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Carbon monoxide poisoning from 3D laser printer may have killed Berkeley couple

sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com

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Re: Carbon monoxide poisoning from 3D laser printer may have killed Berkeley couple

#31

Post by pmiller2 »

iscrewyou wrote: post #28

I lit a candle last night with a closed window and door. Then it hit me that there is no way there is no CO in this room. Immediately opened my window. After hearing this story, I am never sleeping with my window closed.

With one candle, you're in far more danger from it tipping over than from CO.

Re: Carbon monoxide poisoning from 3D laser printer may have killed Berkeley couple

#32

Post by afuchs »

pfarnsworth wrote: post #12

Very, very sad. Who knew that it created CO, but I have paranoia about stuff like that so I would only have it in the garage. Maybe that wouldn't be enough depending on how much CO it produced.

The hazards created by this type of equipment are well understood [1]. The problem is that many people do not know about, and are ignorant of those hazards.

[1] https://www.osha.gov/dts/osta/otm/otm_iii/otm_iii_6.html#2

Re: Carbon monoxide poisoning from 3D laser printer may have killed Berkeley couple

#34

Post by pmoriarty »

Makers are often exposed to many toxic compounds, from toxins in salvaged electronics to PCB etching compounds to lead solder and solder fumes. Unfortunately, they rarely have much if any safety training or awareness of the dangers they are exposing themselves to.

Re: Carbon monoxide poisoning from 3D laser printer may have killed Berkeley couple

#35

Post by semi-extrinsic »

pmoriarty wrote: post #25
stcredzero wrote: post #18

CO poisoning is cumulative. It takes a long time for CO to get unstuck from hemoglobin. (About 2 weeks, IIRC.) It could have snuck up on them slowly, then one evening with the cats "napping" they felt particularly tired and thought to themselves, "We must be in hibernation mode from the chilly weather," then they went to sleep then never woke up. CO is odorless. You might get a headache, or you might only feel tired.…

What CO detectors would you recommend?

Omega is one company I would trust for this myself; they sell for industrial applications, not homes, and have a good reputation when it comes to sensors. A CO monitor will set you back $235.

http://www.omega.com/pptst/AQM-103.html

Re: Carbon monoxide poisoning from 3D laser printer may have killed Berkeley couple

#36

Post by jcoffland »

stcredzero wrote: post #18

CO poisoning is cumulative. It takes a long time for CO to get unstuck from hemoglobin. (About 2 weeks, IIRC.) It could have snuck up on them slowly, then one evening with the cats "napping" they felt particularly tired and thought to themselves, "We must be in hibernation mode from the chilly weather," then they went to sleep then never woke up. CO is odorless. You might get a headache, or you might only feel tired.…

If this was indeed a LASER cutter then you would definitely be able to smell all the other gases emitted with the CO. I've got a small LASER cutter and even with the hose going outside the smell very strong.

Re: Carbon monoxide poisoning from 3D laser printer may have killed Berkeley couple

#37

Post by dghughes »

stcredzero wrote: post #18

CO poisoning is cumulative. It takes a long time for CO to get unstuck from hemoglobin. (About 2 weeks, IIRC.) It could have snuck up on them slowly, then one evening with the cats "napping" they felt particularly tired and thought to themselves, "We must be in hibernation mode from the chilly weather," then they went to sleep then never woke up. CO is odorless. You might get a headache, or you might only feel tired.…

I have a fascination with CO poisoning for some reason or at least the chemistry behind it. CO has more than 200 times the affinity for hemoglobin than oxygen does.

You can't just go outside to get fresh air since the CO just won't let go.

I believe the normal way it works is oxygen and carbon dioxide use different sections of hemoglobin molecule so they never interfere with the way each are transported. But CO hogs it all oxygen has no chance of affixing to hemoglobin since there is nowhere to stick.

Re: Carbon monoxide poisoning from 3D laser printer may have killed Berkeley couple

#38

Post by kbuck »

robinhouston wrote: post #23

Off topic, but I’ve never seen the care-of symbol (℅) used in place of percent (%) before. I’m really curious how that could happen. On my keyboard I can type % as shift-5, but there’s no way to type ℅ without selecting it from a list of characters.

On Android, the Google Keyboard has both symbols on the same screen[1], and it's difficult to visually differentiate them. When you see this particular typo, it's probably someone using the Google Keyboard on Android.

[1]: https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/56hwfd/psa_is_diff...

Re: Carbon monoxide poisoning from 3D laser printer may have killed Berkeley couple

#39

Post by mmastrac »

robinhouston wrote: post #23

Off topic, but I’ve never seen the care-of symbol (℅) used in place of percent (%) before. I’m really curious how that could happen. On my keyboard I can type % as shift-5, but there’s no way to type ℅ without selecting it from a list of characters.

This is a problem on Android devices. The ℅ symbol is above the space bar when switching to the symbol keyboard. With the keyboard font as is, the two look very similar.

Re: Carbon monoxide poisoning from 3D laser printer may have killed Berkeley couple

#40

Post by rudedogg »

stcredzero wrote: post #18

CO poisoning is cumulative. It takes a long time for CO to get unstuck from hemoglobin. (About 2 weeks, IIRC.) It could have snuck up on them slowly, then one evening with the cats "napping" they felt particularly tired and thought to themselves, "We must be in hibernation mode from the chilly weather," then they went to sleep then never woke up. CO is odorless. You might get a headache, or you might only feel tired.…

Thanks for saying that, I had no idea CO stays in the body so long. I thought you could just breath fresh air and clear it form your system quickly.
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