American journal of industrial medicine
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Almost all reports of respiratory health effects of hydrofluoric acid are derived from industrial settings and usually involved massive and conspicuous exposures. In the present report we describe a case of adult-onset asthma immediately following use of a household rust stain remover that contained an 8-9% aqueous solution of hydrofluoric acid (HF). ⋯ It is likely that this patient's use of the rust stain remover resulted in inhalation exposure to hydrofluoric acid well above any applicable standard, and hence constituted a "high level" irritant exposure capable of inducing reactive airways dysfunction syndrome. In our opinion, the presence of this concentration hydrofluoric acid in a consumer product may be unduly hazardous.