What are the effects of bleach when injected?

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or you turn into Michael Jackson

seriously Hamtastic, do you think we are going to help you kill yourself?
 
Bleach has been used as an intravenous disinfectant by needle using drug addicts. It usually causes some transient pain and vomiting but no complications.
 
I read somewhere it would take up to 3 days to die as systems in your body begin to shut down. Of course, that would probably depend on the dosage. It seems a rather painful way to go.
 
Mr. Hamtastic said:
say 10 ccs. how about 20? would it need to be in a vein or an artery? or would a muscle be fine?
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You say that you are on medications? Then go see your doctor immediately and tell him/her what you are feeling. Perhaps it is time they changed your meds, don't you think? :shrug:
 
Don't listen to John99, he is always telling others what to do but not considering that he isn't any better than them.
 
S.A.M. said:
Bleach has been used as an intravenous disinfectant by needle using drug addicts. It usually causes some transient pain and vomiting but no complications.
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But presumably that’s due only to residual bleach left over from the disinfection (?). What we’re talking about here is injecting bleach (ie. ~5% sodium hypochlorite) directly into the blood stream.

I couldn’t find any LD[sub]50[/sub] data for humans (which isn’t surprising). One source of info I found (here) stated that the IV TDLO (intravenous lowest published toxic dose) for hypochlorite in human males is 45 mg/kg.

My quick calculations (based on bleach with 5-6% hypochlorite) are that 45 mg of hypochlorite equates to 0.70 – 0.80 mL of bleach (depending on the concentration of hypochlorite in the particular brand of bleach).

So, for an 80 kg man, that would mean that the minimum IV dose required for toxicity is 56 – 64 mL of bleach. This volume is a lot larger than I expected! :eek: I don’t know what “toxicity” means in this instance. This volume would be lower than the LD[sub]50[/sub] value, but could still be potentially lethal.

As for the toxic effects of bleach, I imagine the toxic effects and death by IV bleach would be horrendous. It’s a chlorine compound so its toxicity lies with its ability to add chloro adducts to organic molecules (by nucleophilic addition). In other words, it disrupts the function of organic molecules (eg. nucleic acid, proteins, carbohydrates, fatty acids) by adding swapping their various side chains for chlorine atoms. If enough damage to enough organic molecules occurs, the cell dies. In sufficient quantity I guess that the bleach would degrade blood vessels and cause internal bleeding. If it’s able to cross the blood brain barrier it might cause seizures as it kills neurons. It might damage the liver which, after a certain point, is lethal.
 
I've seen published papers where they've looked at effects on needle users who inject themselves with some volume of sodium hypochlorite. I assume most junkies use 1 mL needles, so that may be the dose. I don't know the strength of household bleach, I assume its less than 10% [since I use a 10% dilution of household bleach to clean workstations for RNA, DNA analysis].

edit:

Here is one:

The widespread use of household bleach (5.25% sodium hypochlorite) as a disinfectant by IV drug users may cause an increase in the number of IV injections of this substance. We report the case of a 31-year-old man who injected less than 1 mL of bleach and then experienced transient left-sided chest pain and vomiting. The patient did not have any serious complications. This report is similar to the only other reported case in the medical literature of an IV injection of a small amount of bleach. Based on these two reports, household bleach appears to be safe when used as a disinfectant by IV drug users, but more studies are needed
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http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=4322820

P.S. You do know Hamtastic is looking for a quick and easy way to kill himself?
 
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S.A.M. said:
....needle users who inject themselves with some volume of sodium hypochlorite.
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OMG :eek:

Why??? But then again, should I be surprised given the demographic we're talking about. :shrug:

Edit: Just read your edit. So it seems that it's accidental rather than deliberate.

And no, I didn't realise this about Hamtastic. Given that there are a few obvious quick and easy methods, my initial thought is that it's attention seeking rather than any real intent. I suppose he/she has ignored pleas to seek counselling? That's all we can do, I suppose.
 
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