Muriatic acid is basically concentrated "stomach digestive acid". Its
toxicity and acidity is a strong function of dilution. Basically, wash
things down with water and you'll dilute it very quickly to the point
that it's no danger to anything. When you dilute it to the point that
you're satisfied, it will be weaker than vinegar.

My opinion is that if it's strong enough to be dangerous, the fumes
will keep any critters away. If it's weak it will taste as extremely
sour.

And concrete is a base, right? Eventually the base should neutralize
the acid if it just sits there anyway.

On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 12:31:02 -0400, "Bill Lewis"
m said:

Hi all,
I am about to do the epoxy finish on my garage floor, and I have a
question about the acid used during the etching process. Basically, my
dilemma is this: About 15-20 feet from the bottom of my driveway, there is
a 8-12ft diameter perpetual puddle that is consistenly fed by rain and all
of my neighbors' sprinkler runoff. This puddle is used by the local
wildlife (birds, etc) all the time. This puddle is also where my runoff
will go when I rinse the acid from the floor after etching. Now, I'm not
interested in killing/harming/whatever all of the animals that use this
puddle, so my question is this: is the acid nuetralized or anything after
the use on the garage floor, or would it still be toxic? My thought would
be to use a push broom/squeegee to get this puddle moving and the area
rinsed after acid exposure if I have to.