Carbon monoxide poisoning

“ Carbon Monoxide Poisoning.—In any condition in which the function of a large proportion of the red blood cells as oxygen carriers has been temporarily destroyed or impaired, it is a rational procedure to replace as many of them as possible with normal red cells. The evidence that transfused blood cells can carry out their functions in their new host has been given on another page. In carbon monoxide poisoning the oxyhæmoglobin has been converted into carboxyhæmoglobin, which is more stable than the oxygen compound, and therefore useless for purposes of respiratory exchange. ”

“ Confused delirious states due to carbon monoxide poisoning, also conditions resembling Korsakow's disease, have been described by Kraepelin. Several cases somewhat similar to that described by O'Malley have been observed at the Boston State Hospital.
An analysis of the statistics of American institutions shows that psychoses due to drugs and other exogenous poisons are quite rare in this country. They represented only .39 per cent of the admissions to the New York state hospitals during a period of eight years. The number admitted to Massachusetts hospitals is still less. ”

“ When improperly stored, these substances can present threats to the health and well-being of people subject to exposure. Taking simple steps can protect family and friends from harm. For example, keeping poisonous materials in their original containers, placing these materials out of children's reach, following handling instructions and recommended dosages, and installing carbon monoxide detectors can all help save lives. More information can be found at www.aapcc.org. In the event of a potential poisoning, experts at local poison control centers can be reached at 1–800–222–1222. ”

“ It owes its dangerous properties to the first-named gas. When water gas, pure and simple, is supplied for heating purposes, its leakage cannot be detected, as the gas possesses no odour. When used for lighting and carburetted, its escape is more readily detected by the smell, but even then it is more dangerous than coal gas as the proportion of CO is higher. Several deaths have resulted from the use of water gas for heating and lighting purposes, and also for steel smelting in Leeds. The symptoms of poisoning are those of carbon monoxide. ”

“ The poisonous properties of coal gas are due to the carbon monoxide, 7.5 per cent. being present in ordinary gas as supplied for illuminating purposes. It can be detected by passing the coal gas through an acid solution of cuprous chloride, which [Pg 401] becomes black by the formation of a compound CuCOCl. A dangerous explosive compound is formed when the gas reaches the proportion of 1 in 10 of the atmosphere. Poisoning by this gas is, as a rule, accidental.
Symptoms.—Headache, nausea, vomiting, giddiness, ending in coma. Stertorous breathing is noticed in some cases. ”

“ Argyria or chronic silver poisoning is said to be accompanied often by a marked sensitiveness and occasional episodes of actual depression due to the discoloration and pigmentation of the face.
Psychoses due to various gases are occasionally encountered. Illuminating gas is a rather common means of suicide, as is shown by the newspapers. It has been found that the cause of death in these cases is carbon monoxide, which is also often reported as responsible for the asphyxiation of workmen in garages and other places where gasoline motors are used. ”

“ The Germans also used for industrial purposes hair shorn from women who were doomed for extermination.”
I omit the next pages of my statement and I want to draw the Tribunal’s attention to the findings of a commission of technical experts which the Tribunal will find on Page 65, reverse side, of the document book, Paragraph 2.
Special research took place in the gas chambers. On the basis of exact chemical reactions it was established that poisoning in gas chambers was done by means of hydrocyanic acid, Cyclone A and Cyclone B, and also carbon-monoxide. ”

“ Qui„ine, Gold and platinum salts of, 264. Qui„ine, Phospho-molybdate of, 238. Qui„ine, Spectrum of colour reaction, 55. Qui„ine, Value of Mayer’s precipitate of, 263. Rat poison, 531, 680. Rayner, Dr. Henry, on connection between insanity and lead poisoning, 600, 601. Realgar, 528. Red lead, 594. Redwood’s ink, 630. R. v. Lamson, 364, 365. R. v. M’Conkey, 361. R. v. Moore, 648. R. v. Smith, 648. R. v. Taylor, 604. R. v. Wilson, 411. R. v. Wren, 324. Reid, Dr., on Darlaston case of poisoning by carbon monoxide, 68. Reinsch’s test for arsenic, 558, 559. ”

