NC DPH: Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology: Sulfuric Acid Occupational & Environmental Epidemiology Sulfuric Acid Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) is a corrosive, oily, colorless liquid in a pure state. Impure grades of sulfuric acid are brownish in color. Sulfuric acid is most often used in the manufacture of fertilizers, explosives, other acids and glue. In addition, it is also used for the pickling or cleaning of metal surfaces. Most car batteries contain sulfuric acid, as do some commonly used household drain and toilet cleaners. Sulfuric acid releases in North Carolina have resulted in injuries, hospitalizations, and workplace evacuations. Some examples of sulfuric acid release incidents in North Carolina include: A chemist mixed sulfuric acid with several other chemicals for a routine experiment, which caused a small explosion. He suffered minor injuries to his hands and was transported to the hospital by ambulance. Over 100 employees were evacuated from the building. An employee of a janitorial supply store was filling an overhead storage tank with a bucket of sulfuric acid when the ladder slipped, causing him to spill five gallons of acid on his body.

He was admitted to the hospital with second-degree chemical burns over 40 percent of his body. Employees who were trying to clear a drain mixed sulfuric acid and bleach, causing a chemical reaction. The gas released caused respiratory irritation, eye irritation and nausea to the employees. They received treatment at the scene from Emergency Medical Services personnel. A professional firefighter in turnout gear suffered respiratory irritation while extinguishing a fire of automotive batteries in a trailer. He was treated at the hospital. An overcharged battery burst at a retail auto parts store. One employee was transported to and treated at the hospital for respiratory irritation. Drain cleaner containing sulfuric acid was spilled at a daycare. Sixty-eight children and faculty were evacuated from the facility for one hour. One employee was treated at the hospital for respiratory irritation. A chemist, mixing 96 percent sulfuric acid, cracked the beaker. He was using gloves and eye protection, but was still chemically burned and required treatment at a hospital. Common Routes of Exposure Inhalation. The most common way for sulfuric acid to enter the body is through the respiratory system. Serious lung damage may result from inhalation exposure to sulfuric acid. Skin Contact.

Sulfuric acid can irritate the skin and cause chemical burns ranging from mild to severe, depending on the concentration of the sulfuric acid solution. Concentrated vapor or solution that contacts the skin may cause the victim to experience severe pain, redness of the skin, blisters and permanent scarring. Eye Contact. Sulfuric acid or sulfuric acid vapor, even with short-term exposure, can irritate the eyes and cause burning, swelling, tearing of the eyes and/or blurred vision, and may cause blindness. Ingestion. Immediate burning in the mouth and throat occur when sulfuric acid is swallowed. Ingestion of concentrated solution can cause severe pain in the mouth, chest and abdomen, nausea and vomiting, or holes in the esophagus. Acute Health Effects As the concentration of sulfuric acid increases, the symptoms become more severe. Acute exposures to sulfuric acid can cause immediate burning of the eyes. Itchy, burning eyes can help to warn people of potentially hazardous exposure levels. The very young, the very old, and people with health problems are at an increased risk from the health effects of sulfuric acid exposure.

Chronic Health Effects Erosion of the teeth, inflammation of mouth, narrowing of stomach or esophagus, chronic bronchial irritation with cough, and/or chronic shortness of breath may occur with repeated or long-term exposure to sulfuric acid. Skin rashes may also occur with repeated exposures of dilute concentrations of sulfuric acid. Prevention Sulfuric acid can be found in many car batteries (lead-acid batteries) and in household products like drain and toilet bowl cleaners. Be sure to read product labels carefully, and do not use more than one product per application. Even some chemical residue in a drain or on a surface can be hazardous if combined with a second product. Know which products in your home contain sulfuric acid, and keep those products out of the reach of children and pets. Wear protective gloves when using products that contain sulfuric acid. Eye protection is also recommended, particularly when using a product that may splash. Keep car batteries away from children. Avoid breathing smoke or fumes where coal, oil, or gas are burned, even outside. Avoid touching the material that forms on the outside of your car battery.

Keep the Carolinas Poison Center 24/7 number 1-800-222-1222 and other emergency numbers near or programmed into your phone. For Additional Information ATSDR - Public Health Statement: Sulfur Trioxide & Sulfuric Acid Sulfur Trioxide & Sulfuric Acid This map displays locations where Sulfur Trioxide & Sulfuric Acid is known to be present. On This Page PDF Version, 73 KB This Public Health Statement is the summary chapter from the Toxicological Profile for Sulfur Trioxide and Sulfuric Acid . It is one in a series of Public Health Statements about hazardous substances and their health effects. A shorter version, the ToxFAQsTM , is also available. This information is important because this substance may harm you. The effects of exposure to any hazardous substance depend on the dose, the duration, how you are exposed, personal traits and habits, and whether other chemicals are present. For more information, call the ATSDR Information Center at 1-800-232-4636. This public health statement tells you about sulfur trioxide and sulfuric acid and the effects of exposure.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identifies the most serious hazardous waste sites in the nation. These sites make up the National Priorities List (NPL) and are the sites targeted for long-term federal cleanup. Sulfur trioxide and sulfuric acid have been found in at least 47 of the 1,467 current or former NPL sites. As more sites are evaluated, the sites with sulfur trioxide or sulfuric acid may increase. This is important because exposure to these substances may harm you and because these sites may be sources of exposure. When a substance is released from a large area, such as an industrial plant, or from a container, such as a drum or bottle, it enters the environment. This release does not always lead to exposure. You are exposed to a substance only when you come in contact with it. You may be exposed by breathing, eating, or drinking the substance or by skin contact. If you are exposed to sulfur trioxide or sulfuric acid, many factors determine whether you'll be harmed. These factors include the dose (how much), the duration (how long), and how you come in contact with it.

