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Re: Safety sheet, ozone
Tesla List wrote:
>
> >From cshields-at-tyrell-dot-netTue Aug 6 21:27:18 1996
> Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 19:06:16 -0500
> From: Craig L Shields Jr <cshields-at-tyrell-dot-net>
> To: "'tesla-at-pupman-dot-com'" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
> Subject: RE: Safety sheet, ozone
>
> > 4.0) Ozone, Nitrites, and Vapors
> > There have been anecdotal references to people becoming ill due to ozone
> > toxicity. The long term bioeffects are unknown. (On the other hand,
> > it does help out the ozone layer!)
>
> Ozone at ground level is considered a pollutant. It doesn't rise high
> enough into the atmosphere to mix into the upper ozone layer. I'm not
> an expert or anything, but I think it is measured in our breathing air
> as a pollutant. Just my 2 cents worth on the excellent safety FAQ you
> guys have produced.
Craig, All
You are absolutely correct! I was going to post a note about this today,
but you beat me to the punch.
Ozone is a lethal and toxic gas. The affects are thought to be
cumulative! It is a dangerous carcinogen and according to a number of
chemical references, if you can smell it, it is in a concentration about
100 times the allowable amount. Thus ozone at the toxic level can't be
smelled at all!! Below 25,000 feet Ozone is listed as a dangerous and
toxic pollutant and is so bad, that its level is the only specific gas
level normally reported in pollution index figures. Cars crank the stuff
out like crazy!
I have been poisoned on two very bad and specific occasions. It was
probably the NOx which got me, but the ozone was there too. The symptoms
are adeama and palor with labored breathing and a very tight chest (like
a heart attack!) Severe headaches are often a common symptom in some
folks, too. It is very frightening and lasts almost an hour after the
onset of symptoms. In my case a walk around the neighborhood in fresh
air cleared me out in about 15 minutes. I would never fire a coil of
over 1KW in a closed building and either remain in the building (working)
or leave it shut following the firing. Open the building up and
evacuate!! Never continue to work or live in an area where a medium or
large coil has just been fired. I now have large exhaust fans placed all
throughout the lab here in Richmond to get rid of this hazard!
When our big 7KW maggey is fired the building is clamped closed against
noise to the neighbors and prying eyes. Immediately after firing, all
windows and doors are thrown open and six large fans including two soffet
ventilators are turned on and we go outside and chat or I go into the
house to escape the problem.
There are as many a six different nitrogen compounds formed in moist air
when a large coil is fired. (that's why it is listed in chemical
discussions as "NOx" All are poisonous and toxic! Watch out! Right
after electrocution this is coiling's #1 hazard! What is worse it is
insidious and passive compared to the former. Some exposure is probably
cumulative! In the lungs, some of these compounds can be turned into
nitrous and nitric acids!
Richard Hull, TCBOR