The at-home rapid COVID-19 tests contained a toxic chemical that can be really harmful and even life-threatening when exposed to a large amount of the chemicals.
Ohio and Texas issued a warning after seeing an increase in reports related to sodium azide poisoning, a chemical found in test kits after Biden promised to give 500 million Covid test kits to Americans.
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center released a statement regarding an “increase in accidental exposures to a substance in these kits.”
Cincinnati reported:
The substance is sodium azide, and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center’s Drug and Poison Information Center has seen a surge in calls about exposures to the chemical since more people started self-testing for COVID-19 at home.
“We started getting our first exposures to these test kits around early November,” said Sheila Goertemoeller, pharmacist and clinical toxicologist for the center. “It was, really, all ages.” The calls to the local center mirror what’s been happening nationally.
Sodium azide, often used as a preservative, is a liquid reagent in several of the COVID-19 test kits, she said. Ingesting it can cause low blood pressure, which can result in dizziness, headaches or palpitations. Exposure to it can also cause skin, eye or nostril irritation.
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