Accidental mix of bleach and acid kills Buffalo Wild Wings employee (2024)

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Fast facts about working with cleaners

▸ Check labels on cleaners before using them to learn about risks.

▸ Keep cleaners locked up and away from children and pets.

▸ Don’t mix cleaners.

▸ Never mix bleach with anything (it can have toxic reactions with many other substances).

▸ Make sure to use cleaners in a well-ventilated area.

▸ If an accidental mixture occurs, don’t try to clean it up or neutralize it. Get out of the area and call 911.

You should never mix bleach with anything, but that’s what happened during an accident at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Burlington, Massachusetts, on the evening of Nov. 7. According to Burlington Fire Department assistant chief Michael Patterson, an employee spilled the cleaner Scale Kleen on the floor. Later, another employee started to clean the floor with another cleaner called Super 8. The mixture turned green and started bubbling. The bubbling puddle emitted fumes, driving employees and customers to evacuate the restaurant. The manager, 32-year-old Ryan Baldera, attempted to clean up the liquid and was overcome by the fumes. He died later at the hospital, states a Burlington Fire Department press release.

According to safety data sheets, Super 8 is a mixture of 8–10% sodium hypochlorite in water, stronger than household bleach. Scale Kleen contains 22–28% phosphoric acid, 18–23% nitric acid, and less than 1% urea. Generally, strong cleaners like these are used in businesses, but some may be available to the public. Mixing bleach and acid gives off chlorine gas, says Neal Langerman, CEO and principal scientist at Advanced Chemical Safety. The reaction is “well-known, simple, instantaneous,” he says. “The green bubbles give it away.”

Chlorine gas is a chemical warfare agent introduced during World War I and is still used in conflicts in the Middle East, Langerman says. When chlorine gas hits a person’s lungs, it generates a noxious mixture of hydrochloric acid, hypochlorous acid, hypochlorite, and other corrosive compounds. “Dissolve” is a pretty apt description of what the mixture does to tissue, he says. The cause of death tends to be chemical pneumonia. “The victim’s lungs cease being able to move gases and fill with liquid,” Langerman adds. “The medical staff would just see their patient going south with their lungs filling with liquid that they can’t keep empty. At some point, a pressure respirator just can’t compete with damage that’s done.”