Is dilute sulfuric acid irritant

Answer 1

Concentrated Sulfuric acid is very corrosive to organic anything, including skin. It can cause bad burns if you get it on yourself. Even tiny microdroplets that you can barely feel start itching until you get it rinsed off with water. Use plenty of water.

It is very reactive with many chemicals. It is used to digest organic stuff down to elemental states, only the elemental ions are left. Good for analysis. Bad for whatever gets digested!

It reacts violently with water unless lots of water is used. It gets very hot very fast. Always remember to add acid to water. That way the little bits of acid you're adding can dilute themselves quicker into the large amount of water you are pouring into. Even when you are mixing acid to water correctly: slowly with lots of stirring, much heat is generated with Sulfuric acid.

Hot Sulfuric acid gives off fumes that are corrrosive to breathe and get on your skin.

It is just a bad dude to mess with unless you have proper techniques to deal with it and the right equipment: stirrer, fume hood, protective eyewear, rubber apron and gloves. Some people recommend face shields too.

Answer 2

Apart from it's corrosive and dehydrating effects, the toxicity of sulphuric acid is debated. However Oxford University's MSDS reports a case involving a human fatality at 135 mg/kg, or about 9 gram / 5 ml for an average human. Anything containing more than about 0.1% sulphuric acid should be labelled "TOXIC". Strong solutions of sulphuric acid, more than about 10%, should be labeled "TOXIC, CORROSIVE"; while weaker solutions are better labeled "TOXIC, IRRITANT".

Answer 3

Sulfuric acid's primary hazard is that it is not only corrosive, but it is also a dehydrating acid. Just like phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid is so dehydrating that it would suck the water right out from your skin and cells on contact, and it could also result in a thermal burn.

Answer 4

It all depends on the particular acid and its concentration.

To give a few examples: hydrofluoric acid (HF) is both extremely toxic and extremely corrosive; hydrochloric acid is corrosive if the solution is not too dilute, but is generally not considered toxic (stomach acid is mainly HCl at about pH1); and acetic acid (vinegar) is neither particularly corrosive or toxic.

Hydrocyanic acid (HCN) is extremely toxic but not corrosive.

Answer 5

corrosive - by the way im the one who is asking the question that why corrosive substances are dangerous than irritants.

Answer 6

Yes