facefull of ammonia...whilst driving

[Apache]

So, work colleague comes into work looking like he's been smacked in the face, turns out he was driving along the A505 past Duxford on thursday night and came up behind an old black Merc 190, next thing he knows is they've sprayed his car and he's in agony. Luckily he managed to get to the Texaco garage where he bathed his face and reported it to plod. Be careful out there

[Eighteeteewhy]

Was your mate in a convertible?

How did they "spray his car" ?

[Mastodon2]

So why did they do this, and how did they manage to get the ammonia solution into car and onto his face? What was the delivery method?

[Apache]

Neat ammonia on to the windscreen gets into the ventilation system, the fumes alone are enough to cause major irritation. I guess they intended to rob him

[Mastodon2]

Interesting, I work with concentrated ammonia (and much nastier stuff) and the fumes alone are not enough to burn your skin. Not to mention, if you were subjected to exposure to concentrated vaporous ammonia, and it was strong enough to burn your skin, it would absolutely wreck your eyes. Surprised your mate is not blind tbh. Forgive me if I sound a cynic but this all sounds a bit surreal!

Are you sure he didn't have an accident with a frying pan at home, passing it off as something a bit more heroic?

[Apache]

Mastodon2 said:

Interesting, I work with concentrated ammonia (and much nastier stuff) and the fumes alone are not enough to burn your skin. Not to mention, if you were subjected to exposure to concentrated vaporous ammonia, and it was strong enough to burn your skin, it would absolutely wreck your eyes. Surprised your mate is not blind tbh. Forgive me if I sound a cynic but this all sounds a bit surreal!

Are you sure he didn't have an accident with a frying pan at home, passing it off as something a bit more heroic?

it does sound odd, but I have no reason to doubt him.......yet

[Six Fiend]

They'd have needed a big old load would they not?

[FisiP1]

Sounds like a gangland hit from South America or something, quite astounding if true.

[Apache]

Six Fiend said:

They'd have needed a big old load would they not?

super squirter?

[ShayneJ]

worrying tale but begs the question how does he know it was ammonia? smell taste ?

sounds like a hell of a way to set up a robbery!
lucky it wasn't a messy crash and he has not suffered serious eye damage.

[designforlife]

I keep tropical fish, so have experience of ammonia (used to cycle a new tank).

It's vile stuff to inhale, having inhaled a tiny amount, I would think that any larger quantity would probably cause a crash pretty quickly...

[wst]

Does sound pretty weird from a chemistry point of view. Any fumes strong enough to mess your face up would have other nasty effects, any fluids nasty enough to mess up your face would leave marks on the paint, etc...

I have experience of ammonia as well (having a mother that cleaned the house with it) and it stings but you'd be better at causing a crash from onion vapours imho...

[Apache]

ShayneJ said:

worrying tale but begs the question how does he know it was ammonia? smell taste ?

sounds like a hell of a way to set up a robbery!
lucky it wasn't a messy crash and he has not suffered serious eye damage.

His actual words were it smelt like horse piss.....and he lives in the country

[Baryonyx]

I'm a bit dubious about it being used on someone in a car like this. My friends in the police have known plenty of assaults involving ammonia or a similar noxious substance but it is usually delivered in close proximity via a Jif Lemon bottle or something similar.

[snuffle]

Apache said:

ShayneJ said:

worrying tale but begs the question how does he know it was ammonia? smell taste ?

sounds like a hell of a way to set up a robbery!
lucky it wasn't a messy crash and he has not suffered serious eye damage.

His actual words were it smelt like horse piss.....and he lives in the country

if it smells like horse piss, then I would have a good guess that it was horse piss,
don't go kissing him better.

[jimmy156]

Apache said:

His actual words were it smelt like horse piss.....and he lives in the country

Ammonia doesen't smell of horse piss though, its got a pretty unique smell, but nothing like horse piss.

[Baryonyx]

jimmy156 said:

Ammonia doesen't smell of horse piss though, its got a pretty unique smell, but nothing like horse piss.

And not only that, but the effect of smelling it is like nothing else, it produces a very strange sensation in your nose.

I remember getting smell ammonia solution as part of the introduction to chemistry in high schools. Probably wouldn't be allowed to do that now.

[mat777]

I would disagree somewhat about the strength bit - having been round the ammonia towers at ICI Winnington, after 5 minutes everyone in the group had absolutely streaming eyes and noses and a slightly red face, just from the fumes in the general vicinity

[jimmy156]

Baryonyx said:

And not only that, but the effect of smelling it is like nothing else, it produces a very strange sensation in your nose.

I remember getting smell ammonia solution as part of the introduction to chemistry in high schools. Probably wouldn't be allowed to do that now.

I remember in A level chemistry there was a bottle of conc. Ammonia on the table and i wondered "is it Ammonia or Ammonium that smells." Gave it a good hard sniff and fell off my chair

[Mastodon2]

mat777 said:

I would disagree somewhat about the strength bit - having been round the ammonia towers at ICI Winnington, after 5 minutes everyone in the group had absolutely streaming eyes and noses and a slightly red face, just from the fumes in the general vicinity

Irritation to mucosal membranes and eyes are quite different to actual burns though. I imagine being in a car with ammonia concentrate coming in through the blowers would not be pleasant, but you would need a fair quantity and strength to cause burns, not to mention my earlier point that if it damaged the skin on his cheeks, it would have likely done some real damage to his eyes.

I also work with vaporous hydrogen peroxide at work, at a concentration of 5 parts per million in a sealed room that is enough to sting the eyes and nose and make you want to exit the room very quickly, it's also a toxic concentration and people are not supposed to work in areas with that concentration without an airhood and respirator to scrub the air. While 5ppm is extremely unpleasant - I can taste it in the air at only 1ppm, it's still a long way off causing burns.

I'm just a little skeptical about this whole thing