“ The relatively high proportion of carbon monoxide in producer-gas is objectionable from a hygienic standpoint, so much so, indeed, that it has attracted the attention of manufacturers. Carbon monoxide, the specific gravity of which is 0.967, is a gas peculiarly poisonous and dangerous. It cannot be breathed without baneful effects, and is even more dangerous than carbonic-acid gas, which eventually causes asphyxiation by reducing the quantity of oxygen in the air. ”

“ Many experiments have been made with the view of determining the percentage of carbon monoxide in air which is fatal to human or, rather, animal life, and the most reliable as well as the latest results are those obtained by Dr. Stevenson, of Guy's Hospital, in consequence of the two deaths which took place at the Leeds forge from inhaling uncarbureted water gas containing 40 per cent. of carbon monoxide. He found that one per cent. visibly affected a mouse in one and a half minutes, and in one hour and three quarters killed it, while one-tenth of a per cent. ”

“ It is always present in ordinary domestic products of combustion, and must be exhaled from the various chimneys of a large city in considerable volumes. A “smoky” chimney or a defective flue will therefore introduce carbon monoxide into living-rooms. The vapour from burning coke or burning charcoal is rich in carbon monoxide. It is always a constituent of coal gas, in England the carbon monoxide in coal gas amounting to about 8 per cent. ”

“ Carbonic Oxide is a much more dangerous poison than is carbonic acid, but poisoning with it in a pure state is rare. It constitutes an ingredient in most vapors produced by burning coke or carbon, especially if the combustion is imperfect. It forms with the coloring matter of the blood a remarkably stable compound of a light red color; in point of fact it is the impossibility of exchanging carbonic acid for oxygen in the lungs which causes death. After death the blood is bright red in hue. ”

“ The action of carbon monoxide on different animals affords a suitable instance of what is called immunity, and illustrates the kind of circumstances on which it may sometimes depend. Carbon monoxide is an air-like compound, which is contained to a large amount in the illuminating gas produced by the decomposition of steam by red-hot coals, and to the presence of which the poisonous qualities of this gas are chiefly due. A mixture of one part of carbon monoxide and ninety-nine parts of common air, when breathed, will in a short time kill any of the warm-blooded vertebrates. ”

“ Lead poisoning in the ceramic industry (earthenware, porcelain, glass, polishing of precious stones, &c.) has been dealt with in detail in the chapter on Lead. There is further the possibility of chrome-ulceration, of arsenic poisoning, and conceivably also of manganese. Further, poisoning by carbonic oxide and carbon dioxide may occur from the escape of furnace gases where hygienic conditions are bad. In charging lime kilns poisoning by carbonic oxide has occurred. ”

“ This gas is produced by incomplete combustion, and whenever you see yellow flames from gas or coal, you are apt to have this poisonous substance. Small quantities of it are sufficient to cause violent headaches, and repeated doses of it are fatal. Men who work in garages which are not properly ventilated run this risk all the time, because carbon monoxide is one of the products of imperfect combustion in the gas engine. ”

“ In cold-blooded vertebrates respiration is of more subordinate importance; although, as well as in warm-blooded animals, it consists in absorption of oxygen by hæmoglobin, the need for oxygen is much lower; a frog can live for a considerable time without the accession of air. Hence the effect of carbon monoxide is a much slower one. The blood of insects contains no hæmoglobin; carbon monoxide is not absorbed by it, and is not a poison to them, provided that a sufficient amount of oxygen is always present. Carbon monoxide, consequently, acts as a strong poison upon warm-blooded animals ”

“ From the top of the furnace in which iron ore is liquefying in the fervent heat there rushes out a gas, largely carbon monoxide, whose hunger for oxygen has been only half satisfied. If it could get that other atom of oxygen it would be a gas that would only smother us when it didn't make the soda-fountain fizz. As it is, carbon monoxide is deadly poison. ”

