• Skip to main content
Search
  • Home
  • Services
      • Behavioral Health
      • Bloodless Medicine
      • Brain & Spine
      • Cancer Care
      • Ear, Nose and Throat
      • Emergency Care
      • Geriatric Care
      • Heart & Vascular Care
      • Home Health Care
      • Medical Imaging
      • Minimally Invasive Surgery
      • Orthopedics
      • Pregnancy & Childbirth
      • Primary Care
      • Rehabilitation Services
      • Weight Loss Surgery
      • Wound Healing & Care
      • Women's Health
  • Doctors
      • Find a Primary Care Doctor
      • Find a Doctor
      • Physician Referral
      • Practices:

        Baptist Primary Care
      • Baptist AgeWell
      • Baptist Behavioral Health
      • Baptist Endocrinology
      • Baptist ENT Specialists
      • Baptist Heart Specialists
      • Baptist Infectious Diseases
      • Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Physicians
      • Baptist Neurology
      • Baptist Pulmonary Specialists (Nassau)
      • Baptist Rheumatology
      • Baptist Urology Group (Nassau)
      • Jacksonville Orthopaedic Institute
      • Lyerly Neurosurgery
  • Locations
    • Our Hospitals:

      • Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville
      • Baptist Medical Center South
      • Baptist Medical Center Beaches
      • Baptist Medical Center Nassau
      • Baptist Heart Hospital
      • Wolfson Children's Hospital

      Imaging Centers:

      • Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
      • Mammography and Bone Density
      • Medical Imaging

      Freestanding Emergency Centers:

      • Baptist Emergency at Clay
      • Baptist Emergency at North
      • Baptist Emergency at Town Center

      Urgent Care Locations:

      • Baptist Health Clinics at Walgreens
      • CareSpot Urgent Care

      Health & Wellness:

      • 4her Center for Women
      • JCA Wellness Connexion
      • Y Healthy Living Centers

      Outpatient Locations:

      • AgeWell Center for Senior Health
      • Baptist Clay Medical Campus
      • Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center
      • Baptist Neurodiagnostic Center
      • Baptist North Medical Campus
      • Cardiac Testing Centers
      • Hill Breast Center
      • Infusion Center
      • Pharmacy
      • Rehabilitation Centers
      • Robotic Spine Surgery
      • Sleep Centers
      • Stroke and Cerebrovascular Center
      • Surgery Centers
      • Wound Care
  • Patient Info
      • Billing & Insurance Information
      • Insurance Plans Accepted
      • Cost Estimate Request
      • Financial Assistance Program
      • My Baptist Connect (Patient Portal)
      • Medical Records
      • Classes and Events
      • Clinical Trials
      • Tell Us What You Think
  • Health Library
      • Diseases and Conditions
      • Symptoms
      • Tests
      • Surgeries and Procedures
      • Injuries
      • Nutrition
      • Poison
      • Drug Information
      • Drug Images
      • Health News
      • Video Library
  • About Us
      • Administration
      • Awards & Honors
      • Careers
      • Provider Opportunities
      • Baptist MD Anderson Provider Opportunities
      • Spiritual Care
      • Social Responsibility
      • Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA)
      • Corporate Wellness (PATH)
      • Volunteering
      • Newsroom
  • Juice
      • Health News Overview:

      • Brain, Spine & Nerve
      • Cancer
      • Child Health
      • Community Health
      • Heart & Vascular
      • Mental Health
      • Orthopedics, Bones & Muscles
      • Pregnancy & Childbirth
      • Primary Care
      • Wellness
      • Women's Health
  1. Home
  2. Health Library
  3. Poison
  4. Wood stains

Wood stains

Poison

Wood stains are products used for wood finishing. Wood stain poisoning occurs when someone swallows these substances.

This article is for information only. DO NOT use it to treat or manage an actual poison exposure. If you or someone you are with has an exposure, call your local emergency number (such as 911), or your local poison center can be reached directly by calling the national toll-free Poison Help hotline (1-800-222-1222) from anywhere in the United States.

The harmful substances in wood stains are hydrocarbons, or substances that contain only carbon and hydrogen. Other harmful ingredients may include:

  • Alcohol
  • Alkanes
  • Cyclo alkanes
  • Glycol ether
  • Corrosives, such as sodium hydroxide (lye)

Various wood stains contain these substances. Other wood stains may contain other substances.

Symptoms

Below are symptoms of wood stain poisoning in different parts of the body.

