On Fri, 23 Jan 2004 20:53:43 -0600, Bob G wrote:

On Fri, 23 Jan 2004 18:27:03 -0600, charles krin
wrote:

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), the so called 'rotten egg gas', is
substantially more toxic, almost as toxic as Hydrogen Cyanide
(HCN)...and despite the strong smell initially, then nose rapidly
adapts, and there is no further warning...

ck

Most folks don't ever get involved in the situations where one is
likely to encounter significant levels of hydrogen sulfide.

80 ppm is not hard to find in sanitary sewers...or underground trunks
in close proximity to sanitary sewers...


One place, of several, where one may routinely encounter it is in
ship's holds. And I'm an old retired sailor, so learned about the
stuff.

Real sneaky stuff, besides being dangerous. One can detect the odor
at about .03 ppm with the human nose.

At about 10 ppm of hydrogen sulfide your nose loses it's sense of
smell in as little as 3 minutes. So one might think it was just a
little passing gust of the gas and it's now gone. But that may not be
true.

At about 30 ppm, the human nose loses it's sense of smell almost
immediately. Yah just detect the odor, then it's gone. Because now
yah can't smell anything.

Guy in the previous post mentioned 800 ppm of CO as being hazardous if
you're exposed to it long enough.

With hydrogen sulfide, at 800 ppm, you're going nowhere. Not
escaping. You hit the deck abruptly and promptly. Immediate
unconciousness.

yep...and within 4 minutes or less of becoming unconscious, you are
dead...


Bob

***Who once had the unpleasant chore of assisting in the recovery of 3
bodies done in my hydrogen sulfide.


which is the reason for body harnesses and life lines...as well as
SCBA...among other things, I believe that H2S is one of the nasties
that eat many protective mask filters up quickly...

ck
--
country doc in louisiana
(no fancy sayings right now)