Well, I never believed it but I have it, my legs and feet look black almost, What is good to treat it? I have a doctors appt in the afternoon tommorrow but am in extreme pain untill then (prolly after then too) have any of you (i am sure several of you) ever experianced this? and if so what gave you relief from the pain, I have had back surgery and was in bed for several weeks, and is NOTHING like the pain of concrete poisoning Pj
Don't wait till tomorrow. Get to a hospital now. You are in grave danger of the acids getting into your other systems. You will likely end up with severe burn conditions. I have had it on my hands and arms and it is nothing to fool around with.
IF YOUR STILL ONLINE,YOUR NUTS Everything he said is true,don't wait.... Get to the hospital Have had a hand blow up like a latex glove.Please don't wait
Wow, i dint know it was that serious, i mean it hurts like hell but.... I called poison controll and they recomended a paste of baking soda and water, and belive me....it helps! not 100% but at least its tolerable till the morning. I can tell you from experiance that spraying peroxide and alchahol on it was not the thing to do lol Pj
READ THIS Seek professional medical attention without delay When cement is dry it contains calcium oxide, which is not particularly dangerous. However, when water is added to cement, calcium hydroxide is formed, which is extremely alkaline with a pH of 12 to 13. Normal human skin has a pH of 5.5; therefore, wet cement can produce alkaline (caustic) skin burns which progress and get worse without more exposure. A worker may have wet concrete on his or her skin for hours without feeling any discomfort; however, the cement is damaging the skin microscopically. Early identification of changes to the skin is important so steps can be taken to treat the affected area. Don’t assume the burn will not get worse. By the time a worker becomes aware of a burn, much damage has already occurred and further damage is difficult to stop. Cement burns frequently produce discoloration of the skin, gradually changing to a deep purple-blue color, eventually progressing to painful burns, ulcerations and, in the worst cases, amputation. Some patients report red inflamed skin near the affected area followed by severe blistering. Cement burns can also lead to allergic dermatitis. Wet concrete has additional characteristics that are harmful to human skin: hygroscopic (draws moisture from skin); abrasive (physically damages the skin surface, making it a less effective barrier); and contains sensitizing chemicals and metals, such as hexavalent chromium (can cause allergic contact dermatitis). Once the eyes or areas of the skin have been directly exposed to wet concrete, immediate steps should be followed to slow the burning process: Remove any contaminated clothing, being careful not to touch unexposed areas. Promptly rinse clothes in clean water. Gently brush any dry chemicals off the skin and flush the affected area with clean running water for at least 20 minutes. To help neutralize the alkalinity, add vinegar, citrus or a buffer to the water. If the eyes are involved, rinse eyes with clean water for 20 minutes. Seek professional medical attention without delay. Provide the medical personnel with a product Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) and a Physician Alert brochure (available from The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights), which explains the skin hazards of concrete work. Seek professional medical attention without delay We had 3 guys taken to the hospital in the mid 70's .... from busting drill pipe apart.... after the shoe plugged .... they had to pull all at pipe from the well... even though they were wrapping it with burlap... the were still getting sprayed with the cement... one in serious condition
Went to the DR today, and he looked at it and said...."Damn I bet that hurts" I said "Yeah it hurts like hell now gimme that script pad and I'll show you how to make it stop" lol. He gave me some cream and pills and sent me home...told him to call him in a day or so if my foot fell off . (or it got worse) I Called Poison controll center yesterday and they told me NOT to run vinegar because it could actually cause a thermal reaction and actually Heat up and cause more blistering......that and it sounded like it would be crazzzy painfull, so I decided to leave the vinegar in the cabinet lol. Either the cream he gave me is working good or the pills are kicking in, one of the two....of course i cant hit my ass with both hands right now so it may be the pills :drinkup lol Pj
Be very careful working around cement, even cement that has been set. I was once using cutoff saw sawing through cured cement. Apperantly got some of the dust in my right eye. Ended up with a Zoster infection that affected the ability for my right eye to make tears. Had a daily routine of meds and eye drops for near two years over that. Cement is some wicked stuff.
Some people are very senstive to concrete. I worked on crews relineing culverts under the interstate all the concrete was pumped down to colvert. We had two guys that had severe burns. In a couple of the pours. They had to take a week off. They absorbed it through theirs shirts from sweating they didn't even have concrete on them. I was breaking the pipes down and carrying them out. I looked like I bathed in concrete and no burns on me.I did get burns one time and it hurt like hell. They were very minor it was from concrete coming over top of boots then rubbing in between phants and boots.
see, that's what I thought my problem was, as we were pouring I noticed some discomfort but I just figured it was the sand and grit grinding against my boot. I have since learned that if it happens to pee on it as soon as you notice it.....I cant say im real thrilled about pissing on my leg but after what I am going through it dosent sound that bad lol. Pj
my foot on march 8th. got concrete in there while pouring some benching in an outfall chamber. it hurt like hell. DO NOT TREAT WITH VINEGAR! that's what i did and i think it's what caused things to get a lot worse.
Sorry you had to find out the hard way.
I'd like to put a pail of cement somewhere in/on U.....Your a stinker tiny
LOL , I think I have a stalker
Every dog has his day:tong
So, now that it's happened, how did it turn out?
ointlaugh ointlaugh ointlaugh ointlaugh ointlaugh Have you been waiting 3 months to post that? hahahaha, good one. AND thanks for bumping it, i did not see the original thread and this is some very good information. I did a hazmat class this week and was amazed how some of the stuff we use everyday can really be dangerous.
lol. I hated posting that and then had 3 months to look forward to getting concrete poisoning lol. I have no friggin idea where I got 10/29 at when I made the thread lol.... anyways' after doing some research and learning (believe me, if you have this you will educate yourself) it turns out if you pee on it you lessen the possible pain....neither concrete poisoning or pissing on my feet sounds like any fun tho Pj
Yeah, actually I have. I really intended to do it on the morning of the 29th and tell Pj to be careful, but I forgot. :Banghead I'm sure you weren't operating at full capacity that day. Thanks for bringing it to everybody's attention though. Maybe you've saved somebody else from similar troubles...
I feel slow now. I read this thread several times when it was new and never noticed the date till now. It is useful info for the rest of us though.
Concrete Poisoning! LOL... sorry, don't mean to laugh, JDOFMEMI... that just seems funny, when I read it. lol OCR...
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
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
Copy that Tiny, the Alkali content of cement, even the hard set stuff, including the dust, is nasty when it gets in the skin.
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.
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.
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 .
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.
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
When I saw you had posted in this thread tonight, I thought, "Oh no, not again".