You must also consider the other chemicals you're exposed to and your age, sex, diet, family traits, lifestyle, and state of health. top 1.1 What are sulfur trioxide and sulfuric acid? Sulfur trioxide is generally a colorless liquid but can also exist as ice- or fiber-like crystals or as a gas. When sulfur trioxide is exposed to air, it rapidly takes up water and gives off white fumes. It combines with water, releasing considerable heat while forming sulfuric acid. It also reacts violently with some metal oxides. Sulfur trioxide is also called sulfuric oxide and sulfuric anhydride. It is used as an intermediate in the production of sulfuric acid, other chemicals, and explosives. Sulfur trioxide is unlikely to exist in the environment except for very short periods when it may be present in the air as a gas. In the air, sulfur trioxide can be formed slowly from sulfur dioxide. Once formed, sulfur trioxide will react with water in the air to form sulfuric acid. Both sulfur dioxide and sulfuric acid are more likely to be found in air than sulfur trioxide.

If you are interested in learning more about sulfur dioxide, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has developed a separate profile about it. Sulfuric acid is a clear, colorless, oily liquid that is very corrosive. An odor threshold of sulfuric acid in air has been reported to be 1 milligram per cubic meter of air (mg/m3). If you are exposed to concentrated sulfuric acid in air, your nose will be irritated and it may seem like sulfuric acid has a pungent odor. When concentrated sulfuric acid is mixed with water, the solution gets very hot. Concentrated sulfuric acid can catch fire or explode when it comes into contact with many chemicals including acetone, alcohols, and some finely divided metals. When heated it emits highly toxic fumes, which include sulfur trioxide. It is also called sulphine acid, battery acid, and hydrogen sulfate. More sulfuric acid is produced in the United States than any other chemical. It is used in the manufacture of fertilizers, explosives, other acids, and glue; in the purification of petroleum; in the pickling of metal; and in lead-acid batteries (the type commonly used in motor vehicles).

Sulfuric acid can be found in the air as small droplets or it can be attached to other small particles in the air. Fuming sulfuric acid, also called oleum, is a solution of 10ï¿½70% sulfur trioxide in sulfuric acid. Oleum is the form of sulfuric acid that is often shipped in railroad cars. top 1.2 What happens to sulfur trioxide and sulfuric acid when they enter the environment? Much of the sulfuric acid in the air is formed from sulfur dioxide released when coal, oil, and gas are burned. The released sulfur dioxide slowly forms sulfur trioxide, which reacts with water in the air to form sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid dissolves in the water in air and can remain suspended for varying periods of time; it is removed from the air as rain. Sulfuric acid in rain contributes to the formation of acid rain. Sulfuric acid in water separates to form hydrogen ions and sulfate. The ability of sulfuric acid to change the acidity (pH) of water is dependent on the amount of sulfuric acid and the ability of other substances in the water to neutralize the hydrogen ions (buffering capacity).

top 1.3 How might I be exposed to sulfur trioxide and sulfuric acid? You may be exposed to sulfur trioxide or sulfuric acid at your job if you work in the chemical or metal plating industry; if you produce detergents, soaps, fertilizers, or lead-acid batteries; or if you work in printing and publishing, or photography shops. Because sulfur trioxide forms sulfuric acid when it contacts the moist surfaces of your respiratory tract or your skin, the effects caused by sulfur trioxide and sulfuric acid are similar. In occupational settings, breathing small droplets of sulfur trioxide or sulfuric acid or touching it with your skin are the most likely ways you would be exposed to sulfuric acid. According to estimates from a survey conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) more than 56,103 U.S. workers may be exposed to sulfur trioxide, and more than 775,348 U.S. workers may be exposed to sulfuric acid. However, this survey used estimates from small samples, so the number of workers exposed to sulfur trioxide and sulfuric acid may be overestimated.

You may also be exposed to sulfuric acid by breathing outdoor air containing this compound. As mentioned before, sulfuric acid droplets can form in the air when sulfur dioxide is released from the burning of coal, oil, and gas. This released sulfur dioxide slowly forms sulfur trioxide and then reacts with water in the air to form sulfuric acid. While sulfuric acid could be present in the air during episodes of high pollution, all air pollution is not due to sulfuric acid contamination. The effects of other pollutants in air may be of greater concern to the general population. Likewise, there are relatively few sulfuric acid air pollution episodes today. People living near hazardous waste sites that contain sulfuric acid are at greater risk of exposure by breathing contaminated air than is the general public. For these people, spending time outdoors, especially exercising, could increase their risks of being exposed. You can also be exposed to sulfuric acid when you touch the material that forms on the outside of your car battery. Sulfuric acid is formed when some toilet bowl cleaners mix with water. Therefore, if these products touch skin or are accidentally swallowed, you could be exposed to sulfuric acid.

When you cut onions a chemical called propanethiol S-oxide is released into the air. When this chemical reaches your eyes, it reacts with the water in your eyes to form sulfuric acid, which causes your eyes to water. People have also been exposed following accidental spills of sulfuric acid or oleum. These accidents occurred more frequently at a site than while the substances were being transported. top 1.4 How can sulfur trioxide and sulfuric acid enter and leave my body? If you breathe in sulfur trioxide, small droplets of sulfuric acid will form when the sulfur trioxide contacts water. Small droplets of sulfuric acid may also enter the respiratory tract when you breathe. Where the droplets will deposit in the respiratory tract depends on their size and how deeply you are breathing. Smaller droplets will deposit deeper into the lung. If you breathe through your mouth, more droplets will deposit in your lungs than if you breathe only through your nose. Extra sulfur dioxide breakdown products are excreted in the urine. Sulfuric acid causes its effects by direct action on tissues that it touches.

With the exception of how sulfuric acid droplets deposit in the lungs, how sulfur trioxide and sulfuric acid enter and leave your body does not alter the effects of sulfuric acid. top 1.5 How can sulfur trioxide and sulfuric acid affect my health? To protect the public from the harmful effects of toxic chemicals and to find ways to treat people who have been harmed, scientists use many tests. One way to see if a chemical will hurt people is to learn how the chemical is absorbed, used, and released by the body; for some chemicals, animal testing may be necessary. Animal testing may also be used to identify health effects such as cancer or birth defects. Without laboratory animals, scientists would lose a basic method to get information needed to make wise decisions to protect public health. Scientists have the responsibility to treat research animals with care and compassion. Laws today protect the welfare of research animals, and scientists must comply with strict animal care guidelines. Sulfuric acid and other acids are very corrosive and irritating and cause direct local effects on the skin, eyes, and respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts when there is direct exposure to sufficient concentrations. Breathing sulfuric acid mists can result in tooth erosion and respiratory tract irritation.

