If you spill hazardous chemicals on your skin, how long should you flush the area?

Flushing the affected area with water for 15 minutes is crucial when a hazardous chemical comes into contact with your skin. This duration is based on best practices and recommendations from safety guidelines to ensure that any residual chemical is effectively removed and to minimize potential damage to the skin.

The 15-minute flushing time allows for thorough rinsing, which can help prevent burns, irritation, or other adverse effects that could result from prolonged exposure to the chemical. It is important to continuously flush the area to dilute and wash away the chemical rather than merely rinsing briefly, as this could exacerbate the injury.

While shorter durations may remove some of the substance, they are generally not sufficient to fully mitigate the effects, particularly for more potent or corrosive chemicals. Therefore, flushing for 15 minutes is considered the standard to ensure complete and effective decontamination.