Mr Muscle oven cleaner--is he too strong for us?

Mr Muscle is the proprietary name for a brand of household cleaning preparations produced by Bristol-Myers Co. Ltd of Uxbridge, Middlesex, UK. Recently manufacturing and marketing rights were purchased by Johnson Wax Ltd of Camberley, Surrey, part of S.C. Johnson and Son Inc. of Racine, Wisconsin, USA. The spray-on oven cleaner has been the causal link in a series of six deep dermal and full thickness skin burns admitted to the Welsh Regional Burns and Plastic Unit during the period January 1990 to July 1992. These patients will be discussed as a series of case reports. The constituents of the cleaner, its mode of action, packaging and presentation, together with regulations controlling its use will be discussed. Also a treatment regimen, with a plan of prevention for future burns, will be proposed. Information from the Johnson Wax group regarding recent revisions in the marketing of the product will also be presented.