I received an email this morning from a fellow MVP warning me of a potentially dangerous situation. He also provided a link to Snopes, which has confirmed that this is in fact true. It seems that on the east coast of the U.S., several police departments have reported what are being called ‘bottle bombs’ left in yards of unsuspecting people. If the plastic soda bottle is disturbed, it could explode with enough force to sever fingers or cause severe burns.

The report also states:

A “works” bomb is described as Drano and foil mixed inside a bottle. The chemical reaction makes a volatile build-up of gases and subsequently detonates the bottle with a great amount of force, with the chemical substance in the bottle becoming boiling liquid at that point, the e-mail said.

The explosion can be severe enough to cause second- or third-degree burns or blindness.

Drano is Sodium hydroxide (lye, caustic soda) and aluminum foil. When mixed with, water hydrogen gas is given off. the results can be quite violent – and the explosion itself is not the only problem. The reaction causes heat and when it explodes the hot, caustic liquid is sprayed everywhere. It will dissolve skin and eyes

Be careful out there folks. There are enough psychos around to make this a real problem for all of us. You may wish to pass the Snopes link on to family or friends.

Comments welcome.

Source – Snopes

2nd Source – Quote