Sulfur Inhalation on Mount Hood

[Joe_Poulton]

I'm just wanting to conduct a little research. On my recent trip from Timberline around the Eastside of Mount Hood and up the Cooper Spur. I experienced a painful reaction to the sulfur venting in the crater area on the Southside while descending.

 

When I got home I tried to eat and drink water immediately...well I couldn't. Instantly, I felt like I couldn't down anything including air. I tried to drink more water, then my airway felt like it was burning away. So, I decided that I might just be super dehydrated and in an attempt to hydrate in a less obtrusive way I hopped in a Hot shower and took in all the steam I could...that fixed it momentarily, but I was able to drink more water and then eat in a few more hours.

 

Then, today in my EMT-B course we lectured about poisons and toxins of the various sorts. I got thinking, descending through the South crater I was getting tired more rapidly then normal...less oxygen because it got displaced by the Sulfur Dioxide I was breathing. Then I did some research into the effects of inhalation. It can cause pulmonary edema over an extended exposure period. It reacts with water to cause sulfuric acid, um my throat burned after adding water...

 

Before you take the time to read the rest of this post. I want to know if anyone else has experienced any similar reactions?

 

FACTS I have found

 

"Colorless nonflammable poison gas with highly irritating pungent odor. Irritating and corrosive to

exposed tissues. Inhalation of vapors may cause dangerous retention of body fluid in the lungs

(pulmonary edema) and chemical pneumonitis.

 

Corrosive and irritating to the upper and lower respiratory tract and all mucosal tissue. Initial symptoms of exposure include nose and throat irritation, becoming steadily worse, suffocating

and painful. The irritation extends to the chest causing a cough reflex which may be violent and painful and

may include the discharge of blood or vomiting with eventual collapse. Other symptoms include headache,

general discomfort and anxiety. Chemical pneumonitis and pulmonary edema may result from exposure to the

lower respiratory tract and deep lung.

 

MEDICAL CONDITIONS AGGRAVATED BY EXPOSURE: May aggravate pre-existing eye, skin, and

respiratory disorders. Smokers and persons with pre-existing respiratory, nasal, and cardiovascular disease may

be more susceptible to effects of sulfur dioxide exposure.

 

INHALATION: The irritant action of sulfur dioxide is believed to be caused by the formation of sulfurous

acid when the gas dissolves. Bronchoconstriction caused by sulfur dioxide is concentration related. Fifteen

humans which inhaled 1, 5, or 25 ppm sulfur dioxide for 6 hours (nose-breathing) exhibited reduced forced

expiratory volume and forced expiratory flow at all concentrations. Significant reduction in nasal mucous flow

rate was seen following exposure to 5 and 25 ppm."

 

These were excerpted from BOC Gases MSDS found here in PDF.

 

Thank you for reading all that. I hoping to turn some info from this into my EMS paper for my EMT-B course at NWRTC.

Edited March 30, 2010 by Joe_Poulton

[Ryan Canfield]

thats nuts. ive walked through the crater many times and nearly puked several times. i almost couldnt handle it... i knew that shit was bad

Edited March 30, 2010 by Ryan Canfield

[Water]

first few times i found it sickening. now i kind of like it, reminds me of fireworks or matches, which i have always loved. Levels must really fluctuate based upon the wind of course, but also just what is coming out of the vents at any given time.

 

for instance a buddy of mine went down into the fumarole right at the base of where crater rock and the hogsback are (the one that is extra toilet-bowl like). he was in for about 30-40 seconds, under the snow/outside of visibility. I was pretty much freaked out since he voluntarily did it without telling me what he was doing and it was his first time at the hogsback and all.. but he said it wasn't bad..

[Joe_Poulton]

Thanks Water and Ryan,

 

Although, building up a tolerance to this crap can't be good. However, it does all depend on how much of a concentration is pocketed there for one to breathe in at any given time. I know in May 1999 the last time I walked down the Southside I didn't even smell the sulfur or see any active vents for that matter. The mountain is a bit more active. Has anyone done any scientific studies of Mount Hood's output and it's composition?

[OffTheSteppe]

That's crazy, i read a report once that someone went into one of the fumaroles on Hood and died. Don't ever go into a closed space where that gas is. BTW there can also be Hydrogen Sulfide gas (rotten egg smell) but that is really bad. You can smell it in very small concentrations but as the concentration increases your nose goes numb to the smell so you think "Oh great, not so bad, I'll descend into here further" - the next thing you know you can't move because you have been breathing poison gas - then you die.

[MarkMcJizzy]

Link

 

There are more than a few dangerous gases in volcanic vents. Almost four years ago three ski patrollers were killed by gasses at Mammoth Mountain. Volcanic gasses can contain lethal quantities of H2S, SO2, CO, CO2 and others.

[Water]

OffTheSteppe,

 

Yeah, I was steeling myself for him not emerging from the hole and having to figure out some sort of extraction sans rope (not really anyone up at the hogsback then). It was an uncool thing to do, imho. There is a great read, I forget where, maybe turnsallyear? about a guy who got separated from his partner at the top of rainier in a whiteout and ended up doing a night in a fumarole/vent up at the top of rainier. There was a lot of inquiry into "how did you know it wouldn't kill you???" on the thread and I think he said he'd read or been involved in actual monitoring research?

 

I've seen some sensors of sorts embedded into the mud/clay/whatever on the bare ground just to the west of the hogsback. Seemed like it was mostly temperature monitors, couldn't tell if they were 1 year old and battered as a result of the extreme conditions, or had been there for a few decades.

[OffTheSteppe]

Joe Poulton,did your friend say he went into a rock cave or was he just exploring between the ice and rock boundary? What was it like in there?

[Joe_Poulton]

OffTheSteppe you're talking to Water, not me. Water's buddy went in the hole.

[Water]

OffTheSteppe:

I will ask him. He had a bunch of clay'ish mud caked onto him all over, so i am guessing he was between snow/ice and ground. I wasn't really interested in details considering I led him up there (first time) and after hanging out for an hour, without telling me he just glissaded down the hogsback and walked in a spiral like water going down a drain, ending with a jump into the fumarole and out of sight from any spot on the hogsback. I'm no climbing, mt hood, or fumarole expert, or even close, and my buddy is even less so, so to me it seemed very stupid to do, especially without even communicating about it. It gives me fears that if he was interested in climbing, he'd pull a stunt like dropping off the north face of hood to 'check it out'. I don't want to deal with that. though i would probably take it as constructive criticism if someone said I needed to lighten up.

 

Joe Poulton:

http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=10009.0 that TR may interest you a bit in the inner environ of vents/fumaroles.

 

I assume you've found this site as well:

http://glaciercaves.com/html/mounth_1.HTM

[luvshaker]

I had isolated experience decending in winter a couple of years ago that left me really sick. The next day I woke up and my eyes were basically crusted shut from mucus they were producing. Totally wierd.

 

Could mandatory MLU money pay for a chopper to plug up that hole?

[Joe_Poulton]

Thanks Water and Luvshaker...

 

Luvshaker sounds like the Sulfur Dioxide turned to Sulfuric acid and gave your eyes a serious issue. Did you visit the ER or just let things take it's course? Can you still see well? How long did it take to heal?

 

 

Edited March 31, 2010 by Joe_Poulton