Drinking concentrated sulfuric acid can burn your mouth and throat, and it can erode a hole in your stomach; it has also resulted in death. If you touch sulfuric acid, it will burn your skin. If you get sulfuric acid in your eyes, it will burn your eyes and cause them to water. The term "burn" used in these sections refers to a chemical burn, not a physical burn resulting from contacting a hot object. People have been blinded by sulfuric acid when it was thrown in their faces. Breathing small droplets of sulfuric acid at levels that might be in the air on a day with high air pollution may make it more difficult to breathe. This effect is more likely to occur if you have been exercising or if you have asthma. This effect may also be more likely to occur in children than adults. Breathing sulfuric acid droplets may affect the ability of your respiratory tract to remove other small particles that you have inhaled. If you breathe sulfur trioxide, it turns into sulfuric acid in your upper respiratory tract, and the effects you may experience will be similar to those of sulfuric acid inhalation.

Studies in people who breathed high concentrations of sulfuric acid at work have shown an increase in cancers of the larynx. However, most of the cancers were in smokers who were also exposed to other acids and other chemicals. There is no information that exposure to sulfuric acid by itself is carcinogenic. The carcinogenicity of sulfuric acid has not been studied in animals. The EPA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) have not classified sulfur trioxide or sulfuric acid for carcinogenic effects. Based on very limited human data, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) believes that evidence is sufficient to state that occupational exposure to strong inorganic acid mists containing sulfuric acid is carcinogenic to humans. IARC has not classified pure sulfuric acid for its carcinogenic effects. top 1.6 How can sulfur trioxide and sulfuric acid affect children? This section discusses potential health effects from exposures during the period from conception to maturity at 18 years of age in humans. Potential effects on children resulting from exposures of the parents are also considered. Children may be exposed to sulfur trioxide and sulfuric acid in the same manner as adults, with the exception of chemical encounters in the workplace.

Sulfur trioxide is only used in industry as an intermediate in the production of chemicals such as sulfuric acid and quickly converts to sulfuric acid when it contacts water in air. Therefore, children will most likely only be at risk of exposure from sulfuric acid, not sulfur trioxide. Exposure to sulfuric acid may occur through skin contact, eye contact, ingestion, and breathing contaminated air. Sulfuric acid can cause severe skin burns, it can burn the eyes, burn holes in the stomach if swallowed, irritate the nose and throat, and cause difficulties breathing if inhaled. Exposure to sulfuric acid from accidental contact with or misuse of sulfuric acid-containing consumer products is the most likely way your child could be exposed. Household products that contain sulfuric acid include drain and toilet bowl cleaners, and some acid car batteries. The national estimate (derived by United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, USCPSC) for injuries related to drain cleaners over a 5-year period ending January 1996 is between 2,800 and 3,150 injuries per year. Inquisitive toddlers may get into unsealed or improperly stored containers of sulfuric acid-containing products.

Transfer of cleaning agents containing sulfuric acid into containers not designed for their storage can allow leakage from the container. Improper flushing of areas recently cleaned with a sulfuric acid-containing product can lead to inadvertent skin exposure to both children and adults. While younger children are most at risk from accidental swallowing, skin contact, or eye contact with sulfuric acid in household products, teenagers might have jobs in which they may contact sulfuric acid. If teenagers must use acid cleaners in their jobs or work in car repair where they may contact car batteries, they might be exposed. Furthermore, there have been reports of older children using sulfuric acid-containing solutions as weapons, thereby causing severe skin damage when intentionally splashed on others. Small droplets of sulfuric acid may exist in the outdoor air. You and your children have the greatest chances of inhaling the compound during times of high air pollution with sulfuric acid. This may lead to difficulty breathing. If you live near electrical, metal processing, or paper processing industries, you may also have a greater chance of exposure to sulfuric acid.

When sulfuric acid is inhaled into the lungs in the form of small droplets that exist in air, these droplets are deposited within the lung and the ability of your respiratory tract to remove other small, unwanted particles may be decreased. A study has shown that children can have greater deposition of sulfuric acid in their lungs than adults due to children's smaller airway diameters. Also, because children breathe more air per kilogram of body weight than adults, children may take in more sulfuric acid when they breathe the same contaminated air. Increased sensitivity has been witnessed in both animal studies with young guinea pigs and in human studies of asthmatic adolescents. This evidence suggests that children may be more vulnerable than adults to the health effects associated with breathing sulfuric acid. No studies examining effects on unborn children following a mother's exposure to sulfuric acid during pregnancy were identified in humans. Limited evidence in animals indicates that sulfuric acid is not a hazard to unborn children. Birth defects have not been observed in animals that breathed high levels of sulfuric acid mist. Exposing pregnant rabbits to sulfuric acid did not significantly affect the body weights or cause malformations in their offspring.

Again, because sulfuric acid causes adverse effects at its point of contact with the body, the acid, as such, is not expected to be absorbed or distributed throughout the body. Sulfuric acid is not expected to be transported across a mother's placenta into her developing baby or into breast milk. Therefore, an exposed mother most likely will not threaten her unborn or nursing child. Since sulfuric acid's effects occur at the point of contact, it is not likely that it will reach a mother's egg or father's sperm. Therefore, parents exposure to sulfuric acid or sulfur trioxide should not affect their unborn children. top 1.7 How can families reduce the risk of exposure to sulfur trioxide and sulfuric acid? If your doctor finds that you have been exposed to significant amounts of sulfur trioxide or sulfuric acid, ask if children may also be exposed. When necessary your doctor may need to ask your State Department of Public Health to investigate. Sulfuric acid is a highly corrosive chemical that is potentially explosive in concentrated form. It can cause severe skin burns, can irritate the nose and throat and cause difficulties breathing if inhaled, can burn the eyes and possibly cause blindness, and can burn holes in the stomach if swallowed.

