Description of Hydrofluoric acid

Hydrofluoric acid is a band-aid of hydrogen fluoride (HF) in water. It is a forerunner to about all fluorine compounds, including pharmaceuticals such as fluoxetine (Prozac), assorted abstracts such as PTFE (Teflon), and basal fluorine itself. It is a colourless band-aid that is awful corrosive, able of abandoning abounding materials, abnormally oxides. Its adeptness to deliquesce bottle has been accepted back the 17th century, even afore Carl Wilhelm Scheele able it in ample quantities in 1771. Because of its top acuteness against bottle and abstinent acuteness against abounding metals, hydrofluoric acid is usually stored in artificial containers (although PTFE is hardly absorbent to it).

Hydrogen fluoride gas is an astute adulteration that may anon and assuredly accident lungs and the corneas of the eyes. Aqueous hydrofluoric acid is a contact-poison with the abeyant for deep, initially accessible burns and afterwards tissue death. By interfering with physique calcium metabolism, the concentrated acid may aswell could cause systemic toxicity and closing cardiac arrest and fatality, afterwards acquaintance with as little as 160 cm2 (25 aboveboard inches) of skin.