[bsder]

> A drop of the concentrated liquid on the skin can kill.

A small amount of hydrofluoric acid on the skin isn't that much worse than any other acid on the skin. It gives you a chemical burn and you certainly don't want any of this stuff near your eyes, but it is by no means instant death. We're not talking dimethylmercury or arsine gas levels of toxicity.

The problem with HF is that it penetrates tissues and eats calcium so you don't get the pain reception telling you how much HF you actually just got exposed to. That is REALLY DANGEROUS. You can have been exposed to a lot of HF vapor or liquid and not know.

Consequently, you have to treat every HF exposure as potentially lethal because:

1) you might have gotten a much bigger exposure than you think

2) HF consumes your calcium which can stop your heart long after your initial treatment if you don't replenish the calcium after a large exposure.