Concentrated sulfuric acid is commonly used in the United States as a drain and toilet bowl cleaner. Children and adults have suffered full thickness skin burns upon accidental contact or intentional assault with sulfuric acid in this form. Additionally, sulfuric acid is formed when some toilet bowl cleaners mix with water, so care should be taken not to breathe associated vapors or splash any liquid on the skin or in the eyes. All household chemicals containing sulfuric acid should be stored in their original, labeled containers, kept in locked cabinets away from children, kept away from fire, and should be used only for their intended purposes. The material that forms on the outside of a car battery is also a source of sulfuric acid and you should avoid touching it. Wear safety glasses and use chemical resistant gloves to avoid this type of exposure. Upon any exposure to sulfuric acid, the contacted body part should be immediately flushed with plentiful water and then the Poison Control Center contacted. Keep your Poison Control Center's number by the phone. If sulfuric acid is spilled in the home, the local Fire Department should be contacted for assistance in handling the spill. When levels of air pollution are high, families are advised to stay indoors as much as possible and to avoid exercising outdoors.

Families can be aware of levels of air pollution by paying attention to news bulletins and air pollution advisories, most of which are issued by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). This is particularly important for individuals with respiratory conditions and asthmatic children. Staying indoors during times of sulfuric acid air pollution will help you avoid breathing sulfuric acid droplets. Adults may be occupationally exposed to sulfuric acid if they work in the chemical or metal plating industry; produce detergents, soaps, fertilizers, or lead-acid batteries; or work in printing or publishing, or photography shops. It is not anticipated that workers in such industries can expose their families at home (through their clothing, skin, or breath) to sulfuric acid contacted at work. top 1.8 Is there a medical test to determine whether I have been exposed to sulfur trioxide and sulfuric acid? There is no medical test to determine whether you have been exposed to sulfur trioxide or sulfuric acid. Breathing in acids, including sulfuric acid, will increase the acidity of your saliva. Measuring the acidity of saliva may determine whether you have been exposed to acid but cannot determine which acid.

top 1.9 What recommendations has the federal government made to protect human health? The federal government develops regulations and recommendations to protect public health. Regulations can be enforced by law. Federal agencies that develop regulations for toxic substances include the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Recommendations provide valuable guidelines to protect public health but cannot be enforced by law. Federal organizations that develop recommendations for toxic substances include the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Regulations and recommendations can be expressed in not-to-exceed levels in air, water, soil, or food that are usually based on levels that affect animals; then they are adjusted to help protect people. Sometimes these not-to-exceed levels differ among federal organizations because of different exposure times (an 8-hour workday or a 24-hour day), the use of different animal studies, or other factors. Recommendations and regulations are also periodically updated as more information becomes available. For the most current information, check with the federal agency or organization that provides it.

Some regulations and recommendations for sulfur trioxide and sulfuric acid include the following: EPA limits the amount of sulfur dioxide that can be released into the air. This limits the amount of sulfur trioxide and sulfuric acid that form from sulfur dioxide in the air. OSHA limits the amount of sulfuric acid that can be present in workroom air to 1 mg/m3. NIOSH also recommends a time-weighted average limit of 1 mg/m3. top References Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). 1998. Toxicological profile for Sulfur Trioxide and Sulfuric Acid . Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service. top Where can I get more information?

If you have questions or concerns, please contact your community or state health or environmental quality department or: For more information, contact: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Division of Toxicology and Human Health Sciences 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop F-57 Atlanta, GA 30329-4027 Phone: 800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000 Disclaimer Some PDF files may be electronic conversions from paper copy or other electronic ASCII text files. This conversion may have resulted in character translation or format errors. Users are referred to the original paper copy of the toxicological profile for the official text, figures, and tables. Original paper copies can be obtained via the directions on the toxicological profile home page , which also contains other important information about the profiles. The information contained here was correct at the time of publication. Please check with the appropriate agency for any changes to the regulations or guidelines cited.

Buy Sulphuric Acid | H2SO4 Available from UK Chemicals Suppliers Bulk quantities Call 0800 990 3258 for details or Contact Us Here at ReAgent we are one of the leading sulphuric acid suppliers in the UK. Find out more about sulphuric acid and how to buy chemicals, acids and reagents online here. What is Sulphuric Acid? Sulphuric acid, or to use the American spelling, sulfuric acid, is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The chemical formula for sulphuric acid is H2SO4. It is a strong smelling, heavy, viscous liquid which is widely used in laboratories. As a strong acid, it is highly reactive and as such great caution should be used when handling sulphuric acid, even in dilute concentrations. What is Sulphuric Acid Used For? There are many uses for sulphuric acid, which makes it one of the most popular products here at ReAgent Chemicals. Sulphuric acid uses range from general testing and analysis applications to use in car batteries.

Sulphuric acid is commonly used in the industrial production of chemicals to create other chemical solutions, such as Chromic Acid when mixed with Potassium Dichromate. Sulphuric acid is used as an industrial cleaning agent in the iron and steelmaking industry to remove oxidation, rust and scaling from metals. It is also used as a catalyst converter in various chemical reactions. Concentrated sulphuric acid is frequently the main ingredient in domestic drain cleaners used to remove grease and hair from blocked drains. Where Can I Buy Sulphuric Acid? You can buy sulphuric acid online here at ReAgent Chemicals. ReAgent supplies Sulphuric Acid both in concentrated form and in standard and reagent solutions in pack sizes from 2.5L to 1000L and in batches up to 5000L. We supply a range of different grades of sulphuric acid including H2SO4 Technical grade, H2SO4 General Laboratory Reagent grade (which is our most popular) and H2SO4 Analytical Reagent grade, depending on the application for which it is required.

