Why are the hands of sanitation workers corroded?

On what was supposed to be a beautiful New Year’s Eve for family reunion, a sanitation worker in Pujiang encountered an unexpected tragedy: while picking up garbage, his finger was unfortunately corroded by harmful chemicals, and the wound was shocking. Very scary.

On February 18, a Weibo post by local netizen "Huang Huisui" attracted the attention of many netizens, saying that a sanitation worker in Pujiang accidentally touched a plastic bottle while cleaning up garbage. He was injured due to chemicals spilled from his body, and his fingers suffered from large-scale ulcers, which was very serious.

Judging from the photos posted by the netizen, the hands of the sanitation worker have been corroded to varying degrees. The fingertips have been burnt to gray-black, accompanied by dots of white peeling, and the middle parts of the fingers are even more... A large area of ??corrosive wounds appeared, and the blurred flesh and blood could be clearly seen, which was shocking.

“Injuries caused by chemical substances are not only difficult to treat but can also cause lifelong trauma!” In comments on Weibo, many netizens expressed strong condemnation of this behavior of throwing dangerous goods. For a while, “ The news about "corrosion of sanitation workers' hands" attracted the attention of many well-known media and even appeared on the hot search list.

Subsequently, the reporter learned from the Pujiang Urban Management and Administrative Law Enforcement Bureau that as early as the second day of the first lunar month, the sanitation company had dealt with the work-related injury and accident insurance for the sanitation master. After preliminary investigation, the liquid in the plastic bottle was most likely hydrofluoric acid, a highly corrosive acid.

This acid can strongly corrode metal, glass and silicon-containing objects. It is often used for engraving glass, cleaning residual sand on castings, controlling fermentation, electropolishing and cleaning corroded semiconductor silicon wafers. Once the human body comes into contact, it will cause burns that are difficult to heal. Not only will it cause severe pain, but it can also quickly penetrate the stratum corneum, penetrate into deep tissues, dissolve cell membranes, and even reach deep into the periosteum and bone, forming ulcers that are slow to heal. In severe cases, it may even require treatment. Amputation.

Due to the huge amount of garbage around the accident garbage point and the phenomenon of littering, law enforcement officials have not yet found any relevant clues to confirm the source of the plastic bottles. Next, the Pujiang County Administrative Law Enforcement Bureau will work with the environmental sanitation company to continue to follow up on the follow-up situation.

Do a good job in sorting garbage

Don’t let garbage become a "hidden weapon"

Reporters checked online and found that news about sanitation workers being harmed by unknown substances in garbage actually happened frequently. See the newspaper.

In 2014, a 76-year-old sanitation worker in Shandong was accidentally splashed by a liquid in a bottle while cleaning, which caused serious corrosion. Eventually, the distal section of his right middle finger was amputated, and his index finger and ring finger suffered third-degree burns; In May 2016, a 52-year-old sanitation worker in Guangdong was injured by an unknown object in the garbage. His left forearm was broken off and both eyes were bruised.

These endless tragedies ultimately stem from the awareness of not classifying garbage in life, and even throwing away garbage everywhere. It may be difficult for many people to imagine that the waste products they throw away can easily become a "hidden weapon" that hurts others.

Currently, my country mainly divides domestic waste into four categories: recyclable waste, kitchen waste, hazardous waste and other waste. The recyclable waste includes five categories: paper, plastic, glass, metal and fabric. It should be noted that each type of garbage has its own recycling specifications.

For example, the inside of plastic bottles should be washed with water and the bottle body should be flattened; the cap of glass bottles should be removed, the label should be torn off, the remaining objects should be poured out and washed, and placed carefully; broken glass and metal should be sharp Wrap the utensils in newspapers and tape them, and put warning signs on them before discarding them. Hazardous waste such as used batteries, lamps, thermometers, etc. should be recycled separately and should not be mixed with domestic waste. Strictly controlled hazardous chemicals such as strong acids and alkalis are professionally handled by units or companies. Individuals are prohibited from purchasing them, let alone discarding them at will.

This newspaper also calls on the general public to do a good job in classifying garbage, not to throw away toxic and harmful substances at will, and not to purchase related hazardous chemicals in violation of regulations, so that sanitation workers can avoid such risks. ?