CompuServe Messages

John, The most common method of producing H2S is the decay of biological material. Hence the name "rotten egg gas". Your nose can detect down to 0.13 ppm. That's roughly 1/8 of 100 ppm or if you want a different comparison, about 1/6 of an inch out of 15.5 miles. Around the home, H2S can be present in sewers, rotten garbage, compost piles, and similar settings. The most common source is probably by "passing gas". Entire oil drilling rigs have been cleared here in Texas because one of the roughnecks ate too much Mexican food and "broke wind" near a sensor. (The alarms are set to trigger at 10 ppm) I can't really think of a common reaction that would fill a 10X10 room in a houshold setting. Mixing sulfuric acid (present in some tile cleaners), with ammonia could produce H2S. I doubt that lethal concentrations could build up in a home under normal circumstances, but pouring sulfuric acid down the drain in an older home (with iron sewer pipe.) might. In laboratories, reactions of sulfuric acid w/ other sulfur containing compounds can produce H2S. I've heard of High Schools were one of the kids decided to make a stink bomb with FeS and H2SO4 and the entire building was evacuated. Pouring H2SO4 down the sewers might, and muriatic acid (used for etching tile, and in swimming pools), could react with sulfur containing compunds to produce the same result. I'll think some more about it. Jim