Carbon monoxide danger from

Some dehydration reactions of sulfuric acid can be very vigorous. For example, the reaction with perchloric acid produces unstable CI2O7, and a violent explosion can result. Concentrated sulfuric acid produces dangerous or toxic products with a number of other substances such as toxic carbon monoxide (CO) from reaction with oxalic acid, H2C2O4 toxic bromine and sulfur dioxide (Bf2 and SO2) from reaction with sodium bromide, NaBr and toxic, unstable chlorine dioxide (CIO2) from reaction with sodium chlorate, NaClOj. 

Carbon monoxide gas from blasting creates problems more frequently than all other gases identified above. This colorless, odorless, tasteless gas has caused many illnesses and occasional fatalities in underground mines. Perhaps it is the frequent use of explosives and the infrequent problem with dangerous levels of carbon monoxide that leads mine personnel to disregard the hazard familiarity breeds contempt ... 

The control scheme must burn all the fuel with minimal excess air. There is a risk of too little air, resulting in carbon monoxide production from partial combustion and excess fuel. This excess fuel is not only expensive, it is also dangerous, as it may explode if the air flow is increased. 

With carbon monoxide at -50°C the danger is thought to come from the formation of dicarbonyl potassium as follows ... 

It is dangerous to attempt the preparation from tungsten hexachloride, aluminium powder and carbon monoxide in an autoclave of greater than 0.3 1 capacity. 

The personal security of our citizens also benefits directly from science and technology. Our police forces are equipped with light, strong bulletproof vests made of modem synthetic materials, and fire rescue personnel wear protective clothing made from temperature-resistant polymers. The smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors in our homes are based on chemical processes that detect dangerous substances. Personal security is enhanced in the broadest sense by water purification and by the chemical testing procedures that assure us of clean water and food. 

Methyl isocyanate is a very dangerous chemical. It was responsible for the deaths of over 2,500 people, perhaps as many as 10,000 people, in the worst industrial accident ever, that of the carbamate insecticide plant in Bhopal, India on December 3, 1984. It is a very toxic chemical. This tragedy is discussed in more detail in Chapter 25. Methyl isocyanate can be made from phosgene and methylamine, which would circumvent use of the isocyanate. Phosgene is made from chlorine and carbon monoxide, but it is also very toxic and dangerous. 

Catalytic converter A device for converting dangerous exhaust gases from cars into less harmful emissions. For example, carbon monoxide gas is converted to carbon dioxide gas. 

MCS patients are sometimes called canaries, because MCS patients can function as early warning signals. Early miners would take canaries down into the mine shafts because canaries fell from their perches rather quickly when carbon monoxide or other dangerous gases arose. Miners made sure they got out as soon as this happened. MCS patients are thus actually the canaries of this day and age, since they become ill from chemical substances in low doses, especially synthetic chemical substances, from which others do not (yet) get sick. They therefore also function as an alarm bell, although this bell is not heard as it should be. 

Carbon Monoxide is scarcely a normal constituent of fresh air, although it occurs in the minutest traces m the air of towns and of volcanic districts. It also occurs m railway tunnels 3 and even in well-ventilated coal mines to the extent of 0-002 to 0-00-1 per cent.4 It is a most dangerous gas, 0-48 per cent, being fatal to man 5 in a short time. Even 0-2 per eent. may prove fatal if breathed for a long time. Headaches and other unpleasant symptoms are produced hv concentrations ranging from 0-03 upwards. 

Caution. Potassium is a dangerous metal from which water and air must be excluded. All manipulations of this substance must be carried out in a dry, oxygen-free nitrogen-purged glove bag. Unreacted potassium may be destroyed by adding it to an excess of n-butanol. Also, carbon monoxide is an odorless, extremely toxic gas. It is essential that the apparatus (Fig. 16) be set up in an efficient fume hood. 

The gas from the gas generator contains up to 35% carbon monoxide (CO). Carbon monoxide can be fatal at concentrations as low as 0.1% when inhaled. For this reason - especially while starting the fire or during refilling - there is a danger of poisoning ... 

CO has always been a part of the imiverse. However, atmospheric CO has increased over time. When volcanoes erupted, continents collided, and winds embraced the trees sparking fires millions of years ago, all this contributed to the stock of CO. However, when CO first made a significant presence in the air we breathe, humans lived in the open. A very long time must have passed by before humans inhabited caves or built enclosures for protection from the effects of the weather or the tyranny of predators. In the process, however, humankind invited the unwanted guest -carbon monoxide, the silent killer. So where there is smoke, there is not only fire but also CO in terms of human cost, the latter is more dangerous than the former. Yet it must have taken several thousands of years to tame the fire, and over those years CO has claimed many innocent victims who went to sleep after a hearty meal never to wake up. The knowledge of these mysterious events has been unraveled over time. 

Henderson, M., Haggard, H.W. (1921). The elimination of carbon monoxide from the blood after a dangerous degree of asphyxiation, and therapy for accelerating elimination. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 16 11-20. 

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