CBS Early Morning -- Carbon Monoxide

[Steel Shootin']

Did anyone else see the story this morning on CBS about people dying while "teak surfing?" This is where (usually) kids hang off of the transom platform while the boat pulls them through the water. People who do this are at risk of sudden death due to the carbon monoxide levels.

There were some interesting facts that I was not aware of, such as:

1. Workplace levels of carbon monoxide that reach 1200ppm are deemed life threatening. Boat exhaust can create a level of 26,000 ppm!

2. A single boat engine (presumably inboard) creates the exhaust of 188 cars!

3. An area where boats congregate can create life threatening carbon monoxide levels, without evening being behind a boat. One young and healthy victim fell dead while standing in waste deep water in what appeared to be a scene like you might see at Sheppards on Clearwater Beach (although this was out of state).

4. As little as three breaths of this level of carbon monoxide can cause dangerous levels. You may experience no warning and be rendered suddenly unconcsious.

I thought this was noteworthy because as divers, we obviously board at the transom. Exhaust has not been a problem since I got a four stroke, but we've all climbed into inboards when the exhaust chokes you half to death. Some two strokes, too. If the operator won't kill the engines, I would strongly recommend keeping the reg in your mouth and breathing from the tank until well inside the boat (good practice anyway, for other safety reasons).

Be careful, and if you know kids that "teak surf," tell them they could die from it!

[Steel Shootin']

I got to thinking some more about this, and was wondering about the effects of high carbon monoxide at the transom prior to a dive. If a diver is waiting at the transom to be told to drop, and breathing in moderate amounts of carbon monoxide, and then starts his dive with an increased blood level of this poison.....it seems reasonable to ask if this would put him at a higher risk for sudden blackout during the dive. I am not trying to speculate about any one incident, but it just has me thinking since seeing this report. I think it would be a good idea from the time you are suited up and at the back of the boat to have the reg in the mouth. We've all been suited up at the transom, waiting for the signal to roll into the water. Sometimes you spend a couple of minutes or more back there. I can recall times where the exhaust has been so bad waiting to drop that I damn near gagged and was forced to stick the reg in my mouth.

Draw your own conclusions......just food for thought. In the future, when I am starting or finishing a dive that leads me to the transom, the reg is in the mouth!

Story Link (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/30/earlyshow/health/main626829.shtml)

[fishspearit]

Sounds like a good policy to keep the reg in around an exhausting engine. I always figured it was bad, but didn't know it was that lethal. I'm still trying to figure out how a boat's exhaust can be 188 times as much as a car. I can see how a diesel would be different than gas, or 2 stroke vs. 4 stroke. But a 350 gas engine in a boat, and a 350 gas engine in a car, what's the difference? The catalytic converter?

[deepstops]

A complete lack of emmissions control. The spec for scuba air is really low, like 10ppm or less. I'll be back with a definitive answer later today.

If I'm not mistaken, weren't there some scuba deaths from high CO fills in the Tampa area in the last ten years that were caused by a delivery truck idling next to the inlet on a compressor?

There were also two confirmed deaths in the Akumal area in Mexico from CO this year.

[ramblin'wreck]

Why weren't those kids wearing lifejackets? Obviously sucking CO-laden exhaust was the real problem there, but who would let a kid ride a tube or waterski without a life vest? Seems like the same thinking would apply to "teak surfing". Very sad.

[Ed Walker]

Ive notived it while dragging for lobsters beind an outboard boat. You can taste the exhaust thru your snorkel. Thats when its time to let the rope back a little farther.