Sink and drain unblocker worry

[phil06]

I bought this as my bath tub is blocked but too scared to use it says it can give off chemicals and poisons plus burns.

I'm worried if I leave it overnight and need the toilet I might die or something? I realise I could try non chemical solutions first tough.

[ServerError]

Hi Phil. This is certainly one of the stranger concerns I've seen in my admittedly short time on these forums. Nevertheless, I'm sure it's a very real fear for you. I know how anxiety makes us suffer, so you deserve to be taken seriously.

I want to attempt to put your mind at rest, but I do want to give you a disclaimer first of all. I'm no expert in the ingredients these products contain, so somebody who knows more may interject and tell me I'm wrong in what I'm about to say. However, I feel you have nothing to worry about here.

Firstly, where did you buy the product? Is it a reputable brand? Did it come from a supermarket? If you did, that's your first clue that everything is probably going to be okay. While supermarkets do sell things that could potentially kill you (cola, chocolate, electrical products), they're not designed to and they're not in the business of trying to kill you. This applies even if you purchased it from somewhere else. As long as you didn't buy it from some kind of gang dealing in dodgy drain unblocker without a label, chances are you have an established, proven product.

Secondly, just think of the hundreds of thousands of people around the world pouring drain unblocker down their sinks and baths and coming to no harm. Why would it kill you when it's never killed me?

Are you planning to ingest the product? Have you decided it might be a nice drink and don't trust yourself not to imbibe it? If so, you're in trouble. It will poison you. It'll give you horrendous internal burns. However, if you use it as directed, it won't do you any harm. If you want to avoid any potential ill effects from fumes being given off, ventilation will deal with that. If you have an extractor in the bathroom, this will help, but it's not essential. Just open a window. No window? Open the bathroom door and then open other windows (and doors if you really want to).

This seems to me like classic health anxiety and classic avoidance behaviour. While I have both these problems, I would never worry about something like this. I would unblock my bath, and if I needed the toilet, I'd bloody well go! You have a choice. Live in fear of this product and build it into a bigger issue than it is, or follow the instructions on the label, use it, have a free-flowing bath again and then, when you need the toilet, force yourself in there and do your lovely business!

Obviously non-chemical solutions offer a convenient way out of your dilemma, but you would need to realise that you had created an avoidance behaviour in doing so. It's up to you. Read the label and be clear about what it's actually telling you, not what your anxious mind thinks it's telling you. Is it saying it will kill you? Or is it saying it has the potential to be harmful but here's how to use it if you want to avoid any harm?

I know it sounds strange, but do let me know how this goes for you. I'm sure you can use it without any worries. Pop on some rubber gloves while using it if you want to avoid contact with skin.

[MyNameIsTerry]

The ones that are hazardous to use aren't sold to the general public, you have to be licenced to get those as you need training & safety gear.

The ones we can get are sold OTC in supermarkets and hardware stores so they are perfectly safe but you do have to follow the instructions on the label. Yes, they can burn - if you plan on tipping it into your eyes or onto very sensitive soft tissue of a similar nature but you won't do that because you will follow the instructions. Even if something were to happen, the label tells you what you should do.

Mixing it with other chemicals can mean a reaction. Sitting inhaling it from the nozzle of the bottle to get high can mean respiratory problems. Drinking it will burn your insides and poison you. Tipping it into your eyes will burn. Etc, etc. But why would you do any of that? They only put all this on the bottle because of the 1 village idiot out there that will do it and then they get sued for not attaching such overkill warnings.

Follow the instructions and you will be fine. I doubt you will need to worry about ventilation or protective gloves since these would be the ones that are acidic based which the licenced plumbers use but please read the bottle to be sure.

Everything from a rationalisation of anxiety point of view, ServerError has covered very well.

---------- Post added at 06:29 ---------- Previous post was at 06:23 ----------


This seems to me like classic health anxiety and classic avoidance behaviour. While I have both these problems, I would never worry about something like this. I would unblock my bath, and if I needed the toilet, I'd bloody well go! You have a choice. Live in fear of this product and build it into a bigger issue than it is, or follow the instructions on the label, use it, have a free-flowing bath again and then, when you need the toilet, force yourself in there and do your lovely business!

Obviously non-chemical solutions offer a convenient way out of your dilemma, but you would need to realise that you had created an avoidance behaviour in doing so. It's up to you. Read the label and be clear about what it's actually telling you, not what your anxious mind thinks it's telling you. Is it saying it will kill you? Or is it saying it has the potential to be harmful but here's how to use it if you want to avoid any harm?

I know it sounds strange, but do let me know how this goes for you. I'm sure you can use it without any worries. Pop on some rubber gloves while using it if you want to avoid contact with skin.

Contamination OCD in Phil's case. You will probably spot his other threads at some point. I'm glad you said his worries are as worrying as any, OCD can often be about the trivial, many of mine have been trivial issues but the level of panic/anxiety is no different to fear of a brain tumour or cancer and all are based on the same skewed & flawed thinking.

I agree with you over the avoidance and especially in Phil's case as I know him from his other threads. He would be better facing this and not adding more associations to his already growing list of worries. Even non chemical substances come with risks...other than shoving a plunger on it but even then there is a contamination issue to someone with those worries and Phil has patterns of replacing equipment when he feels they are no longer perfect.