why does eating soap/detergent make you sick? Since stomach fluid is acidic and soap is basic, wouldn’t they just cancel out?
In: Biology
Even if that were how it worked, which it isn’t, that would still be horrible for your body. The body doesn’t want to be neutral, it wants to be stable, and that’s not quite the same. For instance, blood pH hovers around 7.4. If it becomes neutral (which is 7 on the pH scale), you would die. In fact, if it even goes as low as 7.34 or as high as 7.46, you would probably die. The same is true in your stomach. It contains HCl (hydochloric acid), which is a strong base, to digest your food. It has a bit larger of a range, but it still stays between 1.5 and 3.5. If it goes too high, you can have some serious digestive problems.
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