Originally Posted by
Darth Lefty
I never have yet heard of anyone dying of CO while outdoors. Maybe in some industrial setting it could happen.
CO is just slightly lighter than air so it diffuses and gets diluted. A large release
might result in an open air fatality but it would have to a whole lot. CO is more of a problem in enclosed spaces. I did work on a project where we were making very high concentrations of carbon monoxide through gasification of biomass which would probably have resulted in enough of a release of CO to cause a fatality in open air but that was thousands of cubic feet of syngas at about 60% concentration. It was also quite hot…500°C (950°F)…so your lungs would be toast before they had a chance to absorb any CO. In fact, we eroded an elbow on a transfer line (10” line) and the jet ignited into a 15’ jet of flame.
There's not much anyhow because engines operate near ideal mixture to mostly make water / CO2. Then, CO is one of the things converted in the catalytic converter. Which by the way is an amazing excellent invention we should all be thankful for.
I’ve been meaning to mention this but have been looking for actual numbers. Basically, it’s next to impossible to die of CO poisoning in a closed garage anymore because there is very little CO produced by modern engines. Even a tank of gas wouldn’t do it.
An N95 mask is the minimum to filter particles you are breathing in, which is more reasonable to argue about. There is a nonmedical version (3M 8511) that filters only in, not out so it breathes a little easier. I researched this in consideration of buying a box for when it's fire season around here, ultimately decided to just drive. But merely for car exhaust? Anything better is a respirator with filter cans like they use for auto painting and for filming Breaking Bad
Even respirator filters aren’t all that effective against CO. There are some canisters that can work but they are larger and heavier than normal filters. Carbon monoxide is difficult because it is a permanent gas and permanent gases are hard to absorb onto anything. There are
emergency breathing systems for mines that last about 4 hours but they don’t use activated charcoal.