Dangerous games: Pool shock chemical burn to the face

Today information about fascinating chemical reactions is readily available on the internet. Unfortunately, these experiments can have catastrophic consequences. Pool chemicals account for a significant number of injuries in the United States. Pool Shock (calcium hypochlorite) is a powder widely used to disinfect swimming pools and has the potential to cause injury, as described in previous studies. Here, we report a case of a young male patient with a superficial chemical burn to the face and eyes due to a combined explosion of Pool Shock and regular Coke in a bottle. This type of chemical burn secondary to this chemical combination has not been reported elsewhere. We discuss the chemistry involved in producing significant inadvertent blast injury and present the management to treat these cases.