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What Happen if Gas Gets on Your Hands?

A gas is one of the natural states of matter. Chemical compounds are found in a gaseous state, a liquid state and a physical state. Normally, gases do not have any major health hazards, but chemical gases possess a series of corrosive, toxicological and other health effects when contact occurs. Human hands have a wide variety of use and getting gas on the them causes major health hazards that can potentially become deadly.

  1. Corrosive Effects

    • A corrosive substance is a substance that will damage and destroy anything with which it comes in contact and wears it away. The compounds of many gases are corrosive and getting them on the hands is a major health hazard and dangerous. The gas of a substance can cause immediate corrosive effects, or the effects become evident over a period of time and over chronic long-term exposure. How the gas causes harm and corrosive effects is dependent on its solubility to human flesh. Gases such as hydrogen chloride and ammonia wear down the respiratory tract and wear away the first layer of skin on the hand. Hydrogen sulfide is a highly-corrosive substance, and its gases can penetrate deep into the hands and cause harmful effects and toxicity to the cells and blood vessels within the hand.

    Toxic Effects

    • All chemical gases possess some level of toxicity. The severity of toxicity is dependent on the gas in question. There are many types of toxicity that range from chemical toxicity to physical toxicity. When getting a toxic gas on the hands, because of its physical nature, the gas can quickly penetrate in the pores of the skin as a result, leading to potentially devastating and deadly effects. Getting toxic gas on the hands allows the gas to penetrate into the skin and into the blood vessels. Getting toxic gas on the left hand is significant as one blood vessel within the left hand leads directly to the heart, and when toxic gas penetrates into those particular blood vessels, serious and fatal effects can result.

    Respiratory Effects

    • Respiratory illness and trouble breathing are indirect health hazards from getting gas on the hands. The gas particles can stay on the surface of your skin. If the person touches his nose or mouth, the gas particles can come in contact with the nose and mouth and can result in respiratory and breathing hazards.

    Digestive Health Effects

    • The hands are an important physiological component to our body and people use their hands for a variety of reasons. When a person gets gas on her hand, the gas penetrates within the skin. When eating and preparing food, the gas particles can travel from the hands to the food and eventually to the digestive tract. Depending on their chemical nature, the gas particles can then cause irritation within the lining of the small intestine, or cause corrosive effects within the stomach lining, leading to dangerous health hazards.

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