The deliberate ingestion of household 'strong' bleach (NaOCl) caused severe metabolic disturbance. Hyperchloraemic acidosis was probably due to NaOCl reacting with hydrochloric acid in the stomach to form hypochlorous acid and chlorine. 'Strong' household bleach contains 10% NaOCl and this provides a large sodium load. The ingestion of 500 ml contained 673 mmol sodium and caused hypernatraemia.
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