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Ways I almost died...

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IamSmooth

Thu Oct 21 2010, 04:08AM

Registered Member #190 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
Location:
Posts: 1567

I don't know if this thread exists, but I thought it could be educational to others by illustrating the way NOT to do something by those lucky enough to have survived an incident to tell of the experience.

I have a few, but one that comes to mind was when I was in 9th grade. I had this idea that I was going to make sulfuric acid from raw sulfur, like the alchemists of medieval times. If I recall correctly, I was going to burn sulfur with potasium nitrate to make a mixture of sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide. I would capture the gases and pass steam into the containers. I would then boil the liquid in order to concentrate the solution.

Well, I did this in my garage, which was closed at the time. Here I was burning large amounts of sulfur, producing nasty gases. I did not appreciate that sulfur dioxide was highly toxic, nor did I stop to think that the gas is heavier than air, and settles near the ground where I was sitting. It did not take long before I realized that although I was breathing air in and out, I felt as if I wasn't breathing at all. As hard as I tried to move air in and out, I still felt I wasn't getting any oxygen. The amazing realization I came to was that I really wasn't getting any oxygen as my lungs were getting filled with SO2.

I ran outside of the garage and coughed up large amounts of smoke, gasping for a good minute. Slowly, I could feel oxygen getting in to my lungs as I continued to cough out the heavy smoke. I felt pretty stupid for messing with gases in a closed space, and stupider for not having looked up the toxic profile of these gases. Fortunately, I did not asphixiate, and I can still swim underwater while holding my breath for over 2 minutes, so I couldn't have killed off too many alveoli.

IntraWinding

Thu Oct 21 2010, 07:36AM

Registered Member #2261 Joined: Mon Aug 03 2009, 01:19AM
Location: London, UK
Posts: 581

I don't think you could fail to notice a high concentration of sulphur dioxide - it's really choking and noxious and drives you away very effectively even at low concentrations where there would still be plenty of oxygen. If you keep breathing a low concentration I wouldn't be surprised if it produced an asthmatic type of response which includes a 'shortness of breath'

I think I remember similar symptoms myself.

IamSmooth

Thu Oct 21 2010, 11:19AM

Registered Member #190 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
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Posts: 1567

Maybe it wasn't that I displaced so much oxygen, but rather bronchial constriction as you are suggesting. Either way, it was scary. I never did that again.

badastronaut

Thu Oct 21 2010, 02:21PM

Registered Member #222 Joined: Mon Feb 20 2006, 05:49PM
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Posts: 96

SO2 has such a horrifying smell. Once you know what it smells like, you can detect it in things like dried fruit preserved with SO2. Perhaps the concentration was so high that your sense of smell was fatigued?

Dr. Drone

Thu Oct 21 2010, 04:25PM

Registered Member #290 Joined: Mon Mar 06 2006, 08:24PM
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Posts: 1673

IntraWinding

Fri Oct 22 2010, 01:24AM

Registered Member #2261 Joined: Mon Aug 03 2009, 01:19AM
Location: London, UK
Posts: 581

Good job there wasn't loads of excess varnish in the jar or you might have ended up looking like that flaming skull of yours

What sort of cocktail would you call that!

rp181

Fri Oct 22 2010, 03:51AM

Registered Member #1062 Joined: Tue Oct 16 2007, 02:01AM
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Posts: 1529

Not deadly, but is was bad nonetheless.

A long time back, I was messing around with electrolysis in a old mayo jar. I used sodium hydroxide, and dissolved as much as I could (110g of NaOH goes into 100g of H2O). I wanted a hydrogen flame, so I lit the output. Did this before, but the flash back arrestor failed and the jar blew up. The plastic shards were minor as it was thin plastic, but the caustic solution sprayed everywhere. Got directly around my eyes (good this I closed my eyes in time). Couldn't see, so had a time getting upstairs through the mess I made to wash my face. Was left with some pretty nasty chemical burns around my eye/ on my eyelid.

Quit anything chemistry related for a while (ok, just until the burns cured). Then I found some ammonium nitrate from an old instant cold pack....

Avalanche

Fri Oct 22 2010, 07:27AM

Registered Member #103 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 08:16PM
Location: Derby, UK
Posts: 845

haha I did something very similar, I was making hydrogen in a jam jar thinking I could just light the output. Anyway after about an hour, I lit the top of a small brass tube going into the jar - and of course it went bang and blew the lid off - smashing most of my thumbnail off

1n5ane

Fri Oct 22 2010, 10:51PM

Registered Member #3283 Joined: Wed Oct 06 2010, 11:03PM
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 29

When I was about 12, I attempted to charge a 1000uf 50v lytic in a wall socket; lucky, I was smart enough to use a pair of pliers to hold the cap.

Ken M.

Sat Oct 23 2010, 12:11AM

Registered Member #618 Joined: Sat Mar 31 2007, 04:15AM
Location: Us-Great Lakes
Posts: 628

No electronic related ones, but did fall asleep on the way to college one day drifted into on coming traffic and then into a ditch, woke up when my body figured out that driving at a 45 degree angle to one side and feeling a bit bumpy wasn't right, woke up in time to realize what had happened, what was going on, that a drive way was coming up in front of me ( was on back roads) and I was still going about 50MPH, to hit the brakes, and yell at my passanger to brace for impact (since neither of us were wearing seat belts), still hit the drive way but at about 10MPH causing the front end of the car to get pushed in so the radiator fan was 3inchs from the engine instead of 6.

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