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 If you or your children are an indoor ice skater or hockey player, you should be aware of the potential danger of indoor ice arenas resurfaced with gas-powered ice resurfacing machines like Zambonis. Exhaust Fumes in a Enclosed Areas Carbon monoxide fumes and micro-particles from Zamboni engine exhaust linger inside enclosed ice rinks, and can hurt those who inhale them. Unlike carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO) is potentially harmful at even small levels. OSHA limits carbon monoxide exposure to 25ppm both for short-term exposure limit (STEL) and time-weighted average (TWA) over an 8-hour workday. With an ice resurfacing machine...

Most of us who live in the city think of soil as “dirt.” However, soil is actually a living environment of underground plants, animals, and microorganisms that, like humans, need food, water and oxygen to survive. Soil gas testing is the process of measuring oxygen, carbon dioxide, methane, radon, and other gases in soil. For example, large-scale composters monitor the gases inside long, narrow piles of plant material and manure called wind-rows. The right combination of moisture, temperature, oxygen and CO2 is required to feed the aerobic microbes that turn the materials into compost. Alternatively, biologists measure CO2 or methane...

Capnography is the measuring and monitoring of the carbon dioxide levels in exhaled breath. In healthy individuals, the difference between the CO2 exhaled and CO2 levels in arterial blood are proportional. Therefore, by monitoring the waveform of CO2 levels on a capnogram (an electronic capnography monitor) over time, medical personnel like anesthesiologists or paramedics can use the information to monitor a patient. Sudden changes in end-tidal CO2 (ETCO2, the level of carbon dioxide released at the end of expiration) may signify changes in a patient’s heart or lung functions. Non-dispersive infra-red (NDIR) CO2 sensors are at the heart of virtually...