Asphyxiant chemical

TRACEM-P An acronym meaning seven types of harm that could be encountered at a terrorist incident Thermal-Radioactive-Asphyxiation-Chemical-Etiological-Mechanical -Psychological. 

Clothing and equipment for thermal, asphyxiation, chemical, and mechanical hazards SCBA fire fighting clothing and decontamination. Leader s guide available. 

Effects progress from cyanosis (blue baby syndrome) to shortness of breath and eventual asphyxiation (chemical suffocation) as the blood turns chocolate brown. Fortunately, an infant treated in a timely manner with ascorbic acid or methylene blue will experience a complete recovery, and adequate intake of vitamin C provides... 

Train staff in hazards and precautions, and practise emergency evacuation drills Remember that flammable chemicals can also be toxic or asphyxiant... 

Asphyxiant Simple asphyxiants are inert gases which deplete the oxygen supply in the breathing air to below the critical value of J8% by volume, such as gaseous fuels or nitrogen. Chemical asphyxiants, such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide, have a direct biological effect. 

Chemical asphyxiant A substance that interferes with the absorption or utilization of oxygen in the body, e.g., carbon monoxide. 

There are other ways to injure people, such as physical impact due to falling, tripping, slipping on a slick surface, or being hit by an object or by direct physical impact from a rupture. Asphyxiation can occur, espe cially when dealing with toxic chemicals. 

There is no doubt that without nitrogen (or other inert gas) many more people would be killed by fire or explosion. Nevertheless we have paid a heavy price for the benefits of nitrogen. Many people have been asphyxiated by it. In one group of companies in the period 1960-1978, 13 employees were killed by fire or explosion, 13 by toxic or corrosive chemicals, and 7 by nitrogen. It is our most dangerous gas. 

Carbon dioxide and certain halon compounds have a specialized application for fires in electrical equipment where a non-conducting medium is important. All are toxic to a degree, and operate either by smothering the fire or by a chemical reaction which inhibits combustion. Gas extinguishers must not be used in a confined space because of the toxic risk or the risk of asphyxiation. 

Table VIII. It is difficult to conceive of fluoroform, which is chemically and physiologically inert, having toxicity to moths unless it acts as a mechanical asphyxiant.

Chemical disasters are not very easy to predict and prevent. Depending on the extent of the accident, they may produce the following health manifestations asphyxiation, central nervous system depression, defeating dermatitis, aspiration pneumonitis, myocardial sensitization and irritability and hepatorenal toxicity. 

Asphyxiation and Toxicity Hazards An asphyxiant is a chemical (either a gas or a vapor) that can cause death or unconsciousness by suffocation (BP, Hazards of Nitrogen and Catalyst Handling, 2003). A simple asphyxiant is a chemical, such as N2, He, or Ar, whose effects are caused by the displacement of 02 in air, reducing the 02 concentration below its normal value of approximately 21 vol %. The physiological effects of oxygen concentration reduction by simple asphyxiants are illustrated in Table 23-18 (BP, Hazards of Nitrogen and Catalyst Handling, 2003). 

A chemical asphyxiant works by interfering with the body s ability to absorb or transport 02 to the tissues. A relevant example of a chemical asphyxiant is CO, which can be present in inert gas streams produced... 

Note that C02 acts as neither a simple asphyxiant (like N2) nor a chemical asphyxiant (like CO). The normal concentration of C02 in air is approximately 300 ppm (0.03 vol %). Table 23-19 (Air Products, Carbon Dioxide, Safetygram 18, 1998) illustrates that exposure to air diluted by 5 vol % C02 (yielding an oxygen concentration of 21 x 0.95, or approximately 20 vol %) prompts physiological effects that are more severe than those inferred from Table 23-18 for dilution by the same amount of nitrogen. 

Injuries and fatalities from asphyxiation are often associated with personnel entry into inerted equipment or enclosures. Guidance on safe procedures for confined space access are provided by OSHA (OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.146, Confined Space Entry Standard, 2000), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI, Z117.1, Safety Requirements for Confined Spaces, 2003), Hodson (Hodson, Safe Entry into Confined Spaces, Handbook of Chemical Health and Safety, American Chemical Society, 2001), and BP (BP, Hazards of Nitrogen and Catalyst Handling, 2003). OSHA has established 19.5 vol % as the minimum safe oxygen concentration for confined space entry without supplemental oxygen supply (see Table 23-18). Note that OSHA imposes a safe upper limit on 02 concentration of 23.5 vol % to protect against the enhanced flammability hazards associated with 02-enriched atmospheres. 

Asphalt chemicals, ethyleneamines application, 8 500t, 506 Asphalt emulsifier amine oxides, 2 473 fatty acid amides, 2 458 Asphalt emulsions, 10 131 Asphaltenes, in petroleum vacuum residua, 18 589-590 Asphyxiants, 21 836 Aspirating aerators, 26 165-169 compressed, 26 168-169 propeller driven, 26 168 submersible, 26 169, 170t subsurface, 26 168 Aspiratory, 11 236-237 Aspirin, 4 103-104, 104t, 701 22 17-21. See also Acetylsalicylic acid as trade name, 22 19 for cancer prevention, 2 826 Aspirin resistance, 4 104 ASP oil recovery process, 23 532-533 Assay format, competitive, 14 142 Assay limits, in Investigational New Drug Applications, 18 692 Assays, for silver, 22 650. See also... 

During the development of a new facility or process, or when introducing a new process into an existing facility for the first time, an inherent safety review can be conducted to understand the chemical reactivity hazards and explore hazard reduction alternatives. The review need not be limited to chemical reactivity hazards. It can be used to address all other types of process hazards at the same time, including flammability/ combustibility dust or mist explosibility elevated or reduced pressures or temperatures phase differences and health hazards such as toxicity, corrosivity, and asphyxiation. 

On December 3, 1984, a toxic gas release from a pesticide plant in India killed nearly 3000 people and injured at least 100,000 others. The chemical that leaked was methyl isocyanate, a chemical intermediate that was supposed to be stored in a cooled bunker near the plant s outer boundary. The vapor is highly toxic and causes cellular asphyxiation and rapid death. Despite engineering and procedural provisions to prevent its release, a total system breakdown resulted in the release of 40 tons of the deadly material into the densely populated community of Bhopal. Because of this incident, the plant was dismantled and ultimately the parent corporation. Union Carbide, was forced to make a number of organizational changes. The occurrence is considered by many to have been the most tragic chemical accident in history. 

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