5 May
2005
5 May
'05
11:02 a.m.
I'm not disputing what anyone is saying, but why
did the backup operator
hit the floor in about 5 paces? The room was full of refrigerant
(freon?) which had leaked from the a/c unit (a big huge box unit with a
chiller on the roof).
I assumed it was because the refrigerant displaced all the air in his
lungs. He passed out *very* quickly - like a few paces from the door.
No -- in this case, it's likely a direct effect caused by the freon.
Halogenated hydrocarbons are not inert in the body -- in fact, many gas
anaesthetics like halothane, isoflurane, etc. are also halogenated
hydrocarbons. He'd eventually have exchanged them out with exposure to
room air, but the point is that the compound does have physiologic effects
when inhaled (unlike, say, a noble gas like helium), and that's why he
dropped (not merely from hypoxia).
Here's a tox note from Vanderbuilt's med school on freon exposure, btw:
http://www.toxicology.mc.vanderbilt.edu/Outreach/Poison/FREON.html
--
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Cameron Kaiser, Floodgap Systems Ltd * So. Calif., USA * ckaiser at floodgap.com
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