With the Spring Festival approaching, there are more and more snacks at home, and food desiccants can be seen everywhere. But who knows that lime desiccant has many potential safety hazards when encountering water. Yesterday, the reporter found that the lime desiccant will react with water, and the high temperature will easily cause burns. Doctors remind that if children take large amounts of food, it will cause serious harm.

Recently, Mr. Liu in Shanxi appealed through the Internet that parents should pay attention to the bag of desiccant in the food when buying snacks for their children.

Speaking of Mr. Liu's experience, we should also start from February 22, 2011. That year, Mr. Liu's son, Xiao Liu, had just turned 12 and was studying in a middle school in Taiyuan. On the day of the incident, Xiao Liu was in class when the cup on the right side of his desk exploded with a "bang". Xiao Liu was sent to the hospital for treatment. The doctor diagnosed alkali burns on the ocular surface of both eyes. After the operation, Xiao Liu's right eye has only light sense and no vision; The left eye has a visual acuity of 0.3, which belongs to Grade V disability.

The cause of the incident was that Xiao Liu put the food desiccant into the thermos cup after eating snacks, and the desiccant exploded when encountering water.

Yesterday, the reporter bought a bag of seaweed and took out the desiccant. From the perspective of packaging, the main component is quicklime.

The reporter poured a bag of desiccant into an 80ml mineral water bottle, quickly tightened the bottle cap, and the quicklime reacted immediately and rolled slightly. After about 10 minutes, the bottom of the mineral water bottle was corroded and deformed. After half an hour, the temperature of the bottle filled with quicklime water increased significantly, but no explosion occurred.

Ms. Cui, who has been engaged in chemical research for many years, said that quicklime will generate heat when it meets water. "If the desiccant is added to the hot water, the water temperature will continue to rise on the original basis." Ms. Cui said that after reaching the enough heat required for the explosion, the strong pressure will cause the container to expand and eventually cause the explosion.

The reporter learned from the emergency departments of many hospitals in the provincial capital that almost all of these hospitals had received many children who had eaten food desiccants by mistake. According to an emergency doctor, it is easy for children to eat desiccant as candy after opening food, which usually causes children's esophagus burns. "A small amount of desiccant can be treated by gastric lavage, but a large amount of desiccant is dangerous."

Will direct contact with quicklime desiccant cause skin burns? Miao Qingzhan, from the dermatology department of the Third Municipal People's Hospital, said that the child's direct contact would not cause harm to the skin, but if the child touched the water, it would cause chemical reaction and burn the skin. "Once the desiccant splashes into the eyes, it will be more serious than direct contact. You should immediately flush with a large amount of water and go to a professional hospital in time."

Near the end of the year, the doctor suggested that parents should take out the desiccant and throw it away after buying snacks for their children to avoid their children eating by mistake. □ Our reporter Dong Chang