Be careful with the
15 Minute Abbott /Binax Covid test - Hazard warnings
https://ensur.invmed.com/ensur/contentAction.aspx?key=ensur.524148.S2R4E4A3.20200 830.10292.4347288
Safety Data Sheet warning or the Instant (15 minute) Covid test.
Specifically for the Abbot/Binax 15 minute test kit you can currently get at Walgreens, CVS and most drug stores. Many facilities, senior, intermediate care also are starting to use these.
The ingredient in the test activator is Sodium Azide, in liquid form can be fatal if ingested or gets on your skin. Its listed at the very bottom of the SDS insert.
Sodium Azide is used in air bag squibs as well as rocket motors. When combusted the gas becomes a toxic respiratory irritant until dispersed into the atmosphere.
In its unburned state if you ingest or get it on your skin:
• When sodium azide is ingested, it mixes with stomach acid and forms the toxic gas, hydrozoic acid. If a person who has ingested sodium azide is vomiting, isolate and stay away from the stomach contents (vomit) to avoid exposure to the toxic gas.
Washing yourself and skin contact: As quickly as possible, wash any sodium azide from your skin with large amounts of soap and water. Washing with soap and water will help protect people from any chemicals from your body. Do not use water alone as that can alone can also convert to a toxic gas.
No specific antidote exists for sodium azide poisoning.
• Disposal : Do not pour substances containing sodium azide (such as food, water, or vomit) in the drain, because the drain can explode and cause serious harm.
• Contamination: place your clothing inside a plastic bag. Avoid touching contaminated areas of the clothing. If you can’t avoid touching contaminated areas, or you aren’t sure where the contaminated areas are, wear rubber gloves or put the clothing in the bag using tongs, tool handles, sticks, or similar objects. Anything that touches the contaminated clothing should also be placed in the bag. If you wear contacts, put them in the plastic bag, too.
Seal the bag, and then seal that bag inside another plastic bag. Disposing of your clothing in this way will help protect you and other people from any chemicals that might be on your clothes.
• When the local or state health department or emergency personnel arrive, tell them what you did with your clothes. The health department or emergency personnel will arrange for further disposal. Do not handle the plastic bags yourself.
Additional information:
Similar to cyanide, sodium azide and hydrozoic acid also interfere with cellular respiration and aerobic metabolism, preventing the cells from using oxygen. The central nervous system and the cardiovascular system are most sensitive to acute sodium azide poisoning.
Signs and symptoms of exposure
Following is a list of signs and symptoms that may be encountered in a person exposed to sodium azide. Signs and symptoms are not listed in order of importance, presentation or specificity. Also, partial presentations (an absence of some of the following signs/symptoms) do not necessarily imply less severe disease.
Central nervous system signs and symptoms
• Agitation
• Coma
• Convulsions
• Dizziness
• Headache
• Loss of consciousness (sudden collapse)
Respiratory signs and symptoms
• Bradypnea (decreased respiratory rate)
• Chest pain
• Dyspnea (shortness of breath)
• Hyperpnea (increased respiratory rate/depth)
Cardiovascular signs and symptoms
• Bradycardia (decreased heart rate)— late
• Flushing
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)— early
• Hypotension (low blood pressure)— late
• Tachycardia (increased heart rate)— early
Gastrointestinal signs and symptoms
• Abdominal pain
• Nausea
• Vomiting
Other signs
• Similar color of retinal arteries and veins
• Skin and eye irritation
Laboratory findings suggestive of sodium azide poisoning
• Metabolic acidosis
• Elevated anion gap
• Increased plasma lactate concentration
Differential diagnosis – poisoning with
• Carbon monoxide
• Cyanide
• Ethylene glycol
• Fluoroacetate
• Hydrogen sulfide
• Methanol
• Phosphine