The Cost of Clean - hydrofluoric acid

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Detroit - Bill Catalfio has been washing cars for 17 years, but there is one day at his car wash he'll never forget.

"It was the worst day of my life," Catalfio recalls. "I cried for days."

The owner of Mr. C's Carwash in suburban Detroit says that day is October 30, 1999. A teenage worker named Kelly was cleaning tire rims when the rim cleaner leaked onto two of her fingers. Kelly went home at the end of her shift, not realizing that an ingredient in that cleaning solution was penetrating through her skin and seeking out her bones. No one at the car wash realized Kelly had been exposed to a potentially deadly chemical until she came to work the next day.

"The two fingers on her left hand were black. They looked like sparrow's claws," Catalfio said, shaking his head. "The chemical attacked her. Doctors tried to save the fingers but they couldn't. They ended up cutting off the fingers at the knuckle."

The chemical that injured Kelly is hydrofluoric acid or HF. The powerful acid - sometimes used in car washing products as a cleaning agent - has a nasty reputation, and scientists say that reputation is well deserved.

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