Concrete Poisoning! need help ASAP 10/29/2010

[tllc2003]

I know this is way after the fact but your post saved my co-worker. Over the weekend she was working in cement without protective equipment and she came to work with burns up and down her arms and was flushed and feeling 'icky'.
She had put lotion and petroleum jelly and solarcaine spray on the burns but it seemed to make it worse. We read about the vinegar from this site and diluted it and boy howdy did it help! I don't know about poison control's advice to not use it since it provided almost immediate relief, so I expect it was just meant as a temporary fix. But thank you and the others for posting on your experience. Three and half years down the road it still helped someone.
Teresa

 

[Tiny]

The reason I posted in red back then was the memory of my deal is vivid still today . Company had a concrete conveyor that had a 65 horse Wisconsin engine on it . It had been siting for 5 years , the fearless leaders thought it needed serviced before they used it . This is how easy it happens I bent down and placed my hand on the old wood covered platform and stuck a splinter in the palm of my hand . Splinters happen so I pulled it out and went on .

Finished my detail and stuck around long enough to load the machine out . By quitting time my palm was getting sore but I just washed my hands and headed for the for the house . Doctored it with some stuff my wife had and figured that was good . Went to bed around 8:30 . Around 10;30 I woke up with may hand hurting bad . Turned the light on and I saw why I couldn't close my hand . It had swelled up huge . I could feel my heart beat in it . Half sick to my stomach . Wife and I got dressed headed to the hospital . Shot and and pills , Doc said if I had waited til morning the would have been a chance that the fingers and / or hand would be in very bad shape ... I thought Really ?? This was bad enough . Ended up off work for a couple of days . Left an impression and not a good one

 

[willie59]

Copy that Tiny, the Alkali content of cement, even the hard set stuff, including the dust, is nasty when it gets in the skin.

 

[Delmer]

I don't know what you guys are talking about. The cement burns I've had/seen/heard about are from the wet stuff getting against the skin, softening the skin, abrading the skin, burning worse and worse all the time. It's especially dangerous because the nerves are killed before it hurts, so you can have some bad burning on your wrist, or your knees, or inside your boot and it won't feel too bad until the next day.

Urine is close to neutral, not sure what that would do better than water? I use DILUTED vinegar to soak whenever I get burned working with cement, but I'm talking about the small raw spots you find, not a really big area, or anything under the skin.

 

[willie59]

I was cleaning the way long ago set up cement from a Robbins/Myers progressing cavity pump Delmer, made a lot of dust cleaning the set up cement. Got that dust in my right eye, turned into a Zoster infection that I had to deal with for over a year. Even set up concrete/cement can be nasty to the wet areas of your body.

 

[td25c]

Yeah.. This is interesting . I have waded in it , got down my boots , in the eyes . For some reason it doesn't seem to bother me . That being said.... My buddy has to be careful as he gets burned pretty quick buy wet concrete . I think it differs from person to person . Like skin rash. My buddy also breaks out real bad with poison ivy and for some reason I don't ?:beatsme When we get done pouring and while I am cleaning up my hands have a strange feel to them and finger nails will turn somewhat yellow but that's about it , no burns .

 

[Karl Robbers]

We use cement grout when installing cable bolts, (a type of ground support in underground mining). When doing this, we pump a the cement grout into the hole using an air powered grout pump. I'm guessing that potential pressure could be around 3-400 PSI. Anyway, there was an incident some years ago when a worker, not wearing so much as safety glasses had the misfortune of grouting when a hose blew and forced grout behind his eyeball. Despite a rapid trip top the surface and prompt medical treatment he now has around 10% vision in that eye.
As a result, our procedures now require us to wear mono goggles, gloves and a dust mask to handle dry cement and when mixing or grouting, we need the same, plus we must carry a chemical called DIPHOTERINE on our person, as well as a larger DIPHOTERINE carried in our grouting kit.
Diphoterine neutralises cement and many other substances, (hydrocarbons etc). http://www.prevor.com/EN/sante/RisqueChimique/diphoterine/diphoterine.php
We issue Diphoterine in single and multi shot eyewash packs as well as in an aerosol form. Apart from the compulsory carrying for grouting activities, they are also placed at all refuelling (diesel) stations.

 

[powerjoke]

Tllc2003 it looks as if you signed up just to comment on this thread and that is great, glad to see it helped someone else. I know it was about as painful as anything I've ever dealt with..... I told my wife it was worse than child birth, she wanted to know how I knew...... Well she had two kids and I only had ONE concrete poisin incident I made sure of it lol.

Pj

 

[mitch504]

When I saw you had posted in this thread tonight, I thought, "Oh no, not again".