Ammonia
Ammonia is one of the most commonly used chemicals in world. The human body also produces ammonia as well as being a common product also found in nature. In the human body, ammonia is a very important building block for making complex modules and proteins. Bacterial processes allow ammonia to occur in our soils naturally. Ammonia is also developed when animals, animal waste, and plants decay.

A highly barricading colorless gas, ammonia, has a sharp suffocating odor. When ammonia is dissolved in water it creates ammonium hydroxide. Ammonium hydroxide can cause burns and irritation. When ammonia gas gets compressed it makes a colorless, clear liquid. Normally when they ship ammonia it's in a compressed form, and is easier to transport in steel cylinders. Ammonia in its present form is not flammable, but if the containers are exposed to high heat, they may explode.

The agriculture industry consumes about 80% of the ammonia produced in the world for fertilizers. Ammonia compounds are also found in refrigerant gas, water purification, and in the manufacturing industry for such things as pesticides, fabrics, explosives, dyes, plastics and other chemicals. For many of us the main places we will come in contact with ammonia are industrial and household cleaning liquids. Most industrial strength cleaning solutions will have a higher concentration and can very quickly cause burns and irritations.

For many people around the world, coming in contact with ammonia in the gas or vapor form is deadly. When the vapors are inhaled it can cause severe internal burns to the throat and lungs. Simple exposure to ammonia naturally can be from household cleaning products, compose piles or from soils. Ammonia exposure can also occur through commercial, industrial, farms and the accidental or deliberate release from a terrorist attack. Because ammonia gas is lighter than air it doesn't settle in low lying areas. However, when ammonia comes in contact with water vapors, it becomes heavier than air and can spread to areas that can come in contact with humans.

When ammonia is inhaled as a vapor or gas it mixes with our body moisture and produces ammonium hydroxide. Ammonium Hydroxide is a very corrosive chemical that damages, and in most cases, kills our body's cells. When coming in contact with ammonia the symptoms may vary depending on the amount the victim was exposed to. Normally someone that has been exposed to higher concentrations of this chemical will experience severe burning in the respiratory tract, the eyes, throat, nose, and can result in lung damage, blindness and even death.

There are many ways to come in contact with ammonia vapors and some of them are by mixing other chemicals with liquid ammonia. Some people may think that mixing this chemical with others, will make a stronger cleaning solution, when in fact, they have made something more severe and deadly. Mixing the wrong chemicals with ammonia can, in most cases, cause rapid death if inhaled. The vapor has already transformed to a liquid in the body, and the damage progresses as each breath is taken, absorbing it into the blood stream. The blood is supplying the damaging chemicals to the major body organs such as the heart, liver and kidneys.