EYES, EARS, NOSE, AND THROAT

  • Loss of vision
  • Severe pain in the throat
  • Severe pain or burning in the nose, eyes, ears, lips, or tongue

STOMACH AND INTESTINES

  • Blood in the stool
  • Burns of the food pipe (esophagus)
  • Diarrhea
  • Nausea
  • Severe abdominal pain
  • Vomiting
  • Vomiting blood

HEART AND BLOOD

  • Collapse
  • Low blood pressure that develops rapidly

LUNGS AND AIRWAYS

  • Breathing difficulty (from breathing in fumes)
  • Throat swelling (may also cause breathing difficulty)

NERVOUS SYSTEM

  • Brain damage
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Dizziness
  • Lightheadedness

SKIN

  • Burn
  • Holes in the skin or tissues under the skin
  • Irritation

Home Care

Get medical help right away. DO NOT make the person throw up unless poison control or a health care provider tells you to.

If the wood stain is on the skin or in the eyes, flush with lots of water for at least 15 minutes.

If the person swallowed the wood stain, give them water or milk right away, if a provider tells you to do so. DO NOT give anything to drink if the person has symptoms that make it hard to swallow. These include vomiting, seizures, or a decreased level of alertness.

If the person breathed in the poison, move them to fresh air right away.

Before Calling Emergency

Have this information ready:

  • Person's age, weight, and condition
  • Name of the product (and ingredients, if known)
  • Time it was swallowed
  • Amount swallowed

Poison Control

Your local poison center can be reached directly by calling the national toll-free Poison Help hotline (1-800-222-1222) from anywhere in the United States. This national hotline number will let you talk to experts in poisoning. They will give you further instructions.

This is a free and confidential service. All local poison control centers in the United States use this national number. You should call if you have any questions about poisoning or poison prevention. It does NOT need to be an emergency. You can call for any reason, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

What to Expect at the Emergency Room

Take the container with you to the hospital, if possible.

The provider will measure and monitor the person's vital signs, including temperature, pulse, breathing rate, and blood pressure.

Tests that may be done include:

  • Bronchoscopy -- camera down the throat to look for burns in the airways and lungs
  • Chest x-ray
  • ECG (electrocardiogram or heart tracing)
  • Endoscopy -- camera down the throat to look for burns in the esophagus and the stomach

Treatment may include:

  • Fluids through a vein (by IV)
  • Medicine to treat symptoms
  • Washing of the skin (irrigation), perhaps every few hours for several days
  • Surgery to remove burned skin
  • Tube through the mouth into the stomach to wash out the stomach (gastric lavage)
  • Breathing support, including tube through the mouth into the lungs and connected to a breathing machine (ventilator)
  • Hemodialysis (kidney machine)

Outlook (Prognosis)

How well someone does depends on how much wood stain wasswallowed and how quickly treatment is received. The faster medical help is given, the better the chance for recovery.

Damage can continue to occur for several weeks after swallowing wood stain.

References

Nelson ME. Toxic alcohols. In: Walls RM, Hockberger RS, Gausche-Hill M, eds. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 9th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2018:chap 141.

Pfau PR, Hancock SM. Foreign bodies, bezoars, and caustic ingestions. In: Feldman M, Friedman LS, Brandt LJ, eds. Sleisenger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease: Pathophysiology/Diagnosis/Management. 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2016:chap 27.

Wang GS, Buchanan JA. Hydrocarbons. In: Walls RM, Hockberger RS, Gausche-Hill M, eds. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 9th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2018:chap 152.

BACK TO TOP

Review Date: 10/16/2017

Reviewed By: Jesse Borke, MD, FACEP, FAAEM, Attending Physician at FDR Medical Services/Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, Buffalo, NY. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

 
 
 

 

 

A.D.A.M. content is best viewed in IE9 or above, Fire Fox and Google Chrome browser.
Content is best viewed in IE9 or above, Fire Fox and Google Chrome browser.

Daily Health and Medical News

Results for poison, stain, stains, wood, wood stains

  • Rat Poison in Synthetic Pot Can Kill Users: Report
    September 26, 2018

  • Poison Prevention at Home
    March 13, 2018

© Copyright 2019 | All Rights Reserved

If you speak another language, assistance services
free of charge, are available to you.

Baptist Health Facebook Baptist Health Twitter Baptist Health on LinkedIn Baptist Health on Instagram Baptist Health on Youtube
Physician Login | Application Login | Employee Login
Quality Measures | Privacy | Non-Discrimination | Comments | Site Map