In almost all packaged foods, there is a desiccant. Its presence is to continue to absorb the air in the packaging bag and the moisture in the food, thereby preventing premature mildew because it is properly processed. Under the temperature and humidity, mold in food will multiply at an alarming rate and eventually become moldy and rotten, so it is an indispensable part of food packaging!
However, due to the widespread popularity of packaged foods, many children are exposed to desiccants, and children who lack the ability to distinguish will play with them as food or toys, leading to irreversible tragedies!
It takes 20 minutes to dissolve eyeballs. What is the desiccant?
In October 2017, Coco, an 8-year-old boy from Hangzhou, because his academic performance in the exams improved, his mother bought him a lot of snacks that he liked to eat. When he got home, his mother was busy making dinner. Less than 15 minutes later, her mother heard Coco covering her eyes and screaming and rolling around in the living room. An exploded and deformed drink bottle rolled down next to it. This frightened Coco's mother!
She hurriedly carried Keke downstairs, took a taxi to the nearest hospital, and went directly to the emergency room. After examination, the doctor told him that the cornea of ??Keke's eyes was corroded by alkaline liquid, and the condition was very serious, which may cause... Blindness. After hearing this diagnosis, Coco’s mother almost fainted. It only took 20 minutes to go from home to the hospital, and she was almost blind! Moreover, this alkaline liquid is generally not available at home. How did Coco get injured?
Keke said that after eating the snacks, he found a small bag in the packaging bag. He didn’t know what it contained. He happened to have a drink bottle in his hand, so he stuffed it in and closed the lid. Unexpectedly, It exploded, something flew into my eyes, it hurt so bad, and then I couldn't see anymore!
The doctor immediately knew that this small package was a necessary desiccant for food bags! But are desiccants really that powerful? This incident of Coco’s eye injury has been widely circulated on the Internet since 2016 and has been spreading until 2020. Is it true?
After searching, the flower grower found that this incident was first reported on June 17, 2015. The publisher was Dahe.com, which is also a credible news source. The most authoritative publication is People's Daily Weibo. , but the release date was December 12, 2017, without specifying the place where the case occurred, mainly in Hangzhou and Jilin. Among them, People's Daily Weibo forwarded the release of Hangzhou Traffic 918, but the original link has been deleted.
There are also multiple reports saying that the place of occurrence was Hangzhou. This desiccant injury accident should have occurred, but the place of occurrence is ambiguous. It should be that the news publisher did not even mention the place of occurrence in order to protect the privacy of the child. .
What exactly is a desiccant? Why does it hurt?
Most of the early desiccants were quicklime. Many friends with experience in the construction industry know that quicklime will release a lot of heat when it meets water. I even boiled eggs in a quicklime pool when I was a child, and I have heard of people Falling into a pond of quicklime and getting burned by alkaline liquid!
Quick lime
The composition of quick lime is calcium oxide, which is generally a white or off-white block. It will produce a chemical reaction when it comes into contact with water. No other conditions are required. The reaction equation is: < /p>
CaH20=Ca(OH)2+heat
A large amount of heat will be released during the reaction. The maximum reaction temperature can exceed 300°C, so theoretically, quicklime Throwing the desiccant into a beverage bottle and then closing the lid may indeed cause an explosion because the high temperature will cause the water to boil!
But the general amount of desiccant is not enough to boil a large amount of water, so if you throw a small bag of desiccant into half the bottle of water, there should be no problem, because the heat released Being absorbed by a large amount of water, the temperature only rises a little, but if the combination of water and desiccant is just right, the reaction of these desiccants is enough to make part of the water boil, then an explosion may occur!
Some friends also think that this drink may be cola, so the possibility of explosion will increase, because the temperature rise will accelerate the release of carbon dioxide dissolved in the cola, and the pressure will increase, causing an explosion!
Calcium hydroxide has a certain solubility in water. It is a strongly alkaline liquid (weaker than sodium hydroxide). It has a strong corrosive effect on the skin and will cause damage to the cornea after entering the eyes. Serious damage, but as long as you rinse it with plenty of water as quickly as possible, you can minimize the damage to your eyes!
I have some experience with foreign objects getting into my eyes. One time, an AA battery exploded while charging. My son happened to be playing next to him. He was very interested in this kind of electronic equipment, so we all came closer to watch. , I only heard a soft pop, and then my son covered his eyes. I immediately realized that the battery had exploded. Within about 5 seconds, I carried my son to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and kept flushing his eyes. water!
After a few minutes of flushing, my wife didn’t understand what was going on, and my son was also confused, but I couldn’t care about that much at the time. Then I took a few bottles of mineral water and went downstairs to the hospital. On the way, I met my wife He said that he should keep flushing mineral water into his eyes, not too much, just keep the water flowing regularly. He was treated quickly after arriving at the hospital. After the doctor checked, only a very thin layer of membrane was still in his eyes, and he gently Just remove it and there will be no impact on your vision.
Generally, if foreign matter or unknown liquid enters the eyes, flushing with plenty of water immediately (do not spray, otherwise it will hurt the eyes) can reduce the impact to the greatest extent. If there is no water, then urine can also be used. Some friends think that if quicklime is in the eyes, wouldn’t it cause a greater reaction if water is used? But in fact, your eyes will secrete a large amount of tears to flush the eyeballs, but the amount is not enough and the concentration is still enough to corrode the eyeballs. Therefore, wash them with plenty of water to minimize the impact.
Quick lime desiccant is generally in the form of large packets of powder. Other types of desiccants include silica gel, calcium chloride, ferric oxide, montmorillonite, and fiber. Among them, montmorillonite drying The agent is made of natural bentonite. The moisture absorption rate of montmorillonite desiccant is between 18% and 24%. The efficiency is relatively low, but fortunately it is environmentally friendly. The fiber desiccant is very convenient and can be cut into any shape. The moisture absorption rate is It is also very high, the disadvantage is that the cost is slightly higher!
Silica gel desiccants are generally transparent pellets, non-toxic and odorless, and have relatively stable chemical properties. They are the only desiccants recognized by the EU. Calcium chloride and quicklime are similar in that they are non-toxic but react with water. Exothermic, the solution is also corrosive.
Desiccant is not edible. Of course, it is okay to eat silica gel, montmorillonite or fiber desiccant, but in the end these are not edible. Calcium oxide (quicklime) and calcium chloride may be eaten by mistake. It can cause esophageal burns, and ferric oxide can cause nausea, etc. If you swallow it by mistake, you must seek medical attention immediately!
There are many similar cases on the Internet. Don’t let common items like desiccant ruin your happiness, so you must pay attention to it, and take out desiccants from children’s food. , educate as early as possible that the desiccant is not edible, and pay more attention to it. After all, once an accident occurs, there is no regret medicine!