Tim, The gas that caused the accident could be any number of different gases. Methane, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, or just lack of oxygen. Methane is usually colorless and odorless and would be difficult to detect. It is flammable and explosive in the right mixture of oxygen. Generally, it will displace oxygen and will naturally decompose to carbon dioxide and water. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) usually smells like rotten eggs and is very toxic and also flammable. It also gives off a smell of rotten eggs. I'm not sure that they would have gone into the mine if it smelled real bad. Then again, you do become desensitized to H2S. Carbon dioxide has been well discussed in Texascavers and can act as an asphyxiant and is also toxic. It is a common mine gas and in the eastern US coal fields is called blackdamp and is probably the most likely cause of the problem. Then again, if there as a fire in the mine or cave, this could have resulted in carbon monoxide poisoning.
G From: Tim Stich [mailto:timstic...@gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 10:53 PM To: Cavers Texas Subject: Re: [Texascavers] 6 cave fatalities Hydrogen sulfide gas maybe? On Tue, Feb 16, 2010 at 8:56 PM, David <dlocklea...@gmail.com<mailto:dlocklea...@gmail.com>> wrote: A group of 7 kids, age 10 & 11, ventured into a cave to explore it Monday. It had bad air, and 6 of them died. http://english.eastday.com/e/100217/u1a5025063.html I presume it was a mine shaft and not a real cave, as they referred to it as a "mining cave." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com<mailto:texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com> For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com<mailto:texascavers-h...@texascavers.com>
