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Date:         Mon, 16 Nov 1998 11:03:40 -0800
Reply-To:     Marty Wallace <martywallace@ROCKETMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Marty Wallace <martywallace@ROCKETMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Carbon Monoxide (CO) & Carbon Dioxide (CO2) - OFF TOPIC
Comments: To: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

There still seems to be some confusion about all this, so I'll repeat once more:

> ============================== > From: "Robert A. Alexander" <satcong@VOL.COM> > Subject: Re: CO vs CO2 One's poisonous, the other's not. > Per - Contrary to what the eco-nuts claim, we really DO need a good bit > more CO2 around! Plants/veggies/trees really do thrive on the stuff. > ------------------------------ > From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Bj=F6rn?= <bratjen@DIRECT.CA> > Subject: Re: CO vs CO2 One's poisonous, the other's not. > At 07:12 PM 15/11/98 -0800, you wrote: > >CO2 is the gas that makes your soda all bubbly, and makes you burp! Not > >dangerous at all! > Not quite: as CO2 replaces air and fills up enclosed spaces from the bottom > up because it is heavier than air it can suffocate you. CO as an odorless > gas is taken up through the blood via the lungs as O2 replacement which > makes it more dangerous. > ------------------------------ > From: "Robert A. Alexander" <satcong@VOL.COM> > Subject: Re: CO vs CO2 One's poisonous, the other's not. > In all seriousness, though, at least CO2 gives you a bit of warning, > doesn't it? That buildup of CO2 is even MORE of a stimulus for rapid > respiration than lack of O2!!! CO's like a Ninja Warrior!!! Just > sneaks up on you, leaving you unaware that you are about to DIE!!! > ============================== Volks-

I can't help but reply to some of this...

(1) CO2 levels in the atmosphere are rising (since the industrial revolution). We aren't exactly sure why, but many think that it is because we are burning hydrocarbon-based fuels at an increasing rate (HC + O2 -> CO2 + H2O) We probably do NOT need more in the atmosphere. This is a "greenhouse gas".

(2) CO2 is about 1.5 times as dense as air, so, yes, it would pool in low-lying places. Although it IS a benign gas, you can DROWN in it. Also, in HIGH enough concentrations it can cause headaches, dizziness, dyspnea, sweating, increased heart rate... ...coma, asphyxia, and/or convulsions. Yikes! So, yes, you DO get some warning. If you are driving down the road, there is more than enough natural ventilation to keep CO2 levels WAY below toxic levels.

(3) CO is odorless, tasteless, colorless, and ACUTELY toxic. It is just a little tiny bit LESS dense than air (CO is about 97% as dense as air), so it will easily diffuse throughout an enclosed space - NOT remaining confined to low-lying places. In fact, it would "prefer" to rise up to the top of your vehicle (at head height) - right where most of us do our respiration! This nasty habit is probably what makes it often the culprit in death-from-combustion-products cases. It combines with hemoglobin in the blood, which means that the hemoglobin can no longer transport oxygen. In order of severity, the symptoms are: headache, mental dullness, dizziness, nausea, vomitting, loss of muscular control, increased then decreased pulse and respiratory rates, collapse, unconsciousness, DEATH. Again, yikes!

The point is IF you feel a headache, dizziness, nausea...STOP the vehicle, and/or open some windows. The remedy is the same: fresh air (or, more precisely: oxygen).

I'm installing CO2, CO, O2, CH4... monitors/alarms in my Westy, AND I am using a vented catalytic heater this winter. :-)

Hope that this helps, Marty Wallace, 1984 Westfalia "Heisenberg" (Chemistry Geek) Chico, California

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