www.lesswrong.com/posts/kxW6q5YdTGWh5sWby/eight-hundred-slightly-poisoned-word-g...
1 correction found
submarines, spaceships, etc have orders of magnitude more carbon dioxide than any civilian environment
This overstates the difference. Reported CO2 levels in submarines and spacecraft are usually only a few times higher than ordinary indoor air, not 10–100× higher, and submarine averages can overlap common civilian exposure limits.
Full reasoning
Official sources do not support the phrase "orders of magnitude more" here.
- A National Academies review of submarine contaminants reports average CO2 concentrations of 3,500 ppm on ballistic-missile submarines and 4,100 ppm on attack submarines.
- NASA says average indoor air on Earth is about 0.08% to 0.1% CO2 (roughly 800–1,000 ppm) and that the ISS standard limits the average 1-hour cabin concentration to 3 mmHg, which is about 3,947 ppm.
- NIOSH lists a civilian workplace time-weighted exposure limit of 5,000 ppm.
Those figures show that submarine and spacecraft CO2 levels are typically in the same order of magnitude as indoor/civilian environments, not multiple orders of magnitude higher. In fact, the reported submarine averages are below the 5,000 ppm occupational limit and only about 3–5× ordinary indoor air, so the magnitude claim is incorrect.
3 sources
- Emergency and Continuous Exposure Guidance Levels for Selected Submarine Contaminants: Volume 1
Data collected on nine nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines indicate an average CO2 concentration of 3,500 ppm ... and data collected on 10 nuclear-powered attack submarines indicate an average CO2 concentration of 4,100 ppm.
- NASA-STD-3001 Technical Brief: OCHMO-TB-004 Carbon Dioxide
On earth, average indoor air contains CO2 concentrations between 0.08% to 0.1% ... NASA-STD-3001 Volume 2 Rev D [V2 6004]: The system shall limit the average one-hour CO2 partial pressure in the habitable volume to no more than 3 mmHg.
- CDC/NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards — Carbon dioxide
NIOSH REL TWA 5000 ppm ... OSHA PEL TWA 5000 ppm.