreme sensitivity, or even have triggered a traumatic memory. Still, I'd tend to go for the "final straw" explanation, with something else, perhaps intoxication, doing most of the knocking out.

3) Usually someone having a reaction to fumes will recoil. Unless he just blacked out virtually instantly, I would expect he would have to have been holding the bucket for him to have spilled the acid, especially onto himself. Perhaps the acid was bubbling or fuming (creating a mist/fog), and he put his hands on the bucket to lean over for a closer look, and if he then felt faint the natural reaction is to hold on harder for support.

Comments: Bear in mind that if the bucket did contain Sodasorb, (1) the Sodasorb could have been almost as dangerous as battery acid electrolyte. (2) It seems unlikely that battery acid could have been added to Sodasorb in a bucket, without a serious and very energetic reaction, perhaps even an explosion. You may need to contact the manufacturer of Sodasorb and ask what would happen if battery acid had been added to Sodasorb in a bucket.

Boat harbors are an industrial setting in which many dangers are often not apparent to the novice. Industrial facilities often require one entering to acknowledge the dangers that may be deemed a critical factor in safety of personnel and property.

But these things are not the OP's issue.

What concentration of battery acid fumes would it take to overcome and Adult male?)

Due many possible scenarios no conclusive answer can be given to this question. Some individuals may blackout if the bent over position is of a lengthy duration or may lose their balance. Sniffing the contents of an unattended open container in an industrial setting is foolish.

I tagged this as a good answer, however since I like playing with cannon... ^_^

I've been swinging around on the trunnions of the big gun -- Better check the aim before you pull the lanyard!

I don't believe the plaintiff, but since the OP doesn't seem to know much about the very nature of the things he plays with at work... I thought I'd toss a little gasoline on the fire.

I'm ba-ack ... (#42)...

Repeated apologies (for what they're worth) to Mobi, and further, to answer his question , albeit in a roundabout / glancing sort of way :

...Referencing above: "What you know about the battery swap. Period." <THIS is where I was, once-upon-a-time, in the hardwood-floored-halls of deposition land.

I sat there, sweating bullets, having the MOST IMPORTANT first hand knowledge about a case. Fortunately for my employer (who was at fault), the lawyers for the "other side" were too blissfully ignorant of my own profession, so-to-speak, and as such, they NEVER ASKED ME THE RIGHT QUESTION!

If they had, I would never have been capable of lying, and I had TOLD our lawyers that. They "primed me" as best they could, finishing with "Don't worry; just don't offer anything they don't ask for."

Thus, *my* interpretation of our "justice system" is forever skewed. And I will go to the grave knowing that in MANY cases, the guilty party gets off scott-free ... for ANY NUMBER of reasons.

While I firmly believe that "It doesn't matter in the long run", for the guilty parties cannot avoid the ultimate judgement ... I shall forever stand firm in the conviction that when a person is asked to tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so-help-them..." they should be COMPELLED to do so even if that means bringing the latest-greatest technologies ("lie detector"/polygraph/what-have-you) into play.

And this "internet" should be no exception! Before it was "let-loose", there should have been Standards put in place, including mechanisms by which "pure" lies and deceit could be quickly eliminated once-and-for-all, or BETTER YET, prevented from being posted in the first place. Too many people (and ignoramuses alike) fall victim to too much of the deception, fueling our downward spiral.

Call me what you will ; I know what types will be in agreement, and what types will be in vehement opposition. The Truth will, in FACT, "set you free"...!

"The Truth will, in FACT, "set you free"...!"

well, except when it convicts you....=b

I can empathize with your view of our "justice" system. Years ago I was ordered to appear as an "expert" on a willful negligence trial against a national grocery chain. I was the one that had analyzed the "evidence". Fearing the worst, I showed up for the deposition and entered a room with 9 suits, 3 clerks/stenographers and the owner of the testing facility I worked for. It took them almost 15 min to finish the meet and greet among themselves. I was asked 2 or 3 background questions, what I determined the residue to be and bare basic info on how the determination was made. Less than 5 minutes for both parties. They then started talking among themselves and I quickly found out they didn't care what the residue was or anything else I had said. They already had everything worked out and agreed on. I was only a formality and the only reason for court time was to put an official stamp on it for the insurance company.

Hey All.

My two-cents worth, if I remember correctly mixing acid with water causes exothermic reaction, put acid into water, don't put water into acid, might be when leaned down to see if there were any pretty fishies in the bucket, he sweated in the bucket, causing it to splash up.

But I agree with the previous advice regarding your potential testimony.

It's good to know everything, but it can be bad to know too much.

I'm headed back to the cast iron tub.

Packsill

Hey! I'm headed back to my cast iron tub where I'm gonna try to degrease these here engine parts with liquid oxygen!

You will find (assuming that you live thru it!) that the grease is completely eradicated.....

Bingo!

I presume we are talking about about lead acid accumulators. The real danger here is the emmission of hydrogen gas..... if this is allowed to build-up in a confined space and there is an electical spark, or some other source of ignition, there will be a rather large bang depending on the amounts of hydrogen and atmospheric oxygen present.

Naturally, if the hydrogen gas concentration is very high this will have an asphyxiating effect on air-breathing animals

A mouthful of H2 while chewing Aluminium foil on the open boat dock. What type signage do you recommend?

'No Parking'

My mental scenario goes something like this:

Drunk plaintiff is wandering about, feels the urge to puke, sees bucket and kneels to barf, he barfs in bucket, acidic contents of his stomach react with the sodasorb in the bucket rather violently splattering the drunk with the contents who then passes out in the puddle and the alkali burns his skin (not the acid as claimed). Alkali burns look an awful lot like acid burns after all. How do we know this was an acid burn to begin with? did someone stick a bit of litmus paper on him or something?

This scenario, if true, answers two questions: where did the "acid" come from if there was no loose acid involved in the battery changeout? and What was the doofus doing sticking his head in a bucket to begin with?

He thought it was a vaporizer

Johnny was a chemist's son,

but Johnny ain't no more.

What Johnny thought was H₂O,

was H₂SO₄ .