News item,my local paper: A 47 year old employee at a pharmaceutical firm received minor injuries after mixing sodium carbonate monohydrate with sodium hydrosulfite . The mixing beaker exploded.Hazmat crew was called in-apparently nothing major transpired,but my curiosity is aroused: Why in hell would a knowledgeable chemist be mixing these two chemicals ? (I'm assuming water was present-whether added,or as part of a solution).