Sulfuric acid is not something you mess around with. Simple contact with it can cause agonizing chemical burns and thermal burns at the same time. Amazingly, though, you can buy this stuff on the open market as a drain cleaner, you know, in case you’re sick of both the clog and the drain it happens to be in. And you would think Amazon wouldn’t send this stuff up in an airplane, but the FAA is about to fine them $350,000 for doing just that.
Back in 2014, a gallon of “Liquid Fire,” which is just sulfuric acid with a little acidic inhibitor mixed in, was shipped out from Louisville to Boulder in a UPS jet. Along the way, the bottle leaked, spilling the chemical out and injuring nine UPS employees. Fortunately, the plane didn’t crash, but there was a real possibility of severe injury. If the UPS team had been exposed to more of the chemical, or if the gallon of the stuff burst and possibly interacted with something else, it could have been much worse.
Nor can Amazon pretend it didn’t know what was going on, either. If you look at the product page, you’ve got responses such as:
Wear goggles, gloves, open the windows and turn on a fan to air out the room. Smoke and sparks will come out of the drain you are trying to unclog. Last but not least wear a mask you don’t want to breath this stuff in when you are pouring it in the drain. Pour slow and don’t spill it on anything.
One review also notes this stuff destroyed everything except the clog. So, yes, they were probably aware of the risks. Amazon is at least paying the fine, but if you’re ordering something dangerous from Amazon? Make them deliver it by truck.
(Via Reuters)
