THE gas which took the lives of two men who were working at Ettamogah’s paper mill has similar effects to cyanide, a poisons expert says.
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Lyndon Quinlivan, 37, and Ben Pascall, 28, died after being overcome by gas at the Ettamogah site on Thursday and 22-year-old Tom Johnson is still fighting for life in intensive care.
Australasian College of Toxicology and Risk Assessment president Peter Di Marco said hydrogen sulphide was a “very toxic gas”.
“Inhalation is the major route of exposure, it gets in the lungs very easily and then causes all sorts of chaos,” Dr Di Marco said.
“It shuts off the oxygen access of the cells and all the cells die.
“It has an effect similar to cyanide.
“People lose consciousness because it attacks the nervous system and breathing stops and the heart stops.”
Dr Di Marco said there was “no specific antidote”.
He said the safe exposure level in industrial situations for an eight-hour time-weighted average was ten parts per million, which is the equivalent of 14 milligrams per cubic metre.
If the substance, also known as rotten egg gas, is at 100 parts per million it is considered immediately dangerous to life.
While 300 to 500 creates fluid on the lungs and 600 or more is fatal.