RE: [IAEM-LIST] closed-area oxygen requirements

["Morgan, Ben" <ben.morgan@pgnmail.com>]

Good Morning:



I think the problem would not be the depletion of oxygen but the build

up of carbon dioxide.



The Material Safety Data Sheet for carbon dioxide [CAS 124-38-9] lists a

concentration that is Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health [IDLH] as

40000 ppm which is 72000 mg/m^3 or 72 g/m^3.



>From Table 12.6 of the Revised Edition of the Health Physics and

Radiological Health Handbook reference man exhales 1000 g/d of CO2

[reference woman 700g/d and 10-y old child 660 g/d].



Assuming negligible initial CO2 and good mixing you can use these values

along with the volume of your space and the number of occupants to

determine how long it would take to reach an IDLH atmosphere.



Also note that, for normal activities, the Permissible Exposure Limit

for CO2 is 5000 ppm. People will be uncomfortable before you reach the

IDLH value. Particularly those closer to the floor.



Regards,



Ben



ben.morgan@pgnmail.com 



-----Original Message-----

From: owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu

[mailto:owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu] On Behalf Of RadSafeInst

Sent: Friday, October 22, 2004 9:47 PM

To: Coulson, Jordan; radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu

Subject: Re: [IAEM-LIST] closed-area oxygen requirements







I've always heard the rule of thumb that Ref Man breathes one (1) cubic 

meter per hour! Don't know how well it's been validated, but you could

test 

it (I would ignore Oxygen in the exhaled air as a conservative 

approximation)...................Ed Battle 

_____________________________________________

Hello all- can anyone post a formula that will determine how long a 

person(s) can survive in a given area without an air exchange? This is

in reference to a chem/bio "safe area" that would have plastic 

sheeting and duct tape over the vents, windows, door cracks, ect.

Thanks, Jordan ______________________________________________





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