Chemical assault and skin/eye burns: two representative cases, report from the Acid Survivors Foundation, and literature review.

Abstract

Chemical assault is a significant problem throughout the world, resulting in disfigurement, sometime blindness or vision impairment, and constituting a major economic burden on otherwise overwhelmed health services in developing countries. Two representative cases are presented here. One involved domestic spouse abuse with an acid and the second involved a teen-aged female assaulted with an acid, perhaps for retribution over a local judicial matter. Such atrocities have a world-wide scope, which is reviewed here. Preventive measures are the most appropriate response. However, when such chemical assaults do occur, active measures to mitigate or negate their effects deserve consideration.

• Authors: Rebecca Milton, Laurence Mathieu, Alan H Hall, Howard I Maibach
• Journal: Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries (Burns) Vol. 36 Issue 6 Pg. 924-32 (Sep 2010) ISSN: 1879-1409 [Electronic] Netherlands
• PMID: 20080356 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article, Review)
• Copyright: 2009 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Acids

Topics

• Acids
• Adolescent
• Adult
• Burns, Chemical (epidemiology, etiology)
• Eye Burns (chemically induced, epidemiology)
• Female
• Global Health
• Humans
• Incidence
• Male
• Skin (injuries)
• Young Adult