This involves an elderly lady's house which has become contaminated with sulphuric acid vapour (faulty battery on stairlift). The vapour has been absorbed into the wood in the house and become sulphate. Can it still vaporise when the heating is on? (there still seem to be fumes causing red eyes and skin rash etc). Is it still a health risk? Can it be treated and neutralised or is removal of the wood the only option?
Everything has been cleaned with bicarb solution and is slightly improved.
Environmental Health are unable to help.|||When onions make your eyes water it is because of a chemical that turns into sulfuric acid. I just wanted to put it into perspective. Obviously sulfuric acid is potentially much more dangerous than onions. The sulfide itself isn't particularly dangerous and is used as a laxative like in epsom salts. The acid is very dangerous, especially to the eyes. After you clean it with water, add increasing amounts of baking soda to the water to make sure there is no more acid. Depending on the wood it might hold the acid for a while but probably wouldn't be dangerous unless you are making skin contact regularly. If it is burning the eyes, you need to reduce the acid by adding a base, hence the baking soda in the water.|||The real problem with sulfuric acid is not the sulphate part but the acidic part. Fixing the sulfate in the wood has no effect, as it still leaves the acid part. That can be neutralized by bicarbonate. Problem is that not all the acid will be fixed as sulfate, but some will still be free. Thus there will still be free sulfuric acid around. If removing the wood is reasonably easy, then I would do it.
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