Cleaning Agents? SimpleGreen at depth?

[skuba_girl]

This past weekend I had the misfortune to get some bad NITROX from a local shop. I had just picked them up from inspection..loaded in the car and went diving. Dove 3 dives which resulted in a progressively horrendous headache. Sitting out the 4th dive I began to feel better. This is...this happened last year too right after I had my tanks serviced. Any clue how toxic is SimpleGreen, at say 4atm, if residual left in tanks? BTW..getting the mix tested by a third party.

 

[pickens_46929]

You would *taste* simple green... it's bad tasting if it's not rinsed out well enough. Know of one DM at the local shop that didn't quite get his tanks rinsed very well and went diving. Not sure if he had a headache or not but it sure left a bad taste in his mouth.

Headache can be a lot of things including sinuses, CO2 in the tank, CO2 build-up in your system, etc. I've had a headache on some dives simply because the exhaust bubble noise just got to me.

Hopefully your gas analysis will show something worth noting and you'll have it figured out.

 

[skuba_girl]

I've had the same headaches you are speaking about...this was a totally different type...I have to disagree with you. I'm confident there was something in the tank that was not supposed to be there. Will let you know of my findings.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I bet that the air would smell of simple green if there was much in there. It has a distinctive smell. Did you look inside any of the tanks for evidence of contamination?

 

[DandyDon]

This reminds me of why I test every tank fill for CO. Pocket CO - Miniature Carbon Monoxide Detector and Dosimeter

Do let us know what the test show, please.

 

[Dr Deco]

The amount of vapors in Simple Green is determined by the temperature. Four ATA would not chanage this.

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi Susie,

No fun.

As others have said, you would have smelled/tasted any "Simple Green" that may have remained in the tank, and this would not be depth dependent.

Also, there all manner of solvents, acids, release agents and the like that may be used, either singly or in combination, in "cleaning" EAN tanks and some are pretty nasty.

In any event, you'll know more once the mix analysis has been completed.

Please keep the forum posted.

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Shops are moving away from Sinmple Green to Simple Green Crystal for O2 cleaning as it is much easier to rinse and has almost no odor. It is also non toxic and other than breathing a concentrated mist of the stuff it should not cause any issues on a dive.

There may have been something wrong with the gas, but I doubt it was unrinsed simple green.

If the shop is really old school they may still be using cleaners that are often very toxic, although those fell out of favor at least a decade ago.

I have to ask...If you were not feeling good on the first dive and felt worse on the second, why even do the third - especially if you suspected gas contamination?

 

[skuba_girl]

My sence of taste (no pun intended) is not all that great most of the time. Thank you to everyone who responded. Now, back to my original question...is there anything in it that would be toxic if breathed at depth (if ones ability to taste is unfortunately out of order)?

 

[DocVikingo]

Now, back to my original question...is there anything in it that would be toxic if breathed at depth

Hi Susie,

I'll open by restating that the amount of vapors from this product would be dependent upon temperature, not pressure alone. Increases in dive depth, by themselves, would not alter the number of molecules involved. Just for the academic fun of it, the expected temperature of a SCUBA cylinder at depth v at the surface likely would actually result in vapors, toxic and otherwise, being available in smaller amounts.

To continue, best as I can determine, given the listed chemicals in regular "Simple Green" it contains nothing that would be toxic even in much greater concentrations and longer exposures than would be involved in the scenario under discussion.

Helpful?

Regards.

DocVikingo

This is educational only and does not constitute or imply a doctor-patient relationship. It is not medical advice to you or any other individual and should not be construed as such.