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FYI, and sorry for the pedantry, but it's CO (carbon monoxide) poisoning. CO2 (carbdon dioxide) poisoning is also a thing but very hard to do in a domestic scen

FYI, and sorry for the pedantry, but it's CO (carbon monoxide) poisoning. CO2 (carbdon dioxide) poisoning is also a thing but very hard to do in a domestic scenario, and especially hard to do without noticing because you'd feel very out of breath (too much CO2 in your lungs is exactly what makes you want to take breaths in regular breathing).

PaulHoule 6y ago
I attended a seminar on geoengineering and carbon capture and storage this semester. At some cost we could capture the CO2 that comes out of a power plant, clean it, compress it to 1500 psi or so, then inject into the ground somewhere. Engineers get bonus points when they use the CO2 to flush out extra oil, since CO2 mixes so well with oil. (Roughnecks have been pumping CO2 out of the ground in Texas and using it for oil recovery since the 1970s.) Turns out a CO2 pipeline is more dangerous than a methane pipeline. Methane can burn, but it rises, so the danger is in a limited area. CO2 on the otherhand will sink downhill and accumulate in places and quickly suffocate people.
- StavrosK 6y ago
  I remember reading about the sudden death of a few hundred people in a coastal village way back when, and it looked like the lake belched a CO2 pocket and suffocated everyone. Terrifying, you're suddenly out of breath but don't know why, and then you die without knowing you'd be okay if you stood on a roof or tree.
  - treeman79 6y ago
    Is scary. Kids were super hard to wake up though this. Like 2 hours to get them alert on bad days. Guy from gas company made it clear no one would be waking up in a matter of days
  - sangnoir 6y ago
    It was a village next to an inland lake[1] in Cameroon in 1986. Thousands died. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Nyos_disaster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Nyos_disaster
bradstewart 6y ago
Definitely hard to do at home, but it's not all that easy to notice in certain settings. For instance, indoor and greenhouse agriculture where pumping CO2 into the room is routinely done. I'm not sure that I've experienced CO2 poisoning per se, but definitely higher-than-safe levels of it. We were installing new air quality sensors at an indoor farming facility when we (eventually) discovered the existing CO2 alarms were malfunctioning. The symptoms came on fast and immediately affected my ability to think. The first sensors we installed reported something like ~6000ppm, which we assumed to be a calibration error because no way people had been working at those levels. Didn't even occur to us it was accurate. A few minutes later I remember just staring at another sensor unable to decide which way to install the battery. We didn't even realize something was wrong until I went outside for a few minutes. EDIT: grammar
- foobiekr 6y ago
  This is an amazing story. You might find videos of low blood O2 (for example, at altitude or in a hypobaric altitude chamber) kind of interesting as they illustrate exactly that kind of dramatic cognitive decline.
walleeee 6y ago
> very hard to do in a domestic scenario, and especially hard to do without noticing Life- or health-threatening CO2 poisoning, maybe, but low-level cognitive impairment due to elevated CO2 is extremely common in indoor environments.
treeman79 6y ago
Specifically was carbon monoxide. AND Natural gas. Large quantity of both for 3 months. Unfortunately medical literature for long term natural gas exposure is limited since people tend to explode. Rental company kept making excuses for smell. Claimed it was not gas. After 3 months of total health meltdown I called gas company. Their alarms went off at road. Started screaming at us to get away. Guy was amazed any of us were still alive. As it is, me and at least one kid have permanent changes from it. She’s was gifted, now is borderline special needs.

PaulHoule 6y ago

I attended a seminar on geoengineering and carbon capture and storage this semester. At some cost we could capture the CO2 that comes out of a power plant, clean it, compress it to 1500 psi or so, then inject into the ground somewhere. Engineers get bonus points when they use the CO2 to flush out extra oil, since CO2 mixes so well with oil. (Roughnecks have been pumping CO2 out of the ground in Texas and using it for oil recovery since the 1970s.) Turns out a CO2 pipeline is more dangerous than a methane pipeline. Methane can burn, but it rises, so the danger is in a limited area. CO2 on the otherhand will sink downhill and accumulate in places and quickly suffocate people.

StavrosK 6y ago
I remember reading about the sudden death of a few hundred people in a coastal village way back when, and it looked like the lake belched a CO2 pocket and suffocated everyone. Terrifying, you're suddenly out of breath but don't know why, and then you die without knowing you'd be okay if you stood on a roof or tree.
- treeman79 6y ago
  Is scary. Kids were super hard to wake up though this. Like 2 hours to get them alert on bad days. Guy from gas company made it clear no one would be waking up in a matter of days
- sangnoir 6y ago
  It was a village next to an inland lake[1] in Cameroon in 1986. Thousands died. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Nyos_disaster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Nyos_disaster

bradstewart 6y ago

Definitely hard to do at home, but it's not all that easy to notice in certain settings. For instance, indoor and greenhouse agriculture where pumping CO2 into the room is routinely done. I'm not sure that I've experienced CO2 poisoning per se, but definitely higher-than-safe levels of it. We were installing new air quality sensors at an indoor farming facility when we (eventually) discovered the existing CO2 alarms were malfunctioning. The symptoms came on fast and immediately affected my ability to think. The first sensors we installed reported something like ~6000ppm, which we assumed to be a calibration error because no way people had been working at those levels. Didn't even occur to us it was accurate. A few minutes later I remember just staring at another sensor unable to decide which way to install the battery. We didn't even realize something was wrong until I went outside for a few minutes. EDIT: grammar

foobiekr 6y ago
This is an amazing story. You might find videos of low blood O2 (for example, at altitude or in a hypobaric altitude chamber) kind of interesting as they illustrate exactly that kind of dramatic cognitive decline.

walleeee 6y ago

> very hard to do in a domestic scenario, and especially hard to do without noticing Life- or health-threatening CO2 poisoning, maybe, but low-level cognitive impairment due to elevated CO2 is extremely common in indoor environments.

treeman79 6y ago

Specifically was carbon monoxide. AND Natural gas. Large quantity of both for 3 months. Unfortunately medical literature for long term natural gas exposure is limited since people tend to explode. Rental company kept making excuses for smell. Claimed it was not gas. After 3 months of total health meltdown I called gas company. Their alarms went off at road. Started screaming at us to get away. Guy was amazed any of us were still alive. As it is, me and at least one kid have permanent changes from it. She’s was gifted, now is borderline special needs.