“ Chronic carbonic oxide poisoning, arising from continued inhalation of small quantities of the gas, sets in usually with symptoms similar to those of acute carbonic oxide poisoning; if the worker continues exposed to danger, severe symptoms may arise which point to marked alteration of the blood and later also of the digestion and bodily functions. ”

“ Longsden process.—We have mentioned that water gas generated by various processes has been used for lighting towns in America on the incandescent system. The drawback of the system is the exceedingly poisonous nature of carbon monoxide even when very dilute, and it is all the more dangerous because it is odourless. Many accidents have in consequence occurred, some of them terminating fatally. ”

“ Added to these, however, is a far more serious factor which has, up to the present, been overlooked, and that is that an ordinary gas flame, in burning, yields distinct quantities of carbon monoxide and acetylene, the prolonged breathing of which in the smallest traces produces headache and general physical discomfort, while its effect upon plant life is equally marked. ”

“ Effects on Health.—Industrial ammonia poisoning is rare. It occurs most frequently in gas works and occasionally in its use, especially the manufacture of ammonium salts. Those engaged in subliming ammonium carbonate incur special risk, but often it is not the ammonia vapour so much as the escaping evil-smelling gases containing carbon bisulphide and cyanogen compounds which are the source of trouble. ”

“ Naturally, poisonous gases escaping from the furnace such as sulphur dioxide, carbonic oxide, carbon dioxide, and hydrocarbons require to be drawn away and rendered harmless. This can often be done by merely conducting them into the main flue. Gases containing carbonic oxide possess high heating capacity, and their escape can usually be prevented by suitable cupola bells. They can be led away in impervious conduits and utilised for heating purposes or for driving gas [289] engines. Entering the flues for cleaning or repairing purposes is especially dangerous ”

“ The addition to it of petroleum-gas as an enricher, for illuminating purposes, at once imparts to it a peculiar odor, as strong as that of coal-gas, which would lead to the immediate detection of a leak." Carbonic oxide is one of the most active poisons, producing, when inhaled, speedy death. Unlike carbonic acid, which, when it poisons, does so by merely preventing the entrance of air or oxygen into the lungs, as water does in case of drowning, so that persons affected can be readily resuscitated, it is a true physiological poison. ”

“ If persons affected by severe carbonic oxide poisoning [200] are withdrawn from the poisonous atmosphere after having reached the stage of unconsciousness, they may recover, but often with difficulty; not infrequently—in spite of suitable treatment—death occurs some considerable time later from the symptoms described above. ”

“ Effects on Health.—Injury to health from work at coke ovens is similar to that in the manufacture of illuminating gas. There is the possibility of carbonic oxide poisoning from escape of gas from leakage in the apparatus. As further possible sources of danger ammonia, cyanogen and sulpho-cyanogen compounds, and benzene have to be borne in mind. ”

“ Sudden and fatal poisoning occurs industrially. Upon entering places filled with carbonic acid gas the affected person falls down dead almost immediately. These are cases of asphyxia, in which the lack of oxygen certainly plays the greatest part. If those affected by acute carbonic acid poisoning are removed in time out of the dangerous atmosphere they usually recover quickly.
Oxygen inhalations and artificial respiration are to be applied in severer cases. There are no sequelæ. ”

“ In the sulphuring of hops, wine, &c., the workers may run risk from the injurious action of sulphur dioxide. Arsenic in the sulphuric acid used for the production of dextrine may set up industrial poisoning. Poisoning from ammonia gas can occur in cold storage premises. Industrial poisoning from tobacco is not proved, but the injurious effect of the aroma and dust of tobacco—especially in women—in badly arranged tobacco factories is probable. ”

“ Carbonic acid gas though incapable of supporting life is not poisonous, and its presence in the atmosphere does not disturb our vital functions. Animals may be drowned in pure carbonic acid, but they cannot be poisoned by it. If the atmosphere contained another compound of carbon and oxygen, namely, carbonic oxide, in place of this innocuous gas, the world would be a lifeless desert, as carbonic oxide is an active poison, and a very small quantity of it would suffice to infect the air. ”