1. Why are active on-duty firefighters likely to experience the adverse health effects from inhaling 300 ppm of carbon monoxide faster than nonactive off-duty firefighters who inhale the same concentration of the same substance? Explain your answer using the chemicals/process involved
2. Discuss an incident (fire, spill, explosion, etc) that you have experienced (or research one on the Internet, professional journal, or scientific magazine article) that involved a toxic material(s) and required mitigation. Please do not use the instances supplied in the textbook unless you intend to provide a lot more detail. The following items must be addressed:
A) Describe the incident and identify the toxic material(s) involved;
B) Discuss the chemical interactions of the material(s) involved in this incident or toxic properties relevant to the incident;
C) Discuss the mitigation required or implemented.
3. All ammonium compounds, which contain an ammonium ion (NH4+) and a negative ion, are thermally unstable.
A. Discuss two ways that ammonium compounds decompose when they are heated. What chemical reaction is involved in the thermal decomposition of ammonium persulfate?
B. What is the most likely reason OSHA requires ammonium nitrate to be segregated for sulfur or finely divided metals? Explain your answer.
C. What is the most likely reason OSHA requires employers to protect flooring and handling areas in buildings against impregnation by ammonium nitrate and requires that the floors be constructed without open drains, traps, tunnels or pits into which molten ammonium nitrate could flow and be confined in the event of a fire?
4. Give some examples of the types of hazardous chemicals, specifically oxidizers, stored in homes (such as those stored under counters and sinks, in garages/basements and in pump houses/sheds). Discuss the following:
A) What problems and dangerous situations can result from the improper storage and use (i.e., mixing them together, etc.) of these chemicals? Describe potential hazardous material interactions.
B) What government agency and statutes/regulation(s) govern for the labeling and registration of these hazardous household products?