Smoke inhalation and

NT497 Gupta, M. and T. Chatterjee. Effects of citrinin on cigarette smoke inhaled and nicotine treated mice. Indian NT508 Drugs 1981 18 309-316. 

Under current Navy policy, when a submarine fire occurs, the crew is instructed to put on emergency air breathing devices (EABs) to prevent smoke inhalation and toxic gas exposure. When a large number of crew members use EABs, expired air increases the pressure inside the submarine, which can increase the chance of decompression sickness. Minimizing the use of EABs to prevent... 

Fractures, bruising, smoke inhalation and bums, acute and chronic health problems and death. 

The six workers killed in the explosion were two Equilon employees and four Western Plant Services employees. They died from smoke inhalation and bums. 

Acidosis occurs when the pH of blood falls below about 7.35. In respiratory acidosis, impaired respiration increases the concentration of dissolved CO2 and lowers the blood s pH. The condition is common in victims of smoke inhalation and patients with asthma, pneumonia, and emphysema. The most efficient treatment consists of placing the patient in a ventilator. Metabolic acidosis is caused by the release of large amounts of lactic acid or other acidic by-products of metabolism (Case study 43), which react with bicarbonate ion to form carbonic acid, thus lowering the blood s pH. The condition is common in patients with diabetes and severe burns. 

In the case of the Piper Alpha catastrophe, it is thought that seven men died in the initial explosion. Yet the final death toll was 167. The fire that followed the initial explosion should have burnt itself out within 30 minutes—had the incoming riser valves been dosed. But those valves were not closed and so the fire burned for hours. Consequendy, an additional 160 men died of burns, smoke inhalation, and drowning. 

The second example of an air pollutant that affects the total body burden is carbon monoxide (CO). In addihon to CO in ambient air, there are other sources for inhalation. People who smoke have an elevated CO body burden compared to nonsmokers. Individuals indoors may be exposed to elevated levels of CO from incomplete combustion in heating or cooking stoves. CO gas enters the human body by inhalation and is absorbed directly into the bloodstream the total body burden resides in the circulatory system. The human body also produces CO by breakdown of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin breakdown gives every individual a baseline level of CO in the circulatory system. As the result of these factors, the body burden can fluctuate over a time scale of hours. 

These methods are the simplest, cheapest, and practically most accessible for airflow visualization. They are sold in the form of small glass tubes or plastic bottles through which air is pumped manually. Time for use of one unit is typically one hour or up to one day. One drawback of these two principles is the fact that the emitted smoke is strongly irritating if inhaled and also corrosive. Therefore, they must be used with some care, but this will normally not lead to any major re strictions. Another limitation is the low amount of smoke that is emitted. 

In Britain, Leblanc pollution went uncontrolled for decades. A visitor outside Liverpool, a major Leblanc factory center, described in 1846 a sordid ugly town. The sky is a low-hanging roof of smeary smoke. The atmosphere is a blend of railway tunnel, hospital ward, gas works and open sewer. The features of the place are chimneys, furnaces, steam jets, smoke clouds and coal mines. The products are pills, coal, glass, chemicals, cripples, millionaires and paupers. An estimated 40,000 men, women, and children— many of them Irish escaping the potato famine—worked in British Leblanc factories. Until 1875, workers stirred batches of chemicals in a cloud of hydrochloric acid gas. Their teeth decayed, and their clothing burned. Inhaling deeply could make them faint and vomit. 

Figure 1. The age-specific incidence of lung cancer deaths in male cigarette smokers and nonsmokers (Kahn, 1966, Appendix Table A). The lifetime incidence for nonsmokers includes lung cancers attributable to passive smoking, asbestos inhalation, and other occupational exposures.

Hazardous smoke. The potential for smoke inhalation damage is judged to be most severe in the descending order gasoline, methane, and hydrogen fires. 

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