DO NOT MIX bleach with a toilet bowl cleaner. This might seem to be a good idea to effect a better clean of the toilet, but it does not. It does produce, however, a very toxic gas. And it can be fatal, even in very small amounts.
Want to hear a story? How about two? One goes way back to Grampa Williamson in Small Town, Nebraska. He used to show us kids his “magic trick.” He would take a small amount of bleach in a very small container and sprinkle toilet bowl cleaner crystals into it. “Watch it fizz,” he would instruct.
He went on to say that it smelled very bad and not to do too much or watch too long. He didn’t know that it produced a chemical called chloramine, which is lethal, even in small amounts. We were just lucky.
Story two and the merciful conclusion. Not only does bleach and toilet bowl cleaner make chloramines, mixing bleach with ammonia will also produce it. When our first son was born we used cloth diapers. The diaper pail soon took on an incredible odor. And it was not good. I was going to do a favor for my wife one day and decided to “disinfect” the thing. And, you guessed it, bleach was my disinfecting agent. Whew! What a disaster! That odor was worse than a day old urine-soaked diaper. I got out of there, pronto.
Chemist, I be. (Yoda talk there.) So I checked out the chemistry. I was blown away. (Literally and chemically.) And in those days, before Al invented the internet, we had to do it the old fashioned way. I looked in a chemistry book. The first reaction of bleach and ammonia is to form chlorine gas. You probably recognize that as a poisonous gas used in the First World War and sadly, often since. Not a good thing to breathe and live. Even survivors suffer lung damage for life.
Then the chlorine gas can react with any excess ammonia and produce the chloramine. It is a double whammy. I told my chemistry classes from then on to avoid mixing things that are not specifically designed, and designated for mixing. In actuality, it probably incited as much experimentation as it did abstinence, but they were warned. But, hopefully, they were a little more wary of the consequences than before.
The details of the incident in the news are identical to the effects of the situation that I have described. I am not sure whether the reporters omitted the details or were unaware of them. A warning can often have the reverse effect of its intentions. But, on the other hand, not warning people of danger has its own inherent costs and consequences. You are warned.
My Dad used to say, “It is a wise man who can learn from OTHER peoples’ mistakes.” Be wise. Don’t make your own mistake and possibly pay a very high price.
End of PSA.
