I know a guy who died from a freak release of H2S at a natural spring. That stuff is immediately fatal when concentrations are over 500-1000 parts per million and concentrations of less than that can make you big time disoriented. It is said at lower concentrations you feel tired so you sit down and breath even more in. Couple that with it being heavier than air, it sinks so sitting down you breath in more concentrated amounts.
Who knows if that is what happened here, but it isn't out of the realm of possibility.
The concentrations for immediate death ( without someone giving CPR/medical assistance) are a bit higher than the 500 ppm. Though 500 will put some people down......it generally requires a bit more for immediate or near immediate unconsciousness! Extended time in 500 or so will certainly “put you down”! My first sense of being in a higher concentration other than the “rotten egg” smell which quickly goes away was getting a strong metallic taste from the fillings in my teeth! I worked in a sour gas (H2S) plant from ‘85 until my retirement. The H2S gas to our SRU ( Sulfur Recovery Unit......which transforms H2S to elemental sulfur) was 820,000 ppm. Capable of killing you ......820,000 times! 🤪
All that said, it is completely feasible that a sudden gas release could have been the COD. Stranger things have happened! memtb
Last edited by memtb; 08/25/21.
You should not use a rifle that will kill an animal when everything goes right; you should use one that will do the job when everything goes wrong." -Bob Hagel
“I’d like to be a good rifleman…..but, I prefer to be a good hunter”! memtb 2024
