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 -- ---------------------------------- personal: http://www.armory.com/~spectre/ -- Cameron Kaiser, Floodgap Systems Ltd * So. Calif., USA * ckaiser at floodgap.com -- TRUE HEADLINE: Bomb Victims Still Trying To Pick Up The Pieces -------------

Brad> "Eric Smith" wrote: Brad> lol. Brad> I'm not disputing what anyone is saying, but why did the backup Brad> operator hit the floor in about 5 paces? The room was full of Brad> refrigerant (freon?) which had leaked from the a/c unit (a big Brad> huge box unit with a chiller on the roof). Brad> I assumed it was because the refrigerant displaced all the air Brad> in his lungs. He passed out *very* quickly - like a few paces Brad> from the door. Different scenario. Halon fire suppression systems are designed to put only a few percent of halon into the room, not enough to "displace oxygen". The case you mentioned was an uncontrolled discharge, presumably a much larger amount. paul