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

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

#171

Post by MertsA »

JshWright wrote: post #75
TacticalMalice wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The normal half-life of carboxyhemoglobin, when the patient is breathing room air, is 240 to 360 minutes (4-6 hours). The half-life of COHb can be decreased to 80 minutes with the administration of 100% oxygen.

It can be brought down even faster with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Hyperbaric chambers are reasonably common, due to usage in both (SCUBA) diving related medicine and various therapies for wound care. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/conditions/non-...

>It can be brought down even faster with hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

What's the limit on that? The link you posted says 2.5 atm of pure oxygen but how does that not cause oxygen toxicity?

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

#172

Post by hunterashmore »

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.…

an addition here - there are two classifications of CO poisoning: acute and chronic. Acute is deadly in anywhere between minutes and hours. Chronic ranges from not deadly to lethal and can be after hours, days, or months of exposure.

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

#173

Post by hunterashmore »

tropo wrote: post #158

Having tried one, I wouldn't trust a detector. That was money not well spent. I could generate lots of CO, and nothing would register. Maybe flawed units are super-rare, but I'm more than tempted to assume the industry is a fraud. Why even bother? The device has one job, and it fails. All you get is a false sense of safety.

Depends on the type of unit you had. A "sensor" certainly should have picked up lower levels, but most "alarms" don't go off unless harmful limits are hit - often calibrated at or above 100ppm, depending on the unit specs.

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

#174

Post by sulam »

anigbrowl wrote: post #163
sulam wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should they have known better? He was a software engineer and she may have had exposure to lab technique but a Glowforge doesn't scream "needs an industrial hood" or anything. Yes, they clearly _could_ have known better, but 'should' seems to be making too-strong assumptions about their class work, MIT or other. They could have had economics degrees for all we know (less likely given their careers, but you get my…

I read the safety notices that manufacturers affix to their products and take them at face value unless I have reason to believe otherwise. It seems kinda stupid not to.

And it said you don't need to vent if you use the filter.

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

#175

Post by sulam »

anigbrowl wrote: post #165
dragonwriter wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, while I get that the general public misses this, I'm surprised to see people who apparently think that "engineer" means a Star Trek-style omnicompetent generalist.

I dunno man, if something says you need to ventilate it by putting an exhaust hose outside, I figure there must be a good reason for that. I have a lot of hazardous chemicals in my house because I paint and a lot of artist paints have toxic ingredients. I read the safety warnings carefully even though I know little of chemistry.

It says you don't need to vent if you use the filter.

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

#176

Post by agumonkey »

allenrabinovich wrote: post #101

Hi folks. Val and Roger were dear friends, and I am on the ground here, and I'd like to respectfully ask that you refrain from speculation. The press is rushing to print sensational items, and they don't know the actual facts. I've been talking to the police directly, and nothing is conclusive yet. Nothing has actually been ruled out, nor determined to be the cause. They don't even have full toxicology reports yet, t…

Do you think there's even a physical possibility with the material used with printers ?

Condolences

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

#177

Post by Baeocystin »

MertsA wrote: post #171
JshWright wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It can be brought down even faster with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Hyperbaric chambers are reasonably common, due to usage in both (SCUBA) diving related medicine and various therapies for wound care. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/conditions/non-...

>It can be brought down even faster with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. What's the limit on that? The link you posted says 2.5 atm of pure oxygen but how does that not cause oxygen toxicity?

According to the toxicity curve from wikipedia, even at 2.5 bar, you wouldn't start to see issues until ~4 hours have past. That's enough time to remove quite a bit of CO.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_toxicity#/media/File:Pu...

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

#178

Post by agumonkey »

danshapiro wrote: post #84
Animats wrote: post #44

"3D laser printer" probably means a Glowforge. Nobody else calls them that. Their documentation says "Lasers normally require some ventilation via a small tube out a nearby window. Our optional Air Filter that sits under Glowforge and ventilates using HEPA filters and charcoal, meaning no outside ventilation is required." That won't do much if you cut something that emits carbon monoxide when heated. That includes so…

I'm the CEO and cofounder of Glowforge - we're so saddened by this tragedy. Our product was not involved, but that doesn't make us feel any better about this loss. If you use a laser, ours or anyone else's, please go back right now and re-read the safety instructions. Accidents like this should never happen. My heart breaks for those affected by this.

Are there CO detectors to buy to react before it's too late ?

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

#179

Post by arkhorn »

Hi, i've a co2 laser cutting (40w) idle all the time (i do not use it anymore) since around one year in the room close to my bedroom. even when idle its dangerous ? i really don't know what to do, what do you suggest me guys. thanks in advance

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

#180

Post by arkhorn »

Hi, i've a co2 laser cutting (40w) idle all the time (i do not use it anymore) since around one year in the room close to my bedroom. even when idle its dangerous ? i really don't know what to do, what do you suggest me guys. thanks in advance
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