• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.26-31
• /
• 2009

Hydrogen sulfide is a by-product of decayed organic material and is ubiquitously found as an ingredient of manufacturing reagents or as an undesirable by-product of the manufacturing or industrial processing. Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical asphyxiant and interferes with cytochrome oxidase and aerobic metabolism. It has thus been deemed an important cause of work-related sudden death. This gas is particularly insidious due to the unpredictability of its presence and concentration and its neurotoxicity at relatively low concentrations, causing olfactory nerve paralysis and loss of the warning odor. Here, we report two cases of comatose patients presenting after accidental exposure to hydrogen sulfide gas.

• Advances in environmental research
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.123-133
• /
• 2020

A time series dataset was conducted to ascertain the effect of water table on the variability in and emission of CH₄ and CO₂ concentrations at a closed landfill site. An in-situ data of methane/carbon dioxide concentrations and environmental parameters were collected by means of an in-borehole gas monitor, the Gasclam (Ion Science, UK). Linear regression analysis was used to determine the strength of the correlation between ground-gas concentration and water table. The result shows CH₄ and CO₂ concentrations to be variable with strong negative correlations of approximately 0.5 each with water table over the entire monitoring period. The R² was slightly improved by considering their concentration over single periods of increasing and decreasing water table, single periods of increasing water table, and single periods of decreasing water table; their correlations increased significantly at 95% confidence level. The result revealed that fluctuations in groundwater level is the key driving force on the emission of and variability in groundgas concentration and neither barometric pressure nor temperature. This finding further validates the earlier finding that atmospheric pressure - the acclaimed major control on the variability/migration of CH₄ and CO₂ concentrations on contaminated sites, is not always so.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.12-20
• /
• 2003

Cyanides and hydrogen sulfide ($H_2S$) are major chemical asphyxiants. They have common mechanism of action which inhibit cellular respiration and induce histotoxic hypoxia. They do not generate ATP, and all processes dependent on ATP are stopped. No extraction of $O_2$ from blood decreases AV $O_2$ differences, and the shift to anaerobic glycolysis brings about lactic acidosis with high anion gap. The mainstay of the treatment is rapid treatment with appropriate use of antidotes. However, there are several differences between cyanides and $H_2S$. First, $H_2S$ is not metabolized by enzymes such as thiosulfate. Thus thiosulfate does not play any role in treatment of $H_2S$. Second, $H_2S$ is a more potent inhibitor of cytochrome aa3 than cyanide. Third, $H_2S$ induces more divergent neurologic sequele than cyanide. Finally, $H_2S$ is not absorbed via skin.