An Unusual Use for Sodium Hydroxide
The uncommon use of common chemicals always piques my interest. Sodium hydroxide, or “lye” is indeed a very common chemical produced on a huge scale by the electrolysis of brine. When an electric current is passed through a solution of sodium chloride, chlorine gas and sodium hydroxide are formed. The latter is used in the production of soap, paper, rayon and biodiesel among other products. In the home, sodium hydroxide is found in oven and drain cleaners. But its presence in “dehorning paste” is a new one for me. In fact, the existence of dehorning paste is a new one for me. This paste is used to remove the budding horns from young calves, sheep and goats. It is applied to the buds which are destroyed by the caustic nature of the sodium hydroxide and can then be easily removed, preventing the growth of horns. Why would this be done? It seems that horned animals pose a danger to each other and their handlers. They also take up more space during feeding and transport and the horns can become tangled in vegetation and fencing. As one might expect, treatment with such a corrosive substance can cause pain, so farmers are urged to first inject a local anesthetic such as lidocaine, which most, but not all, do. The treated area is surrounded by Vaseline to prevent the caustic dehorning solution from spreading where it can injure the animal’s skin or even eyes. An alternate procedure involves burning the horn bud with a hot iron, again hopefully with the use of a local anesthetic. Needless to say, animal rights activists are against any dehorning or debudding procedure because of the associated pain. They may have a point.
