Making ice blocks with liquid hydrogen 2
Chijioke Iremeka
The erratic electricity supply in the country is making many Lagosians in the cooling business resort to the use of chemicals like liquid nitrogen to freeze water to meet increasing demands.
This practice by ice-blocks and beverage sellers, experts have warned, can be harmful to human health, especially when they become contaminated and mistakenly consumed.
They warned that ingesting liquid nitrogen and other cooling chemicals can cause severe burns and frostbite to the mouth, throat, oesophagus, and stomach lining.
According to an online medical portal, Cleveland Clinic, frostbite occurs when your skin freezes during exposure to freezing temperatures, resulting in pain, numbness, swelling, blisters, and skin discolouration.
It noted that while this condition is most common on the fingers, toes, nose, and ears, the gas released from liquid nitrogen can also displace oxygen in enclosed spaces, leading to asphyxiation—a condition where the body is deprived of oxygen, causing unconsciousness or death.
Sequel to this, medical specialists strongly advise against using liquid nitrogen, especially in the food industry, due to safety concerns, including its potential use to freeze soft drinks intended for human consumption.
PUNCH Healthwise learnt that liquid nitrogen is an industrial chemical used for cooling purposes and can significantly speed up the cooling process compared to natural cooling methods.
Speaking exclusively with PUNCH Healthwise in separate interviews, the experts reacted against the backdrop of an ice block seller, Mrs Fausat Tijani, who gained attention on social media for allegedly using chemical or synthetic compounds to make ice blocks.
Tijani was quoted as saying, “Many ice block dealers do this but they won’t disclose the names of the synthetic compounds they use because it’s business and meant to be kept private.
“When I started this business, there was a better electricity supply, but now we hardly have power, yet every month we get crazy bills. That’s why I started using synthetic compounds to make ice blocks.
“Most of my customers who buy the ice blocks use them to cool beverages, especially drink sellers. A small amount of the compound can produce about 100 blocks in 15 minutes or less. I use liquid nitrogen, salt, and water as freezing agents. It is not harmful.”
Reacting, a Public Health Physician and Medical Director, at the Federal College of Education, Akoka Medical Centre, Lagos, Dr Rotimi Adesanya, said consumption of water and food containing high concentrations of nitrogen may be injurious to the body.
Dr Rotimi Adesanya
Adesanya noted that ingestion of liquid nitrogen may create fatal damage in the gastrointestinal tract and can cause severe burns to the mouth, throat, oesophagus, and stomach lining.
He emphasised that it can lead to asphyxiation if used in an enclosed environment, cautioning on the right handling of the chemicals in the food processing industry and cooling systems.
Adesanya, who also said that there are beneficial and undesirable effects of this practice on human health at different concentrations, said the high cost of treating water contaminated with such chemicals is equally high.
While saying that more investigations should be done in setting the standards and levels of parameters used in drinking water, he added, “My advice to the public is to limit the number of ice blocks from such preparations.
“Spillage is common when the ice packs are defrosted and sometimes accidentally contaminate the products. Ingestion of this can have some severe health implications.”
Corroborating his views, a Consultant Gynaecologist and Surgeon at the Epe General Hospital, Epe, Lagos, Dr Cynthia Okafor, said ingesting liquid nitrogen can be fatal and may cause gastrointestinal injury.
Dr Cynthia Okafor
She said food products prepared by adding liquid nitrogen at the point of sale, immediately before consumption, have the potential to cause serious injuries.
Advising consumers to avoid eating, drinking, or handling these products, she said though non-toxic, liquid nitrogen can cause severe damage to skin and internal organs if mishandled or accidentally ingested, due to the extremely low temperatures.
She said, “Inhaling the vapour released by a food or drink prepared by adding liquid nitrogen immediately before consumption may also cause breathing difficulty, especially among individuals with asthma.
“Similarly, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks prepared with liquid nitrogen emit a fog. Many of these products are sold on streets, kiosks, malls, and food retail locations.
“We advise that precautions be taken when preparing or eating liquid nitrogen. There might be instances of frostbite and tissue damage.”
Buttressing this position, a study published in the National Library of Medicine by Dong-Wook Kim, titled, ‘Stomach Perforation Caused by Ingesting Liquid Nitrogen: A Case Report on the Effect of a Dangerous Snack,’ affirms that ingestion of liquid nitrogen may create fatal damage in the gastrointestinal tract.
The author confirmed that liquid nitrogen is used as an additive to food and beverages to cool them and create an aesthetic ‘smoking’ effect, stating that ingestion of liquid nitrogen occurs infrequently, and may create fatal damage in the gastrointestinal tract.
The study states, “The cause of injury can be explained by two mechanisms: cold/freezing injury upon contact with mucosal surfaces and rapid volume expansion as nitrogen gas is formed. We present the case of a 13-year-old boy who accidentally ingested liquid nitrogen and suffered serious gastrointestinal consequences.
“A 13-year-old boy was transferred to the emergency room shortly after falling at an amusement park. He had eaten a snack to which liquid nitrogen had been added for rapid cooling, and his parents had witnessed the incident.
“The patient complained of sudden onset of severe abdominal pain and shortness of breath immediately after ingestion. There were no symptoms of dysphagia or sore throat. He had no remarkable medical or surgical history.
“On examination, his blood pressure was 140/90 mm Hg, heart rate was 120 beats/min, body temperature was 37.2°C, respiratory rate was 20 breaths/min, and oxygen saturation at room air was 98%.
“There was no injury to the head, nose, or throat identified on examination, but the abdomen was tense and severely distended with tenderness. An erect chest X-ray showed a large volume of pneumoperitoneum.
“A computed tomography scan of his abdomen confirmed the presence of a large volume of pneumoperitoneum, but the site of perforation could not be precisely located. His white blood cell count was 21,400/μL, but the results for other blood count parameters were normal, as were the results for blood chemistry and electrolytes.”
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