PEROXIDE EXPLOSION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20922, 11 July 1931, Page 10

PEROXIDE EXPLOSION.

bursting of bottle.

BRIDGE PLAYER .INJURED.

INCIDENT AT , MANGERE

A party of friends playing bridge in the house of Mr. A. Croxon, of Tennessee Avenue, Mangere, on Thursday evening, had a startling' experience when an explosion occurred and fragments of shattered glass were scattered over the

room. On" investigation is was found that abottle of hydrogen peroxide, half-used, had exploded and caused three other bottles of medicine standing alongside on the mantelpiece to be shattered also. One piece of glass narrowly missed a visitor and penetrated the wall behind him. Another visitor was cut about the hands and neck by flying fragments.'

Explosions of hydrogen peroxide as put up for domestic use are exceedingly rare, but this incident serves to recall that last April five dozen bottles of it, stoied in an office in Victoria Street West, burst. Hydrogen peroxide decomposes into water and oxygen, and the gas may generate pressure sufficient to blow out a 3 cork and even -at times to burst a bottle. Exposure to heat or light tends to. hasten the and increase the pressure. Therefore "it is a wise precaution to keep peroxide.in a cool place, protected from the light. As a further precaution anyone who has any fears .may use instead of a cork a plug of cotton wool,which serves both to relieve the pressure by allowing gas to escape; and to retard decomposition. The remarkable feature about the explosion at Mangere is that "the bottle had already been opened, a process which usually is considered to release the gas and make the composition perfectly safe.