1. Presented by City of Raleigh Fire Department Hazmat Team
“Detergent Suicide”
Presented by
City of Raleigh Fire Department
Hazmat Team

2. What is “Detergent Suicide?”
Name comes from the type of “ingredients” used
Mixture of toilet bowl cleaner and an organic phosphate – insecticide, fungicide
Sometimes Muriatic or Sulfuric Acid is substituted for cleaner
Originated in Japan – slowly proliferating all over the world

3. Hydrogen Sulfide What happens?
Mixing the aforementioned chemicals together produces a deadly gas:
Hydrogen Sulfide

4. What is Hydrogen Sulfide?
Toxic, colorless gas
Smells like rotten eggs
Extremely flammable

5. Properties IDLH: 100 ppm Flammable Range: 4% to 46%
Ignition temp approx. 5000F
Vapor Density: 1.2 (Heavier than air)
Vapor 680F is 17.6 atm
It will dissipate quickly outside

6. Toxic Levels of Concern
Odor Threshold: .001 to 0.13 ppm
Olfactory Fatigue begins at about 20 ppm
Ten minute AEGL-2: 41 ppm
Irreversible, serious, long-lasting effects or impaired ability to escape.

7. Signs and Symptoms
Target Organs: Eyes, Respiratory Tract, Central Nervous System
Symptoms:
Eye, mucous membrane and skin irritation
Memory loss, confusion, headache, dizziness
Shortness of breath, cough, tightness in the chest, pulmonary edema
Difficulty breathing/swallowing, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
Tremors, convulsions, coma

8. Basic Life Support Remove victim from exposure Decontaminate
Brush solids from clothing (if any)
Remove clothing – contain for disposal.
Flush victim with copious amounts of water using mild detergent – minimum 15 minutes
Flush eyes with lukewarm water – minimum 15 minutes

9. Basic Life Support, cont’d…
Administer Oxygen, LPM via NRB
Transport immediately to Hospital
Advanced Life Support…
Refer to local protocol

10. Basic Life Support, cont’d…
NOTE: Performing these BLS and decontamination functions should be performed wearing appropriate PPE
This includes;
Level C PPE – Chemical splash suit, nitrile gloves, chemical boots, appropriate respirator
Use SCBA if victim’s area concentrations were greater than 100 ppm

11. Scene size-up Some scenes will be obvious… Well marked with warnings
Obvious chemicals in the vehicle/structure

12. Scene size-up cont’d…
Others may not…

13. Things to consider Overall scene safety
Does the scene appear to be unusual in any way? Signage, odors, victims?
Inside or outside? The gas - if present – will persist much longer in an enclosed space
Any indicators that chemicals are present?
Victim slumped over steering wheel?
Bystanders showing signs and symptoms of H2S?

14. Things to consider, cont’d…
A yes to any one of the previous items would be cause for concern
Call Hazmat
DO NOT make entry into the vehicle or building/room.
Keep all ignition sources away from area

15. Things to consider, cont’d…
Monitoring for H2S with a monitor calibrated with a gas other than H2S will require the use of a correction factor
Rae Systems correction factors for their MultiRae PID’s are as follows (if calibrated with 100ppm isobutylene):
For 10.6 eV – 3.3
For 11.7 eV – 1.5

16. Items for the future
We have been lucky so far – incidents have been outside and marked with warning signs
In Japan, this occurs in apartment buildings – many others become involved
Meth labs could be “booby-trapped” with this type of device
Hostage situations may involve this – firing a “flash-bang” grenade into this type of environment would be very explosive

17. Recent Occurrences
Yet another detergent suicide forced residents of an apartment building to evacuate on June 4, residents were evacuated and one woman was taken to the hospital. The suicide victim was in his late 20s.
On May 1, 2008, 350 people had to be evacuated from their homes in Otaru, northern Japan - a man used this technique to kill himself.
On April 23, 2008, in Konan, Japan, a 14-year-old girl killed herself by mixing laundry detergent with a liquid cleanser. The gas seeped out a window and into neighboring apartments, sickening 90 people and causing 10 to be admitted to the hospital.

18. Demonstration
The video shows the reaction of 8 fl. oz. of Muriatic Acid mixed with 8 fl. oz. of Sulfur Lime. Enclosed in a compact car.
A time line of the video is shown on the next slide

19. Time Line of Video Chemicals mixed at time (t)=o seconds (s)
Vehicle door closed at t= 3 s
Meter alarms at t = 14 s
Initial meter spike at t = 17 s
Levels drop initially, then begin to rise as vehicle fills with gas
Meter level shows 171 ppm at t = 1 minute
Meter reading maintained approx. 171 ppm until vehicle doors opened