Calling Gas Engineers

[shane25]

Hello People

Bit of a strange 1 this, but does Natural gas have any effect on the human body if inhaled (only a small amount) for long periods of time, ie if there was a slight gas leak into a house but not enough to smell it.

Also would it set of a carbon monoxide meter?

so as i get some answers i'll post why, its just a bit of coincidental goings on

Cheers

Shane

[stig1]

i think id ring the gas board rather than post it on here BOOM

[E_T_V]

Hello People

Bit of a strange 1 this, but does Natural gas have any effect on the human body if inhaled (only a small amount) for long periods of time, ie if there was a slight gas leak into a house but not enough to smell it.

Also would it set of a carbon monoxide meter?

so as i get some answers i'll post why, its just a bit of coincidental goings on

Cheers

Shane

First one - not really. Nothing permenant anyhow, nausia and headaches is the usual sort of thing.

Second - no it wouldn't set of a CO alarm as there is no CO in it (hopefully!).

[radddogg]

Does your wife have flatulence?

[Punx0r]

An MSDS or similar source of risk assesment for the gas* would tell you occupational exposure limits.

I'm pretty sure that the stinking agent (ethyl mercaptan) is smellable in rediculously small doses. So if you can't smell it then it's pretty much not there. The few molecules that could possibly be there would do nothing to you even if they were incredibly toxic.

Ethyl mercaptan itself will make you feel sick, but I'm not sure you could get used to the smell so that you didn't smell "gas" all the time?

[carl747]

Ok if you can small gas you must Call national grid 0800 111 999

http://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/Gas/Safety/Emergency/

I use to work on the phones for british gas oh the fun lol

[Gibbo]

Hello People

Bit of a strange 1 this, but does Natural gas have any effect on the human body if inhaled (only a small amount) for long periods of time, ie if there was a slight gas leak into a house but not enough to smell it.

Also would it set of a carbon monoxide meter?

so as i get some answers i'll post why, its just a bit of coincidental goings on

Cheers

Shane

First one - not really. Nothing permenant anyhow, nausia and headaches is the usual sort of thing.

Second - no it wouldn't set of a CO alarm as there is no CO in it (hopefully!).

Yeah il 2nd both of them! and wudnt set off carbon monoxide meter as it only detects gas being burnt incorrectly which like has been said wont have CO in it.

[shane25]

Right the reason i wanted to know is we've had a gas leak for a while (not knowing) and the missus has been suffering with depression and things basicly ever since we moved into the place 2 years ago, she's felt sick, tired, out of breath (she does suffer with ashma (sp)).

The reason we knew there was a gas leak (we couldnt smell anything) was because the carbon monoxide alarm went off and said get out of the house, this has gone off before but just for a few seconds, by the time we've got to it theres nothing wrong.

So the gas board was called out and there was a leak by the meter and the bloke said its an old meter and looks like its been leaking for a while.

It's been a few days now and the missus said her head is starting to feel clearer and she isnt so tired.

I'm not at home very often as i work away and when i am at home i'm not in the house very much, i'm always busy doing something daft, my boy is at school most of the time and when he is home he spend most of his time in his bedroom rebuilding his room (playing), which just leaves my missus and she spends most of her time in the house mainly in the room the gas was leaking into.

I have been looking online and i know carbon monoxide can cause depression and the rest of the symptoms, but can natural gas do the same thing????

Or is all of the just coincidence

Cheers

Shane

[shane25]

Does your wife have flatulence?

Yes she does and yes she blames the dog

[radddogg]

Loving the GTO btw

[Punx0r]

I guess the answer to all the above is "possibly", but proving it would be difficult.

[flukey]

I am assuming you have read up on it ????

* Headache and dizziness. While these may not be the classic warning signals, don’t ignore them.
* Nausea. Especially if you are driving with the windows all rolled up or haven’t opened the windows in your house due to
foul weather.
* People who have been exposed to natural gas poisoning have ended up with epilepsy, sinus, pneumonia, nosebleeds, memory loss, constipation, diarrhea, weight gain, loss of appetite, loss of menstrual cycles, depression, claustrophobia, pain in hands and feet, low grade fever, heart pain, partial-seizures, chest pain and hair loss.

If you smell any leak in your house or in the car, report it immediately and check for the source. Don’t confuse between natural gas leak and carbon monoxide leak. Both gases are equally dangerous and can cause a slow decline in your health. However, natural gas cannot be detected on carbon monoxide leak tester.

Most of the affected patients usually notice the leaks months after living with health issues. The most dangerous effect of this leak is seizure since natural gas cuts your supply of oxygen. Natural gas has a very strong smelling chemical added to make leakage detection easier. If at any time you notice the leak, immediately open the windows of your house/car and sit in the open to breathe some fresh air.

[Gibbo]

Natural gas isnt poisonous to the body, u cant physicly gas urself with natural gas and the smell wudnt harm u because its an additive added so that it can be detected in the case of a gas escape otherwise ud never find it if it wasnt added as natural gas has no smell.

Me personally id say its probably coinsidence all the symptoms ur missus has been experiencing.

But on the plus side if uve had a gas engineer prove it was leaking at the meter get in touch with ur gas provider and try and claim some money back for all the gas uve paid for that u havent used.

Gibbo

[shane25]

Fluke: iirc that is the same site i found and what got me thinking about it

Gibbo: tbh i'm just glad we have found a leak and in 1 sense i hope it was effecting the missus so she can start feeling normal again (not in a calous way)

Radddog: Cheers mate, got some more pictures on another thread in the other marques section

Any way thank you all for the response, its not 100% what i wanted to hear but its still possible the gas could of been effecting the ol woman

Cheers

Shane

[Punx0r]

Gibbo, you can gas yourself to death, hence the "head in the oven" trick I haven't checked, but I think it just displaces oxygen rather than being toxic.

The additive is definitely toxic, but the amount of it is extremely small.

What's the source of that info Fluke? It seems to interchange between natural gas and gasoline?

[skintoss]

The head in the oven was when gas used to be manufactured, called 'towns gas'. The only way you'd do it now is by igniting the gas while your head was in the oven!

[Limecat]

The head in the oven was when gas used to be manufactured, called 'towns gas'. The only way you'd do it now is by igniting the gas while your head was in the oven!

You would need a fault for starters...

[darwin]

The head in the oven was when gas used to be manufactured, called 'towns gas'.

Also called coal gas. Used in Northern Ireland until the late 80s , i can still remember the smell and putting 50p in the meter under the stairs.

The stuff they add to modern gas is STINKING. We had a small leak recently and the smell was really bad and very distinctive.

[Punx0r]

Natural gas = methane

Methane is also an asphyxiant and may displace oxygen in an enclosed space.

Same as CO2 etc. If you fill a box with it and breathe the contents bad times await you!

Coal gas apparently chiefly constitutes hydrogen, methane and carbon monoxide.

Ethyl Mercaptan is smellable in concentrations of 1 part in 2.8 billion

Occupational exposure limit seems to be 0.5 PPM

[radddogg]

Natural gas = methane

If you fill a box with it and breathe the contents bad times await you!

Damn it, I was going to save my farts in a box

[Punx0r]

Dunno how true it is, but apparently the smelly stuff in farts breaks down fairly quickly, so storing one in a jar etc doesn't work

[darwin]

Natural gas = methane

Could be butane or propane.

[Punx0r]

I'm guessing if they were off-grid and running from an LPG tank, they would have a gas meter? Unless it was a communal tank?