Exposure to mixed cleaning products (that shouldn't be mixed)

borgie05

First time posting here (also first time mom to be) so please don't tear me apart. I have what I would consider to be a legitimate concern, waiting for my doctor to call back however I thought I would get opinions of others. I'm currently 22 weeks. For some reason my husband decided last night at 1am was a great time to clean the shower in our bathroom... I was sleeping. I woke up to the smell of bleach. At first I tried just putting the blanket over my head, however after a couple of minutes decided to get up and go sleep on the floor in the baby room across the house with the door shut. Come to find out this morning, he didn't just use bleach. He also used my vinegar solution that I use to clean the rest of the house. Since mixing bleach and vinegar can create toxic fumes, I am officially in a panic and worried for my baby. I called my doctor's office and the medical assistant said they might need to send me in for another ultrasound (I just had one 3 weeks ago) but she needed to check with the doctor to be sure. Has anyone else ever experienced anything similar to this?

lexyraejay

Google it. I did and this is what I found. Obviously wait to hear back from your doctor, but the fumes from that mixture can burn your lungs and eyes, but wouldn't seem to have any direct effect on your baby.

borgie05

Thanks ladies! Lexy, any chance you still have that link? I googled before posting and everything I found just said that it creates a chlorine gas that can kill you and to never mix the two. Google has not been my friend this entire pregnancy so far, I find it makes me worry more than providing me with good answers. Definitely anxious to hear back from my doctor! Sometimes I feel like they take forever to call me back.

bananafanafofashley

I have a wicked bad sinus infection and drove around all day not knowing bleach had spilled in my car. I was essentially huffing bleach. LO still kicking, heart rate is regular. I wouldn't freak out.

marybeth05

No experience but I'm jealous your husband cleans the shower...
Hope all is well:)

CivilMommy

If it wasn't enough to cause YOU any respiratory or headache/illness symptoms - it probably didn't affect baby either.

You might get another u/s out of this - or some blood work - but my bet is that everything is totally fine and you probably couldn't pinpoint any issues with LO on this one instance anyways.  If LO was affected, it would likely take weeks for it to show up on u/s or in symptoms post delivery. 

Murran131

Since you're alive right now, I'm sure everything is fine. It sounds like a quick and distant exposure. This mixture actually causes the creation of chlorine gasses which are extremely dangerous for you, but I don't think they'd affect your baby. It's your lungs you have to worry about, and since your baby doesn't share your lungs, you're probably good. Worth calling your doc for sure. And make sure he doesn't do that again! It can actually kill you almost instantly if you mix enough and get a big enough whiff. A distant relative of mine died that way.

borgie05

Hubby says he feels completely fine. No burning of the lungs or any other symptoms. He thought it was just ammonia that was the issue and didn't think anything of the vinegar. He now knows not to do it again. I'm hoping since he's ok and had more exposure than I did, that means baby is ok too... fingers crossed! Still waiting to hear from the doctor.

somewheresublime86

I work in training and development at a fabrication plant, and there are lots of chemicals/dangerous substances here that need to be carefully controlled. In fact, I'm working on a course right now that covers toxic fume handling (from the safety of my office).

If you feel alright and your husband doesn't have any symptoms of exposure, then I think you'll be getting a reassuring call from the doctor. :-)

lexyraejay

borgie05 said:

Thanks ladies! Lexy, any chance you still have that link? I googled before posting and everything I found just said that it creates a chlorine gas that can kill you and to never mix the two. Google has not been my friend this entire pregnancy so far, I find it makes me worry more than providing me with good answers. Definitely anxious to hear back from my doctor! Sometimes I feel like they take forever to call me back.

So, it's poisonous because it burns your mucous membranes (eyes, throat, nose, lungs, etc.) but it's not like a poison that harms you because you swallowed it - that would possibly pose a problem for baby. Nonetheless, the best rule of thumb is just don't mix anything, except water, with bleach; it's not worth the risk! Anyway, I hope you feel better and here's the link: https://chemistry.about.com/od/toxicchemicals/a/Mixing-Bleach-And-Vinegar.htm
ETA: obviously, ingesting any bleach would be poisonous, but that's not what happened.

lexyraejay

borgie05 said:

Hubby says he feels completely fine. No burning of the lungs or any other symptoms. He thought it was just ammonia that was the issue and didn't think anything of the vinegar. He now knows not to do it again. I'm hoping since he's ok and had more exposure than I did, that means baby is ok too... fingers crossed! Still waiting to hear from the doctor.

Mixing bleach with ammonia is even worse! The gas it produces is immediately toxic and knocks you out. You'd die if you didn't get fresh air soon enough! I thought everyone knew about this, but a good friend of mine almost had a horrible accident because she didn't know.

borgie05

The medical assistant finally called back and said she spoke to the doctor and they said not to worry. I have had the medical assistants give me wrong info before though, so I'm thinking about getting a second opinion to ease my mind. Yes, I am apparently that crazy person lol. I figure better safe than sorry when it comes to the life of my little bubba though! Thanks ladies for all of the info and support. It sounds like everything will be ok!