Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am deeply worried. We were just informed via loudspeakers by the fire-department who went by all the houses.

A metal processing factory is on fire. "Nitrose"-gas is escaping and flowing through our village. The plant is 3 km away. They say we shall keep windows and doors closed till tomorrow morning.

We now do not know what to do - would it be better to take the car and leave the area and thus be exposed to the gas for a while or should we stay inside and hope for the best?

We have old windows and there definitely is a minor exchange of air from outside to inside even when the windows are closed.

Would there be any remedy we should take as a preventive measure?

Please advise, I am having a really hard time and I am very frightened.

Thank you

Bettina

[ 25 July 2002, 20:16: Message edited by: Bettina ]

From the internet I learned that this gas is very poisonous. Another German word (which I cannot translate) for it is "Stickoxid". "Stickstoff" would be Nitrogen, from the word I (without much knowledge of Chemistry) would think it would be oxidized Nitrogen.

Symptoms of poisoning are:

upon contact:

- irritation of conjunctiva
- coughing
- weakness and vertigo
- retching

after three to 24 hours:

- toxic lung edema

I am close to a state of shock, very, very worried and frightened.

I am currently having a cold which makes me cough and I often feel nausea when I am very frightened. This makes the situation worse because I will not know whether there is any gas inside our apartment. I so far have not found whether this gas has an odor so that we could smell it but at the same time I presently cannot smell anything because my nose is stuffed due to the cold.

Do you know whether this gas has a smellable odor to it? Unfortunately I cannot translate the gas, it is not in my dictionary.

Bettina

[ 25 July 2002, 20:44: Message edited by: Bettina ]

Bettina,

I hope someone answers you soon who is knowledgable in these matters. I can only think of Nitric Acid, which is in the rubric
Toxicity, chemicals, sensitive to, and of course, struck me because Nitric and Nitrous must be in the same family.

We all dread this occurrence, living in a world of toxic chemicals instead of all the natural alternatives that exist!

Surf the web using Homeopathy as a search word, and see if anyone's web site covers toxic exposure.

I hope someone else responds soon!

Good luck,
Snoopy

Bettina - call the fire dept and the poison control center and see if they can advise you. Let them know the info you found on the web and that you will not just sit back patiently while being exposed to toxins but that you want to know what to do for your safety.

__________________
Man, do not pride yourself on your superiority to animals. For they are without sin and you in your greatness defile the earth by your appearance on it and leave traces of you foulness after you. Dostoyevsky

As a chemistry teacher in my other life I suspect that the gas is Nitrogen Dioxide N2O2 and I repeat what I wrote in a mail to you just now . Stay indoors and take an Aconite for the fear. Repeat if you need it. Also use EFT to help you cope with it. By the time it gets the 3 miles to you it will be well dispersed so try not to worry. It doess have a smell if I remember but to describe it is difficult. It is like an acrid bleach smell.
Please reply as soon as possible so we know you are OK.

__________________
RSHom - Registered Homeopath

I would try to find someplace to go to for the night that is definitely out of the danger area rather than stay in the house.

I don't know anything about the gas, itself.

__________________
Shirley Reischman

Ricky was posting the same time as I was. It sounds like she knows about it and I would follow her advice.

__________________
Shirley Reischman

I have just sent her a text message and it was received so if she replies I will post here.

Sorry it now coming up not delivered which means her mobile phone is not on. However it is 10.30pm so maybe she has gone to bed.

[ 25 July 2002, 21:38: Message edited by: Ricky ]

__________________
RSHom - Registered Homeopath

I followed Barb's advice and called the national poison advice center, my father and the local fire-department. (Why did not I think about calling them? Thank you, Barb. Sometimes the most obvious solution/action is the hardest to find.)

All of them said stay home and do not go outside. Currently they are finding/measuring ammonia in the air around the emergency site and in the cloud moving towards us but not straight towards us any more. The whole thing is caused not by a fire but by a massive chemical reaction that will most probably continue for a while.

The fire-department officer also remarked that picking up the car would most probably result in more exposure than staying with the windows and doors closed till tomorrow morning.

The fire-department officer on the phone also said I should not worry and we can rest assured that if there is more or real danger for our health they will at once come again, inform with loudspeakers and evacuate. (I feel so sorry for all the animals outside and which do not know what is going on and which cannot seek shelter, it is so unfair!) He also said we can put damp towels the leaking windows which I did before posting back here.

The computer is in the room with the poorest windows. Our bedroom and the rest of the apartment have better windows. So I will now leave the room with the computer and try to sleep after a big round of EFT. I do not smell any ammonia and I am convinced I would recognize that even with the cold stuffing my nose.

My boyfriend is against leaving - we would have to find a hotel, the closest place we could stay with family or friends going north (danger is south) are my parents 5 hours drive away. He promised, however, as soon as we smell anything we will leave.

We are listening to the radio as also advised by the fire department.

Of course I will come back tomorrow morning (or later this night if I cannot go to sleep) and let you know how the situation developed.

Thank you so much for replying so fast. I am very grateful and after the phonecalls I am a little calmer again.

Bettina

Ricky, I just now saw your post after posting my previous one. The cell phone never is turned on but I picked up your message when I read that you texted. Thank you so very much for caring about us. I guess we are ok and I hope we will still be ok. It is going to be an interesting night. I plan to set the alarm-clock to the full hours to listen to the updates on the situation.

Than you again to all of you

Bettina