Ammonia Plus Bleach – Why a Bad Choice

Chemistry, Health
[caption id="attachment_5877" align="alignright" width="440"] Monochloramine[/caption] Housewives and others running the home are urged not to mix household ammonia plus bleach together. Why? Because the result is a poisonous gas. What gas? What is the chemical reaction that produces it? Bleach There are two varieties of household bleach. There is oxygen bleach. And there is chlorine bleach. It is the chlorine variety that causes the risk. Chlorine bleach is a solution of sodium or calcium hypochlorite in water. Its strength runs 3 to 5 percent in water. Ammonia 100% ammonia is not a liquid. It is a gas. Household "ammonia" is about a 5 percent water solution. Ammonia gas has the formula NH₃. The solution is sometimes written NH₄OH. NH₃ + HOH → NH₄OH In reality, most of the ammonia is…
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