Posted: 6/25/2004 6:38:46 AM EDT
Were is DrFridge when you need him! 
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Not sure whether he was referring the 'officer' is fire or police. I'm guessing that he was a HazMat Tech. I'd be curious as to what made him think of phosgene right offhand, or how/when they ID'd it as phosgene. Not trying to Monday-morning quarterback - purely professional curiosity, as you usually don't carry chem detection gear into a scene. I guess it depends on how it was dispatched. I'd guess that dispatch gave them a heads-up that the victims were 'experiencing irritation problems due to possible contamination' or some such. Maybe I'll see if I can get hold of FM Mulliner and get the lowdown on this.... |
It wasn't the heating of the Freon that caused the gas...........there was probably sandwhiches in the machine with mustard packets. The super heated mustard packets bursted causing mustard gasses to be released! |
I wouldn't be surprised if it is the new stuff that did this! Probably just calling it "Freon" to keep it simple for the sheeple or the spokesman is ignorant or the press blunders as usual! BTW, burning PVC pipe produces plenty of Phosgene!  I am surprised we don't have to register it, as it could be dangerous for the "Children".
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Probably because of its Acrid smell and its burning of the nasal passages and eyes. Phosgene turns to Hydrochloric acid in contact with water! 
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Worked with phsogene and phosphine before. Very bad stuff. Try to put it out with water and you can get phosphoric acid. Used in some semiconductor facilties (to make the computer chips in your cell phones). By the way you can still get freon, you just have to be licensed to do so. Grainger sells it on a regular basis to HVAC licensed contractors. Link to MSDS for Phosgene related materials: Phosgene MSDS Notice that levels of 50 to 90 ppm are RAPIDLY fatal. OSHA considers it IDLH (immediately dangerous to life and health) at 2 ppm. Your lungs will be burning out of your body at about 20 ppm for only a few minutes of exposure. We used to run drills with our ERT in the case of a phosgene or phosphine release. Real nasty stuff. Guess that's why the Germans used it as a mustard gas. |
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I thought it was a known thing. We got training on it in the Navy as well. No smoking around the a/c stuff or you could kill youself if there was a freon leak. No going in with oba's, only forced air. We only had one scott pack and it was to go into the a/c machinery room. |
Probably saw that a refrigeration device went 'boom', and from there... |
Tannerite?  Wouldn't that make for an interesting line of vending machines? You could sell |
Phosgene and Mustard agent are two completely different chemicals! Phosgene is a choking agent! Kills by Pulmonary edema! Mustard agent is a Blister agent and Nasty shit! Here is some of its handy work! 
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stuff is , bad fer ya,,very bad, i am hvac cert'd. ive actually gotten sick off the stuff . what happens is freon (we will say household in your a/c unit r22,) when in its gas form is even fatal( heavier than oxygen, ya sufficate ,,diplaces the o2) when you do a/c work, welding/brazing lines together in a used unit(ie repair or appliance disposal/replacement) the left over grass burns,, (makes your weldingflame green) this turns the r22(or other coolent) in to phosgene. anyway,,, it sucks i was installin an air handler in a closet in a apt. basically no ventalation. i went to welding didnt think of it,,went up on the roof to fill the unit with coolent and i started gettin sick,, dizzy,, headache the whole 9 yards,and it lasted a few hours,, and thats just from a few minutes,,it was also the 1st time aroundit,, it has a bad taste/oder to it, as i siad it was my first experiance with it and didnt think much of it. now i make sure to stay away from that stuff the best i can( useing a fan open windows ectect) as to the ""OMg there gonna kill us with freon""" doubt it,,, not just anyone can walk in a buy freon off teh shelf,,yes ,, they could go aorund and get it but why.. lets drag around a 30lb jug of r22 ,, and blow it up,, you have to burn the freon to get the gas,,, but whats the point then,,, guess this means some tree huggin hippy group will try to get tuffer EPA laws on our already strict refrigerant codes....oh welll.... |