CAMDEN — It’s a cautionary tale: Do not mix household chemicals. A Camden man found himself short of breath and in need of medical care after breathing gases produced from combining bleach and a toilet bowl cleaner Aug. 27.

North East Mobile Health Services took the 36 year-old to the hospital after a family member discovered him on the deck, attempting to catch his breath.

Camden Fire Chief Chris Farley also responded to the Wiley Road home with the ladder truck, in case the house needed extensive ventilation.

The call came just after 8:30 a.m. When Farley arrived at the home, emergency medical technicians were assisting the distressed man. Farley tested the air in the house with a multi-gas meter and found that the level of oxygen was stabilized and was the same indoors as to that of the outdoors.

The man had apparently been in the bathroom, ready to clean it, when the fumes overtook him. He exited to the fresh on the deck, where he was found.

Bleach (sodium hypochlorite) should never be mixed with any other chemical, “unless adequate engineering controls and personal protective equipment (PPE) are in place,” warns the Chlorine Institute, which was founded in 1924 and is the technical trade association of chlorine producing companies. “Accidental mixing may cause dangerous conditions that could result in injury to personnel and/or damage to property or the environment.”

Sodium hypochlorite is the active ingredient in chlorine bleach and it reacts with ammonia, drain cleaners, and other acids. Many household products state that they contain bleach on the label. Pool chemicals often contain calcium hypochlorite or sodium. 

Bleach must not be mixed with ammonia or acids, such as window cleaners and toilet bowl cleaners. Bleach also reacts with some oven cleaners, hydrogen peroxide, and some insecticides.

When bleach and ammonia are mixed, toxic gases called chloramines are produced.  When chlorine bleach is mixed with an acid, chorine gas is produced. 

Exposure to gases can cause: 

●coughing

●nausea 

●shortness of breath

●watery eyes 

●chest pain

●pneumonia and fluid in the lungs 

●wheezing

●irritation to the throat, nose, and eyes 

Higher levels of exposure can cause chest pain, more severe breathing difficulties, vomiting, pneumonia, and fluid in the lungs. Very high levels can cause death. 

DO NOT MIX LIST
Bleach with toilet bowl cleaners
Bleach with vinegar
Bleach with ammonia
Do not use two drain cleaners together
Different brands of one type of product
Certain disinfectants with detergents