US Chemical Plants Just Had Their Deadliest Year on Record

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The Ready Brief #179

Practical preparedness for uncertain times

I organized under my kitchen sink last weekend. Found: bleach, ammonia, drain cleaner, oven cleaner, bug spray, and a container of gasoline-based stain remover. All within 18 inches of each other. If an earthquake shook those off the shelf simultaneously, bleach and ammonia would produce chloramine gas. In my kitchen. While my family was home. I moved them that afternoon. Some hazards are already in your house. You just haven't looked at them through a preparedness lens.

Here's what I've got today:

The Hazards Already Under Your Sink

We've covered external hazards extensively. This week addresses the internal ones: the household chemicals, fuels, and cleaners that pose genuine risks during earthquakes, floods, and fires, not because they're inherently dangerous in normal use, but because disruptions put them in abnormal situations.

Chemical incompatibility is the primary risk. Bleach and ammonia produce toxic chloramine gas. Bleach and vinegar produce chlorine gas. Bleach and rubbing alcohol produce chloroform. These combinations don't happen on purpose. They happen when an earthquake knocks bottles off shelves and they break and mix on the floor.

The solution: separate incompatible chemicals. Store bleach away from ammonia and acids (vinegar, drain cleaners). Use secondary containment (a plastic bin under each group of chemicals) so spills are contained rather than mixing. Secure bottles against tipping and falling.

Fuel storage in living spaces is a common violation. Gasoline, kerosene, and propane should never be stored inside the home or in an attached garage where vapors can accumulate. We covered fuel storage in Issue 127. Verify compliance: gasoline in an approved red container, outside or in a detached structure. Propane tanks outside only.

Cleaning products in flood scenarios become contaminated water hazards. If floodwater reaches your under-sink cabinet, those chemicals wash into the flood and spread through your home. Secure or elevate chemical storage if you're in a flood zone.

Fire accelerants in your home include more than just gasoline. Oil-based stains, paint thinner, aerosol cans, and nail polish remover are all flammable. Store them in a metal cabinet or at minimum away from heat sources, pilot lights, and electrical panels.

The inventory action: walk through your home and list every chemical, fuel, and flammable material. Verify storage location, separation from incompatibles, and security against tipping. This takes 20 minutes and identifies hazards you didn't know you had.

Separate your bleach from your ammonia-based cleaners right now.

Check under every sink and in every cleaning supply area. If bleach and ammonia (or bleach and any acid) are stored together, move them to different locations. This single action prevents the most common toxic gas exposure in homes.

US Poison Centers Fielded 2.1 Million Exposure Calls in 2024 — Cleaners Are the #1 Cause for Kids Under 5

US poison centers managed roughly 2.1 million human poison exposures in 2024, about one every 15 seconds, according to America's Poison Centers' National Poison Data System. Cleaning products were the leading exposure category for children under 5, at 10.1% of pediatric cases, ahead of pain medications and cosmetics. Children under 6 accounted for a disproportionate share of all calls despite being just 24% of the population, and 83% of exposures overall needed nothing more than guidance to resolve safely.

That last number is the preparedness lesson: the phone call is usually the whole intervention. Save Poison Control's number, 1-800-222-1222, before you need it, not while you're holding a bottle and a screaming toddler.

Source: America's Poison Centers

Joshua Enyart (Gray Bearded Green Beret) covers chemical awareness in his outdoor education programs, including identifying chemical hazards in both natural and built environments. In Surviving the Wild, he writes about the principle that your environment contains both resources and threats. The same chemicals that clean your home can injure you if they're mishandled or combined.

Enyart's practical recommendation: conduct a household chemical inventory annually, just as you'd inventory your food storage or medical supplies. Know what you have, where it is, and what it shouldn't be near. Prevention is always cheaper than response.

Surviving the Wild

US Chemical Plants Just Had Their Deadliest Year on Record

Thirty-six workers died in U.S. chemical plant accidents over an 11-month span, the highest fatality count the Chemical Safety Board has investigated in a comparable period, according to Chemical & Engineering News. Separate tracking from the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility found accidents involving injuries or deaths at chemical facilities rose from 60 in 2021 to 89 in 2025, even as regulators propose easing safety-audit requirements for the roughly 11,000 facilities covered by the EPA's Risk Management Program.

These are industrial-scale versions of the same incompatible-chemical and containment failures covered in this issue. If you live near a chemical facility, know your community's shelter-in-place plan and its emergency alert system before you need them. The reaction happens faster than an evacuation does.

Source: Chemical & Engineering News, PEER

Under-Sink Chemical Organization System

I reorganized every chemical storage area in my house using a simple system: plastic bins (one per chemical category), labels, and separation. Bin 1: bleach and chlorine-based products. Bin 2: ammonia-based products. Bin 3: acids (vinegar, drain cleaner). Bin 4: flammables (stain, paint thinner). Each bin is on a separate shelf or in a separate cabinet.

If an earthquake knocks everything off the shelf, the chemicals within each bin may mix (bleach with bleach is fine), but bleach will not contact ammonia because they're in different bins in different locations. Total cost: about $15 for four plastic bins. The reorganization took about 30 minutes.

Budget alternative: Just separate the two most dangerous combinations: bleach away from ammonia, and all flammables away from heat sources. Rearranging what you have costs nothing.

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Overrated: Gas masks for household chemical exposure. For the vast majority of accidental chemical exposure scenarios, evacuation (opening windows, leaving the room) is the correct response. A gas mask is a specialized tool for specific threats, not a general household prep.

Underrated: Poison Control: 1-800-222-1222. Free, 24/7, staffed by toxicologists who can tell you exactly what to do for any chemical exposure. Save this number in your phone now.

The preparedness mindset reset. After 179 issues, how to maintain your readiness without tipping into anxiety, burnout, or obsession.

PS: The bleach and ammonia under my sink had been there for over a year. Side by side. In a major earthquake, my kitchen could have filled with toxic gas before I understood what was happening. Twenty minutes of reorganization and $15 in plastic bins eliminated the risk entirely. The most dangerous hazards are the ones you don't know about.