Some of the products we supply are listed on our website, however many are not, so please call us on 0800 990 3258 to discuss your requirement in further detail. 0800 990 3258 Call our friendly sales team if you have any questions Quality Assured We manufacture to ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 standards Established 1977 How To Make Sulfuric Acid at Home How To Make Sulfuric Acid at Home How To Make Sulfuric Acid at Home Concentrated Sulfuric Acid When making a stock solution, it's important to add sulfuric acid to a larger volume of water. Terry J Alcorn, Getty Images Sulfuric acid is a useful acid to have on hand for a variety of home chemistry projects. However, it is not easy to obtain. Fortunately, you can make it yourself. Homemade Sulfuric Acid Materials Actually, this method starts with diluted sulfuric acid, which you boil to make concentrated sulfuric acid. This is the safest and easiest method of making sulfuric acid at home.

car battery acid glass container outdoor source of heat, like a grill Battery acid, which may be purchased at an automotive supply store, is approximately 35% sulfuric acid. In many cases, this will be strong enough for your activities, but if you need concentrated sulfuric acid, all you need to do is remove the water. The resulting acid will not be as pure as reagent-grade sulfuric acid, so keep this in mind. Safest Method If you aren't in a hurry, you can concentrate sulfuric acid by allowing the water to evaporate naturally. This takes several days. Place an open container of sulfuric acid someplace with good circulation, safe from the possibility of a spill. continue reading below our video 4 Tips for Improving Test Performance Loosely cover the container to minimize contamination with dust and other particulates. Wait. The water will evaporate out of the solution, eventually leaving you with concentrated sulfuric acid. Note that sulfuric acid is highly hygroscopic, so it will retain a certain amount of water. You would need to heat the liquid to drive off the remaining water. Quickest Method The fastest method to concentrate sulfuric acid is to boil the water out of the acid.

This is fast, but requires extreme care. You'll want to do this outdoors so that you won't be exposed to acid fumes, using borosilicate glass (e.g., Pyrex or Kimax). There is always a risk of shattering a glass container, no matter what you are heating, so you need to be prepared for that possibility. Do not leave this project unattended! Heat the battery acid in a borosilicate glass pan. When the liquid level stops dropping, you will have concentrated the acid as much as you can. At this point, the steam will be replaced by white vapor, too. Be careful to avoid inhaling the fumes. Allow the liquid to cool before transferring it to another container. Seal the container to prevent water from the air from getting into the acid. If the container is left open for too long, the sulfuric acid will become diluted. Safety Notes It's advisable to keep baking soda ( sodium bicarbonate ) or another base on hand. If you spill some acid, you can quickly neutralize it by reacting it with the baking soda. Simply sprinkle baking soda on the spill. Be careful to avoid contact with the sulfuric acid ! Sulfuric acid is one of the strong acids .

It is extremely corrosive and will react vigorously and unpleasantly with skin, mucous membranes, clothing and just about anything else it touches. Do not breathe the vapors, do not touch the acid and do not spill it. Tie long hair back, wear goggles and gloves and cover exposed skin. Don't use metal pans or utensils. Sulfuric acid reacts with metal. Also, it will attack some types of plastic. Glass is a good choice. Sulfuric acid reacts with water in an exothermic reaction , but dilution with water is the best way to deal with an acid spill. Be sure to have copious amounts of water available, just in case something goes wrong. You can flood a small amount of acid with water . Caution: Sulfuric acid will splash when mixed with water! If you are going to work with this acid, know and respect its properties. Sulfuric Acid Projects and More What Is Battery Acid? Notes About Battery Acid Battery acid is about 35% sulfuric acid. You can purchase it at an automotive supply store. It may not be on the shelf, so ask for it.

Battery acid may be sold in 5 gallon boxes, with the acid in a heavy duty plastic bag and a plastic tube to dispense the liquid. The box is heavy; it would be disastrous to drop it. Therefore, it's a good idea to know what to expect. It's practical to dispense a working volume of acid, rather than try to deal with the entire container. Although the acid may come in a plastic container, it's best to store this acid in a glass bottle. Sulfuric acid reacts with some types of plastic and may corrode a plastic container. I used a glass wine bottle that had a plastic screw-top cap. Whatever container you use, be certain to label it as sulfuric acid and poison and store it somewhere that children and pets can't get to it. Also, don't store acid with ammonia because the two chemicals mix to release toxic fumes. Batteries Batteries in Fact and Fiction Batteries, Cells,Chemistry, Math and Radios Batteries are an excellent emergency power source, but require some basic information to use properly. They are electrochemical devices. They have plates, usually metallic, and either a solution or a moist compound between the plates.

A chemical reaction takes place in the battery when it is discharged that produces a flow of electrons out one plate on the negative side and into another plate on the positive side. Actually a single unit of a battery is a cell. A battery is called a "battery", because it is a "battery" of cells together. Each cell will have a characteristic voltage range between charged and discharged that is set by the electrochemical nature of the metals used and the reactions that go on in the solution, gel, wet powder, etc. between the plates. Some non-rechargeable batteries contain other chemicals to absorb waste byproducts from the chemical reaction that moves the electrons along. This is what an "alkaline" battery is and why it lasts longer and costs more than a standard carbon/zinc cell. It has an excess of these chemicals to absorb more byproducts before the cell becomes poisoned. One such chemical is manganese dioxide, which is mostly what the damp black powder inside a typical dry cell battery consists of. Some cells or batteries can be recharged. In this case a power supply is hooked up to run the chemical reaction backwards and restore the chemical makeup of the battery back to its uncharged state.

Not all batteries can be recharged and attempting to recharge some non-rechargeable batteries can be quite dangerous, as pressures will develop inside the case and cause an explosion. An example of a rechargeable battery is a lead/acid cell. Here lead plates and sulphuric acid are used and lead sulphate is generated and destroyed as the battery discharges and then gets recharged. A "gel cell" is usually a lead/acid battery that has something in the sulphuric acid solution to make it less sloshy or gelled. Because they have more trouble dissipating heat and outgassing, these gel cells should be charged slower than regular lead/acid batteries. The lead/acid battery has been in common use in automobiles since 1915 or so. It has plates of lead in sulphuric acid solution in water. One of the sets of lead plates is coated with lead dioxide. As such a battery discharges it creates two chemical reactions, one at the anode that ends up with an excess of electrons, and one at the cathode that ends up short electrons.

