Diesel fumes and health
Discussion
Ok so our garage is heated by diesel space heaters that are inside the building.
As they begin to be switched on again for the winter I can really feel it in the back of my throat, despite the ventilation.
Google is confusing....is it the carbon monoxide thats harmful or the noX, or both, and the main question is can I buy a measuring tool at reasonable money to check levels?
Cheers!!
As they begin to be switched on again for the winter I can really feel it in the back of my throat, despite the ventilation.
Google is confusing....is it the carbon monoxide thats harmful or the noX, or both, and the main question is can I buy a measuring tool at reasonable money to check levels?
Cheers!!
Both and also particulates.
You might find this useful: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pUbns/priced/hsg187.pdf
You might find this useful: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pUbns/priced/hsg187.pdf
When I was researching for my PhD.... Many health based papers at the time, some of which were studies done on those working in bus-depots, never did find anything long term (mostly, I suspect, because they couldn't separate out the signals from the noise and a lot the employees smoked anyway), but did find short term irritation of the eye and throat.
I suspect a diesel heater should burn cleanly in terms of PM due to the high temps and steady state nature. But that means it'll be belting out NOx quite readily. CO emission should be low based on my knowledge of diesel engine emissions; if you get good, complete combustion and high temps then you get little in the way of PM, CO and unburned HCs but boat loads of NOx.
More recent research does warn against exposure to ultra-fines.... that is PM2.5 and smaller (2.5 micron particles) as these are the ones that can get right into your lungs. The bigger stuff is normally caught by the bogies.
Can certainly get CO detectors. But NOx and PM? unsure! In emissions testing we use filter paper and weighing or fancy kit that can count particles (very expensive and not something you just having running in the corner of the room). Similarly for NOx the detectors are either chemiluminescence or quantum cascade laser.
Perhaps you could get something like an industrial flue gas analyser? should measure everything and they are portable.
Or Horiba Mexa 584 which is a portable automotive emissions analyser (basic, but good enough for a garage to check tail pipe) that'll do CO, CO2, NO and Hydrocarbons.
I suspect a diesel heater should burn cleanly in terms of PM due to the high temps and steady state nature. But that means it'll be belting out NOx quite readily. CO emission should be low based on my knowledge of diesel engine emissions; if you get good, complete combustion and high temps then you get little in the way of PM, CO and unburned HCs but boat loads of NOx.
More recent research does warn against exposure to ultra-fines.... that is PM2.5 and smaller (2.5 micron particles) as these are the ones that can get right into your lungs. The bigger stuff is normally caught by the bogies.
Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Monday 2nd October 16:32
Can certainly get CO detectors. But NOx and PM? unsure! In emissions testing we use filter paper and weighing or fancy kit that can count particles (very expensive and not something you just having running in the corner of the room). Similarly for NOx the detectors are either chemiluminescence or quantum cascade laser.
Perhaps you could get something like an industrial flue gas analyser? should measure everything and they are portable.
Or Horiba Mexa 584 which is a portable automotive emissions analyser (basic, but good enough for a garage to check tail pipe) that'll do CO, CO2, NO and Hydrocarbons.
Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Monday 2nd October 16:39
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