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How is elevated CO2 perceived? Does it have a smell?
by engineer_22 5y ago
How is elevated CO2 perceived? Does it have a smell?
- khafra 5y agoWhen you hold your breath, it's not decreased oxygen that triggers the burning sensation in your lungs and the desperate need for air; it's elevated CO2. So it's pretty easy to perceive if you're at all aware of the signs.
- namibj 5y agoHowever, reliably detecting 1000~2000 ppm isn't hard, but will require some training. And that's the level where you want to leave the place in a state that's not dangerous, followed by getting out of there and waiting for someone with an oxygen mask to go leak searching. But yeah, CO2 is the thing that makes you want to open a window long before acute toxicity.
- namibj 5y agoBad air/fatigue. It's the headache/mind-numbing effect you remember from walking into a poorly ventilated classroom or such. It's not hard to detect, especially if sudden or strong, but to reliably act you need to regularly train to judge actionable concentrations, so you remember the feelings/perception for the specific actionable levels.