If a wire is connected between the two, the excess electrons from the anode will travel through the wire as a current to the cathode where they are needed to complete the electron deficient reaction there. Driving the Electrons Through Wires with Chemistry Anode Reaction: Pb + HSO4- --> PbSO4 + H+ + 2 e- This says that the metal lead in the anode reacts with the ionized sulphuric acid to produce lead sulphate, hydrogen ions in solution and two excess electrons. Cathode Reaction: PbO2 + HSO4- + 3H+ +2 e- --> PbSO4 + 2H2O This says that the lead dioxide reacts with the ionized sulphuric acid and the available hydrogen ions, plus some donated excess electrons from the anode via the connecting wire, to produce lead sulphate and water. When charged, this flow of electrons is forced backwards, against the electropotential of these reactions and the reactions are driven backwards, changing the lead sulphate back into lead and lead dioxide on the plates and restoring the sulphuric acid to the solution, the liquid electrolyte.

Since sulphuric acid is a very dense liquid, as the amount of sulphuric acid goes up and down in the battery, the density of the liquid changes. Thus one method of monitoring charge is to monitor the specific gravity or density of the liquid in the battery relative to water. Modern batteries contain calcium metal in the lead to decrease the tendency to produce hydrogen gas during charging by electrolysis of the water in the electrolyte solution. If enough calcium metal is present, the battery gassing is so well controlled that the cells can be "sealed" and their demand for replacement water greatly decreased. Another common type of rechargeable battery is a NiCad, based on Nickel Cadmium electrochemistry. Because they are a different chemistry, they have a different voltage. Dry cells, lead/acid cells and NiCad cells will all produce a different voltage ranging from about 1.3 volts fully charged to 2.1 volts fully charged. NiCads are often physically the same size as carbon/zinc "dry cells" and are made in double A, and C and other common sizes. But they will have a different voltage, a lower one. Usually this is not a problem for most electronics that are tolerant about the exact input power required.

All batteries or cells have an internal resistance and a capacity. The internal resistance determines how many amps the battery can reliably provide in service. The capacity is measured in amp/hours. This is simply the number of amps the battery can deliver at a reasonable discharge rate for that battery, and how many hours it is expected to deliver those amps. Battery Math and Amp/Hours Most batteries are rated in electrical capacity for a discharge rate of 20 hours. A 20 amp/hour battery should provide one amp of current for 20 hours before being fully discharged. It will still show a voltage, it will no longer be functioning correctly and if rechargeable, it will be in serious need of a recharge. Some smaller batteries like those used on HandiTalkies are rated in milliamp/hours. It is the same concept, they just use milliamps instead of amps for these lighter duty batteries. A typical rating might be 1200 ma/Hr which is the same as 1.2 amp/hour. A standard small car battery is about 45 amp/hours. That means that it will supply over two amps for 20 hours.

A battery should not be discharged at a higher current draw, or asked to deliver more amps than its amp/hour rating divided by 10 in order to get maximum capacity out of it. In the case of a 45 amp/hour battery that would mean it should not be asked to deliver more than about 4 amps for best service. Treat Large Batteries with Respect! A car battery can deliver up to 300 amps if short circuited! This is very dangerous. Extreme heating can result, lots of outgassing, the plates will overheat and warp and the battery will be destroyed, often dramatically. However, this is exactly what happens when you crank a starter motor. The battery survives because these large cranking loads are very short lived. Be very careful when transporting charged batteries and hooking them up. Shorting the terminals of a large battery can be quite dangerous. It is worth noting that a car battery has enough electric power in it to electrocute you many times over. The reason it does not is skin resistance. It takes about 48 volts to puncture the dry skin resistance of the human body and get current flowing in the conductive juices inside.

Even damp skin will not breakdown easily at low voltages. This is why you can handle jumper cables hooked to a battery and usually not electrocute yourself, the voltage is too low to get the current inside the body where it can do damage. Still you should be careful about getting across any heavy duty electrical power circuit regardless of voltage. It is quite reasonable to discharge a battery at its amp/hour rating divided by six, or four, or maybe even three. So a 45 amp/hour battery could be used to power something that demanded 10 or 12 amps. But do not expect it to last four hours. These higher demand currents will cause extra loses in the internal resistance of the battery to go up, and the total capacity before the battery is fully discharged will be less at these higher rates. More power is lost heating up the battery for instance. So, if you divide a battery's amp/hour rating by the current load you are going to put on it, you can estimate how long it will last. If you divide a battery's amp/hour rating by 20, you will find out how much current it can deliver and still live up to its capacity rating.

If you divide a battery's amp/hour rating by four, you can estimate the maximum current you should expect such a battery to deliver and still have a reasonable life expectancy before it is fully discharged. Motorcycle batteries are handy for portable operation. A typical one would be rated at 12 amp/hours. That means it can handle half an amp easily and work for 24 hours. It should not be asked to deliver more than 3 amps maximum. My TenTec Argo 556 demands 2.1 amps on key down transmit and about .4 amps on receive. A 12 amp/hour motorcycle battery easily kept it going for 30 hours of Field Day activity, but most of that was receive and not key down. The battery was still healthy, but definitely ready for a recharge afterwards. An advantage to motorcycle batteries is that they have screw caps on the cells. The cells are still accessable for testing and examination, but they are less "spillable" and will withstand more sloshing about and reasonable amounts of tilting during transport. When the same motorcycle battery was asked to power a rig that demanded six amps, it strangled, the voltage dropped dramatically and the power output from the rig was mediocre.

