Personal Injury Attorneys For Victims Of

Chemical Burn and Exposure Injuries

Chemical burn injuries, like traditional burn injuries, can cause lasting, severe pain for the victim. These types of injuries are typically associated with workplace injuries – specifically jobs and environments that work with hazardous chemicals and powerful cleaning agents.

While most chemical burns are thought to dissolve and burn away a person’s skin, not all chemical burns are the same. Some exposure to less hazardous chemicals can cause the person that comes into contact with it to develop a variety of rashes and skin irritations.

Hazardous chemicals can also affect a victim internally if toxic fumes are inhaled. If consumed or inhaled, these dangerous chemicals can cause a victim to develop burns in their stomach, intestines, and other internal organs.

Exposure to certain chemicals can cause severe long-term effects and even lead to wrongful deaths. An example would be benzene, which is a known carcinogen linked to cases of cancer, leukemia, and lymphoma.

Different types of occupations may be exposed to a wide variety of chemicals, some less severe than others.

An example would be a janitor or a member of a cleaning crew. This type of job may expose the worker to hazardous chemicals found in cleaning products which may result in a less severe chemical burn than an employee at a fabricating plant or lab working with highly concentrated chemicals.

Regardless of the severity, a chemical burn injury of any degree is something that can result in legal action if the accident or injury sustained was caused by carelessness or negligence.

Chemical burns can be caused by a variety of scenarios, including – but are not limited to:

• Low-quality safety equipment
• Inaccessible or malfunctioning emergency chemical cleaning station
• Improper or inadequate training
• Slips, trips, and falls caused by unsafe property while handling hazardous materials
• Defective products including containers of hazardous chemicals
• Lack of warning on product labels

According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) the top five chemicals resulting in injuries from acute chemical incidents are ¹ :

• Carbon monoxide
• Ammonia
• Chlorine
• Hydrochloric acid
• Sulfuric acid
  • Found in drain cleaners, fertilizer, and car batteries

Other commonly found hazardous chemicals include:

• Nitric acid
  • Used in engraving and electroplating
• Hydrofluoric acid
  • Found in rust removers, tile cleaners, dental procedures, refrigerant
• Phosphoric acid
  • Found in metal cleaners, disinfectants, detergents, rustproofing

1. Top Five Chemicals Resulting in Injuries from Acute Chemical Incidents — Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention