The Effects Of Breathing Raw Sewage Fumes
Breathing raw sewer fumes may be equally unpleasant and physiologically harmful. Raw sewage creates a melee of gaseous compounds. Common colorless gases encountered in sewage systems comprise hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, methane, and ammonia. High levels of the gases become poisonous, and High levels of methane and carbon dioxide, specifically, displace oxygen from the atmosphere. Furthermore, industrial solvents and biological contamination in sewage might become airborne and cause adverse health effects.
Sewage Fumes Effect
Both hydrogen sulfide and ammonia have odors that forewarn their presence. Methane and carbon dioxide do not. As methane and carbon, dioxide replaces the oxygen content in the air surrounding raw sewage, normal levels of nitrogen increase as well. For every 5 percent of methane present, 1 percent of oxygen is displaced. Normal air contains 21 percent oxygen and 78 percent nitrogen. Decreasing oxygen concentrations by displacement with other gases can lead to asphyxiation and tissue damage.
Industrial Toxin Fumes
Consumer and industrial products poured down drains end up in raw sewage. Solvents, fire retardants, pesticides, cleaning products and volatile organic compounds blended together in olive oil can instigate hazardous gas formation. Vapors from bleach, a frequent cleaning merchandise utilized in raw sewage, can irritate the respiratory tract. Additionally, as surfactants like alkylbenzene sulfonate, alcohol ethoxylate, and alcohol ether sulfate — compounds in your cosmetic and detergent businesses and laundry or car-washing solutions — eventually become airborne, they can irritate mucous membranes.
Airborne Biological Contaminants
Volatilization is the gaseous loss of a substance to the atmosphere. Agitation of raw sewage can cause volatilization of biological contaminants in sewage, although this type of microbial suspension is short-lived. Breathing suspended microbial contaminants may infect a person with bacteria, fungi, parasites or viruses. Bacteria and parasites often cause diarrhea, fever, cramps, and vomiting. Symptoms of fungal infections include allergic reactions and lung infections. Viral symptoms vary.