For a discharge rate of six amps, something more like a 28-32 amp/hour battery is appropriate. Things to Know About a Battery The three most important things to know about a battery, regardless of whether it is for an HT, a large HF portable station or just an AA size NiCad, are its amp/hour rating, its chemistry and its voltage. The chemistry determines the voltage of a cell and the number of cells determines the voltage of the battery. A standard car battery is six lead/acid cells in series. A standard "battery" for a flashlight is actually a single carbon/zinc cell. A typical automatic camera battery is two specially modified carbon/zinc cells in series to produce about three volts, etc. Recharging a battery that can be recharged is easy to understand. You need to apply an appropriate voltage and current for an appropriate time. If a battery has a 12 amp/hour rating, you should expect to charge it at 1 amp for 12 hours, amazing how that works out! The approximately correct charging rate for a battery is the amp/hour rating divided by 10. If you charge faster you will heat up the battery.

Fast charging is OK as long as it is not overdone, like at the amp/hour rating divided by ONE. The amp/hour rating divided by four is OK if the battery is monitored or if a special charging circuit that limits the current and maximum voltage is used. The correct charging voltage is determined by the chemistry of the cells and the number of cells in the battery. A typical car battery has six lead/acid cells. Such a cell puts out about 2.1 volts when fully charged. SURPRISE! six of them in series causes it to be called a 12.6 volt battery! However, when really fully charged and just off the charger, such a battery can be closer to 13.8 volts. Most car battery eliminators such as the Astron regulated power supplies will crank out a fixed 13.8 volts.This is why you keep seeing this pop up like some "Magic Number". 13.8 volts has become a standard input for Ham Radio rigs for this simple reason. Keep in mind this simple formula, called the "Power Law" : AMPS times VOLTS equals WATTS.

So for a fixed amount of watts required or desired, if the volts go down, the amps have to go up. For that reason, rigs designed to work on "12 volt" power supplies, specifically for Car battery systems for mobile use etc., work better on 13.8 volts since they require less amps to get the same power input demand. That is another reason why most battery substitute A/C line driven power supplies, even though called "12 volt supplies" actually crank out a fixed 13.8 volts. By the same token, if a battery drain is excessive, the internal resistance drags down the voltage. The net result is that the amps demanded goes up in a vicious cycle. This is why there is a reasonable maximum drain you should expect from any battery, based on its amp/hour capacity. The power in a battery can be impressive. Take a standard car battery. It is rated at 45 amp/hours. That means it can crank out 2.25 amps for 20 hours. Also it will start out at about 12.9 volts and drop to about 11 volts, averaging about 12 volts during the period.

2.25 amps times 12 volts equals 27 watts. 27 watts times 20 hours equals 540 watt/hours, a half a kilowatt/hour, not bad at all for portable power. How Large a Battery is Needed? It is important to know how many amps your rigs draw in order to estimate how big a battery you are going to need. The manuals will give you a wild guess. It really needs to be measured. Such measurements are best done with the rig connected to an adequately rated, voltage regulated power supply like an Astron. If you meter has a heavy duty amps scale, it can be hooked in series with the rig and you can read it directly. If not you need a series resistor. Remember that: AMPS times OHMS equals VOLTS so if one knows how many ohms the resistor is and you measure how many volts of drop there are across it, you can easily calculate the amps. You do not want a lot of voltage drop! or resistance in series in this application. Also you need a beefy resistor for the high power measurements and a DVM with an accurate scale that can measure millivolts.

I use a 200 watt by .01 ohm precision resistor. Yes! that is one hundreth of an ohm. It is a huge thing with big lugs on the end and can easily measure current draws of 50 amps or more, converting currents to easily read voltage drops in the millivolt range.. A typical 100 watt HF transciever is going to demand 20 to 25 amps. You can see at once that you are going to need a BIG battery for this. In a car, the alternator and not the battery powers the rig when the motor is running. Using the HF rig without the battery running at these power levels will strand you beside the road fairly fast. You can also make a wild guess at the power required for any rig if you have a good idea of its transmit power. Take the rated power output, assume about 33% total efficiency so take that times three, and compute how many amps are needed to make that many watts at 12.6 volts.

For instance, a rig designed to crank 100 watts is: 100 * 3 = 300 watts 300 watts/12.6 volts equals about 24 amps. If you are lucky and the rig is well designed it should need a bit less than this on key down CW transmit. To take such a rig to the field you are looking at 80 to 100 amp/hours of battery minimum, two Car batteries in parallel, or one really beefy heavy equipment, or large marine battery. I have seen batteries easily available at up to 120 amp/hours each, but they are whoppers and back breakers to pick up. I recently purchased a heavy duty, deep cycle Marine battery at Sears. It is about 84 amp/hours and weighs in at 53 pounds! Typical Motorcycle Batteries will be in the 6 to 12 amp/hour range. The larger batteries for big motorcycles and lawn tractors will range from 12 to 32 amp/hours. The smaller foreign car batteries start in about this area, about 30 amp/hours. Many batteries today are rated in CCA or RC.

CCA is Cold Cranking Amps. CCA is approximately equal to the RC of a battery times five. [1000 CCA is about 190 RC]. RC is Reserve Capacity. You can convert RC to amp/hours by the following formula: Amp/Hours = (Reserve Capacity / 2) plus 16 One solution to battery mass, is to turn down the power on the rig for portable service [QRP]. Few will notice if you reduce power from 100 watts to 50 or 25 watts, but you will decrease the power demand on transmit and the size of the battery sharply. This is a case where the FCC precept that you use the minimum power required to communicate makes a lot of sense. In an emergency, a few S units on someone's distant receiver sacrificed for additional hours of operation on your end could be crucial. Remember battery life is not linear, if you half the power demand you may well more than double your operating time. Also remember that reducing power six DB, or to one fourth the transmit power, will only cut your received signal strength by one S unit on the other end. Charging Batteries and Battery Chargers Battery chargers are usually very simple things.

