Open AccessMortality from Dermal Exposure to Tetramethylammonium Hydroxide
Author(s) -
Wu ChenLong,
Su ShihBin,
Chen JinLuh,
Lin HungJung,
Guo HowRan
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of occupational health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 59
ISSN - 1348-9585
DOI - 10.1539/joh.x7001
Subject(s) - environmental medicine , family medicine , medicine , medical laboratory , tetramethylammonium hydroxide , library science , public health , nursing , engineering , chemical engineering , computer science
. However, industrialTMAH is in the form of a concentrated strong alkalineand thus might have severe hazardous effects. We herepresent a mortality case caused by dermal exposure toindustrial TMAH at work.CaseA 22-yr-old male engineer was accidentally drenchedwith concentrated TMAH solution (25%, pH 13.5) whileconducting routine examination of the pipe system in aplant manufacturing thin film transistor liquid crystaldisplays (TFT-LCDs). He was wearing a clean room suitwith plastic goggles, but not a mask. As TMAH sprayedover his head, he closed the valve and took a shower atthe nearby emergency shower facility immediately fordecontamination. When he was found by a co-workerabout 15 min later, he suffered from general weaknessand moderate salivation but was still conscious enoughto describe the accident. The paramedical team arrivedabout 30 min after the accident and found the patientlosing his consciousness with a Glasgow coma scale of 6(E