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Turpentine oil poisoning - first aid

Most often the paradoxically chosen folk “remedy for treatment” turns into a loss of health, and not its restoration. An example of such cases are folk recipes for treatment with Turpentine oil. No matter how miraculous the recipe with the participation of Turpentine oil may seem, it can only be used for repair and technical purposes as a chemical, but not as a medicine.

Turpentine oil is a derivative of plant resins of coniferous trees, used as a solvent for paints and varnishes and as a flushing agent, which in itself should already hint to a person about the danger. But in search of ideal, inexpensive and simple treatments, some people lose their guard and pay with partial or complete loss of health, and often with life.

Turpentine oil is a remedy with a cauterizing effect, which is being tried as a folk remedy for treating diseases of the throat or oral cavity for rinsing the mucosa. In scientific medicine Turpentine oil is used as an irritant or caustic agent exclusively for external use (on the skin), and this oil is extracted from special breeds of coniferous plants.

It should be noted that any means for rinsing the mouth and throat somehow gets into the gastrointestinal tract. This is why turpentine rinse solutions are dangerous - they burn the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract and cause a chemical burn, which is difficult to treat, like any other oil burn. In addition to burning, Turpentine oil or its solutions in certain concentrations cause severe poisoning, which can easily be fatal, since Turpentine oil affects the nervous system and disrupts the activity of the kidneys, which are responsible for removing toxins from the body. The lethal dose of Turpentine oil is 3.5 ounces, and it does not matter whether this amount is in solution or in concentrated form.

Symptoms of turpentine oil poisoning will not be long in coming. They resemble poisoning with chemical poisons and cause excitation of the nervous system, dizziness, headache, disorientation, convulsions, loss of consciousness. Before Turpentine oil (read Turpentine) enters the bloodstream and begins to have a toxic effect on the nervous system, it will cause pain along the gastrointestinal tract (in the esophagus, stomach, intestines), vomiting, diarrhea, and then - frequent urge to urinate.

Typical signs of Turpentine oil poisoning can be identified by the smell of vomit (smell of Turpentine) and the smell of urine (scent of Violet flower). In the urine, blood and protein inclusions may be visible in case of severe poisoning, but usually blood and protein are determined by urinalysis in a medical facility.

With the development of severe poisoning by Turpentine oil, urination is disturbed, as kidney failure develops.

What can be done before the ambulance arrives if turpentine poisoning occurs? In case of turpentine oil poisoning at home, you can use an aqueous suspension of activated charcoal powder, take mucous drinks (starchy drinks), saline laxatives and drink a very large amount of water to induce vomiting. Slimy drinks will help reduce the degree of burn of the gastrointestinal mucosa, activated charcoal adsorbs toxic substances on its surface, and large volumes of water will help induce vomiting so that Turpentine oil is evacuated from the stomach before it enters the intestines and then into the bloodstream.

DON’T give oil or oil solutions to drink, trying to neutralize the effect of Turpentine oil.

When poisoned by Turpentine oil, first aid can be a saving step towards further recovery.

How does turpentine oil poisoning happen if a person did not rinse his mouth and throat consciously? Since Turpentine have oil-based and similar in appearance to vegetable oil, a bottle with such contents without labeling can be mistakenly confused with edible vegetable oil. To prevent poisoning by Turpentine oil, it is necessary to keep containers with technical chemicals in separate rooms and carefully label them with labels, stickers and other available marking means.