The average manual charger is just a beefy transformer, a few large diodes and not much else. They often have less than wonderful internal connections and always benefit from a case removal, some soldering of the crimped connections and maybe some extra heavy wire. They usually have a circuit breaker somewhere and may have an alleged amp meter which imagines it can read current, more or less, approximately, somewhat related to reality. They produce pulsed DC with no filtering at about 15 volts. Some have a "fast charge" setting that really abuses the battery with even higher voltages. They are designed for very occasional use, expecting the battery to be routinely charged by a car's regulated charging circuit, not to be the only source of recharge for a battery. Such simple chargers are good for pounding on batteries. They will easily overcharge batteries of the lead/acid type they are designed to work with. This causes electrolysis and gassing which damages the battery and makes an explosive gas (hydrogen). There are some "automatic" chargers available at places like Sears for just a bit more than the equivalent manual ones.

They are well worth the extra price when your primary use for the battery is portable or emergency power and a lot of recharging will be done off this charger. They are highly recommended over the manual versions. The best battery charger is a power supply that can be current and voltage regulated. There are some super fancy automatic ones that incorporate these features. Based on the chemistry of a battery, there is a MAGIC voltage where it can be left connected and it will not overcharge, and its internal leakage will be compensated for, keeping the battery fully charged all the time. This is called trickle charged or "floated", but most so called trickle chargers are junk, not voltage regulated and really just slowly boil away the electrolyte with electrolysis, making certain it will be a "late" battery when you actually need it. To properly charge a battery, you should apply a voltage that causes current to flow (being careful to get the plus and minus hooked up properly!) at about 1/10th the amp/hour rating of the battery to a maximum of about 1/4th the amp hour rating of the battery. For instance, for a 45 amp/hour battery you should not charge much faster than 5 amps.

For a 12 amp/hour motorcycle battery you should not charge faster than about 1.5 amps, etc. When the voltage required to maintain this charge rate exceeds 14 volts, you should turn it down and regulate it at 13.8 volts. Just let the charge rate drop naturally while the voltage is held constant at the battery terminals. Eventually the current into the battery will drop to practically nothing at 13.8 volts if it is lead/acid. Different chemistries will have different magic voltages. This is what is called "float" charging a battery. Maintaining it at a voltage which just balances the electrochemical potential of a fully charged series of cells, just below where they will start to perform electrolysis on the battery solution. If done correctly such a float can go on for a very long time and the battery will stay healthy, just compensating for the internal discharge rate of the battery. Exercising Batteries All lead/acid batteries like to be exercised at intervals. To do this you should discharge them at a rate of 1/10th to 1/4th of their amp hour rating.

For a standard 12 volt lead/acid battery you can usually find something at the NAPA Parts Store that is just right. I like truck tail light bulbs for small batteries and headlamps for larger ones. You can use just the backup filament, or the turn signal filament or both. With the headlight you can use normal or high beams. Just wire up some clip leads from the battery to this "load". Monitor the voltage on the battery and when it tries to drop below 11 volts under load, stop. The battery is now ready to recharge. This evens out the distribution of the lead sulphate on the lead plates of the battery and the sulphuric acid strengths in the cells. This in turn helps insure that the battery will have its full charge capacity. How much to discharge the batteries depends on the exact battery and its chemistry. Lead/acid batteries should not be over-discharged. A standard car or motorcycle "12 volt" battery should not be discharged below 10 volts. NiCads need deeper discharges to condition them and avoid "memory effects" where the battery capacity is greatly reduced, causing them to appear to charge just fine, but rapidly go flat when a load is applied.

Battery Dangers Be careful around bubbling batteries, the gas is hydrogen and it will explode if you make a spark or open flame. There should NOT be a lot of bubbling. That is a symptom of too much voltage on the cell during charging or too rapid a discharge. The solution is being broken down into gas and that is NOT supposed to happen. It is NOT a normal part of the charge/discharge cycle. PLEASE do NOT be one of the sad idiots who checked his battery fluid levels while charging a battery with his cigarette lighter!!! No flames around a charging battery. It should not be heavily outgassing but do not take a chance. Some outgassing is inevitable, a small amount, due to difficulties in getting the same voltage across all of the cells in a battery. Also watch the liquid levels in a battery. The non-sealed ones will evaporate. Replace the fluid with distilled water only! Never add more sulphuric acid, you will unbalance the battery. The replacement needed is distilled water. Many batteries come "dry", at least the lead/acid ones. You will get a bottle of sulphuric acid with it. Add it carefully up to the indicated line. Purchase of dry charge batteries is highly recommended.

You are certain they are new and fresh. Watch out for sulphuric acid. The acid will burn skin. It will cause very serious damage or blindness if you get it in your eyes. If you come in contact with it, rapidly wash it off with lots and lots of water. If you get it in the eyes, flush with water and get medical attention at once. Sulphuric acid will make cotton cloth disappear as you watch , eating holes in everything cotton you are wearing. It is poisonous and would cause hideous internal damage if swallowed. The stuff inside a battery is even worse. It also contains dissolved lead. Any spills of lead/acid battery contents or battery acid can be neutralized with ordinary baking soda from the kitchen. Do not get any baking soda inside the battery. You will destroy the battery. The soda will fizz like crazy until the acid is neutralized then the entire mess can easily be cleaned up with water. A lead/acid battery that has access, the old fashion type with the fill holes on top with plugs that allow you access to the liquid in the cell, has one advantage. You can measure the specific gravity of the liquid inside.

Since this liquid is sulphuric acid solution that changes strength as the battery charges and discharges, and sulphuric acid is very heavy, the density of the battery fluid changes as it charges. A hygrometer will measure the specific gravity. You can get very portable and easy to use ones that have a series of colored balls inside an eyedropper like device. You suck up some of the acid and how many balls float shows the state of the charge on each cell. Again, be careful, and wash off any such equipment after use since it will be covered with the acid. It is an excellent method of accessing charge state on Lead/Acid batteries. Lead Acid Battery Specific Gravity for Various Charge Levels Specific Gravity - Percent of Charge 1.265 = 100%

Question: Which part of your car contains a 35% solution of sulphuric acid?
Answer: BATTERY