Effects of Chemical Exposure

[Impotant1]

From what I've read on the internet exposure to Muriatic Acid  can cause: Weakness from falling blood pressure, Respiratory distress, Circulatory system falure and Pulmonary edema. I was using "PURE" Muriatic Acid to wash my Cement truck in 115 degree weather. I could see and smell the vapors. Got real dizzy and weak. What effect does it have to your lungs ang oxygen supply. I felt very weak and trouble breathing. Could this exposure caused me to have a heart attact within 20 minutes. Could I have had Pulmonary edema to the lungs.

[CCF-M.D.-RCJ]

Impotant1,

Thanks for the question.  Muriatic acid is most associated with esophageal burns in the medical literature.  When exposed to chlorine containing solutions, chlorine gas can be generated which can cause bronchospasm leading to shortness of breath. I am not aware of any association between chlorine gas and myocardial infarction, but I am not a toxicologist.  A quick review of Medline revealed no association.

I would recommend not washing your cement truck with muriatic acid in 115 degree weather.

Hope that helps.

[Scott]

From what I've read on the internet exposure to Muriatic Acid can cause: Weakness from falling blood pressure, Respiratory distress, Circulatory system falure and Pulmonary edema. I was using "PURE" Muriatic Acid to wash my Cement truck in 115 degree weather. I could see and smell the vapors. Got real dizzy and weak. What effect does it have to your lungs ang oxygen supply. I felt very weak and trouble breathing. Could this exposure caused me to have a heart attact within 20 minutes. Could I have had Pulmonary edema to the lungs.

You've undoubtedly read the material safety data sheet (MSDS) for Muriatic (Hydrochloric) acid. I would suggest that working in 115 degree weather was more likely to give you your heart attack which then resulted in the dizziness and weakness you experienced. When you have significant exposure to acid gas fumes through inhalation, you know it. Believe me. Did you experience coughing and burning sensations in your throat and lungs? I think it is highly unlikely that you would experience edema in your lungs due to acid fume exposure without first detecting the effect of the gas in your upper respiratory tract.

[Impotant1]

Hi Scott, The Muriatic Acid was mixed with all different metals on truck. For the last 16 months I've had trouble swallowing & choking on anything from water to food. I do have something wrong in my throat. I don't know how anyone could say to a person who has worked in the desert all their life that I only decided to have my first heart attact 20 minutes after exposure to Muriatic vapors. Are you saying like the rest that being 43, I smoke, ate greasy food, family history of high blood pressure. That I was gonna have a heart attact sooner or later. Just that God decided 20 minutes after my Muriatic exposure I had a heart attact and it had nothing to do with it? I could'nt breath, and had already put my 8 hours in and felt fine. Never had any chest pain, etc. I have gotten this attitude from alot of doctors...you were "prime" and gonna have a heart attact anyway sooner or later.  I need to find a toxicoligist who knows what they are talking about. Can't find any answers here. L.O.L.

[nurse12hr]

Sounds like from this and your previous questions about it, that you are looking for someone to say that you were harmed by occupational exposure to chemicals, perhaps to bolster a workman's comp or disability claim.  
Almost everybody who has a heart attack was recently doing SOMETHING.  My mom had a heart attack immediately after washing the dishes.  Perhaps a connection to Palmolive detergent?  She lived her whole life without a heart attack, then wham!  10 min after exposure, a heart attack!  You can't tell me it was coincidence!
Seriously, i am sure you will find someone to tell you what you want to hear.  good luck, and send $$.

[Scott]

Ditto.

[nurse12hr]

And another thing, this has been bothering me for some time.

Is your name supposed to be something else, and you misspelled it?  Are you supposed to be Important1, or Impotent1?  

It could make a difference in the mental image I am forming.  Thank you.

[Impotant1]

Yea Christie ! I'm impotent, but it has'nt stopped me from having 3 children...Too bad I got "excluded" 3 times with DNA testing. The last one squeezed 1/2$$ million out me first before I had to get a court order. I wondered why none of my children looked like me??? I have a low 1 million sperm count...normal being 25 million or higher. Maybe I could blame this on the Muriatic acid also!! As far as my job making $14.00 hr. I'd rather be  working. My boss let me come back to work 4 months after my heart attact. After the first day I had trouble when breathing in. It took doctors at the hospital 2 days to tell me I had fluid on the heart. (Pericarditis). My lungs also hurt from top to bottom. Tried 1 weeks worth of steroids and that did'nt work. Ended up taking steroids for 3 months before it went away. Once again I got vague evasive answers as to what  caused the Pericardits. I had the best doctors tell me it was'nt me working that first day, even though I felt good the last four months. I did file a workers comp claim 11 & 1/2 months after my heart attact. We'll let the Judge decide, maybe he's had some experence with chemical exposure...I'll bet. I still don't know. Neither does  anyone here. P.S. I wash the dishes everyday here !

[Impotant1]

Reminds me of when I was driving tow truck 15 years ago. Two  old guys were hit head on by another car. The drivers side was hit the worst and the driver walked away.  The guy on the passenger side bumped his head on the dash and had a heart attact and died ! So what killed the passenger ? The car crash or the heart attact?
I did have one Doctor tell me he thought it was a combination of my age,smoking,family history of HB,bad diet,heat and the Muriatic acid was the straw that broke the camels back, he was from the middle east !! He said the Muriatic acid probably triggered the heart attact. I thought the E.R. that forgot to give me oxygen, said they gave me oxygen...then forgot to bill me for the oxygen might have caused the heart attact. Then the E.R. doctor elected not to renew his license & left the state.
My medical records says I was brought in by ambulance and I was complaining of severe chest pain radiating to the left side. Also the way they worded it was I had been drinking beer all day at work. And had a 100% blockage.  The truth was I drove home 12 miles from work, never had any chest pain & walked into the E.R. telling them I was having trouble breathing. The last thing  I had been drinking was some wine 3 days earlier. Not sure who to believe anymore. After all the doctor business is just that, a business. Anyway as to my first question, I say both. The car crash caused his heart attact thus DEATH !

[squeala7]

It sounds like blockages could be present, and it just takes that does of extreme bodily trauma, or odor or FEAR that sets off a heart attack. I know of a man who died of FEAR, and he had no heart problems. He was crawling out of the window of his house when it was on fire. He had a major heart attack and died. You can still have a heart attack even when you don't have blockages. Extreme fear can do it, or it can trigger something that was already there -

[roland]

FYI...Muriatic acid and hydrocloric acid the same.

[Impotant1]

After the phone pre-hearing we settled out of court for $5000.00  for lost wages. So don't give up !

[Landrover]

You should have held out a bit ...chemical vapors can cause conduction abnormalities..... Which can cause a myocardial infarction...............


If they thought ...you had coronary artery disease that prompted your heart attack ..there was one sure way to see if this was true....a cardiac catherization ...was this done????

That would certainly be the diagnostic procedure for ruling out coronary artery disease as cause for the MI ...as oppsoed to a rythum abnormality that could have prompted an MI ,by way of the chemical vapor exposure..

[Impotant1]

Thanks Landrover I'll use that with my medical malpractice suit. And I did find a Toxicoligist named Linda May.