h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Maybe I wasn't making myself as clear as I'd like in Post 35 - to clarify:

The warning should be written into the entry, as this is what we'd prefer in the Edited Guide. However, if the author choses to include the information as a warning, we would accept this.

Thanks for drawing the aerosol entry to our attention, it's now been demoted. If you'd like to update it and get it back into the Edited Guide, you can find the Update headquarters here - A496451

Oh good. I'd grown concerned that BBC policy was to treat helium balloons as more dangerous than molotov cocktails...

Incidentally, 'helium' balloons actually contain a mixture of helium and air (called 'balloon gas'), for precisely this reason. So while they contain less oxygen than normal air, it's not true to say they contain no oxygen. That's why prolonged inhalation can indeed cause problems - but a couple of breaths isn't a danger.

-Martin

I think I started off the dour warnings and scaremongering so here is an explanation of why.

Two years ago I was sent, by my work, on a safety course run by the British Oxygen Company about the handling of compressed gases. In the passing, the fact that "several people die each year" was mentioned there and I remember that ruptured lungs were also referred to.

I did not check up on these statements but merely repeated here what I thought that I was told then.

On the BOC Material Safety Data Sheet for helium, it states that "Intentional inhalation of helium balloon gas can cause asphyxiation, lung damage and death"....

....but that seems to be referring to the case where someone is inhaling the stuff from a compressed gas canister of some description and not from a balloon.

So looks like I was wrong. Sorry.

Mina - any word on whether you can give us access to that internal resource? From everything I've read here and online, particularly what Ommigosh just said, it seems like the dangers are solely to do with compressed gases. Does that match with your sources?

I would like to see this entry picked, but obviously that can only happen when it has an *accurate* warning attached - and that means we need to know what the real dangers are.

Cheers
-Martin

Hi Lucinda,

As the information was on the intranet, not on the BBCi website, it's an internal resource only. It didn't make a distinction between inhaling from the cannister, or from the balloon, it also mentions the dangers of showing TV presenters 'drinking' it. I assume from this that they consider it too dangerous to do anything with it.

Hi all,

A Scout has recommended this, and we're okay with the health warning in the entry, but I just want to check back before accepting it. Are we all happy that this goes into the Guide as is?

Many thanks,

Jimster

I know it's an internal resource. You've said this before. What I was asking was whether you could get permission from these 'safety services' people to make that internal resource available externally. If their answer is 'no', then that's fine, but there's no harm in asking, is there?

If it doesn't make a distinction between inhaling from a canister or a balloon, then this could make it an unreliable source. Inhaling helium, or even air, direct from a pressurised canister is dangerous. Inhaling helium from a balloon is widely regarded by a number of medical authorities as non-dangerous. There are significant dangers of inhaling helium from a pressurised canister, like ruptured lungs, that are simply irrelevant for taking in helium from a balloon. Failing to mention the distinction could be just an attempt to keep the message simple, or an oversight, or incorrect information.

Does this internal resource provide any evidence to back up its assertion that inhaling helium from a balloon is dangerous? Does it mention any instances of people coming to harm from taking a couple of breaths of helium? If it doesn't, then can you ask these Safety Services people what they are basing their information on?

Cheers
-Martin

Not content.

The entry doesn't distingush between the dangers due to helium from balloons (non-existant, as far as I can make out) and the dangers due to helium from canisters (people do occasionally die).
To grab an analogy, that's like not distinguishing between the dangers of a glass of wine at lunchtime, and the dangers of becoming an alcoholic and binge drinker.

The danger is pure "Boy who cried wolf". If you claim that safe stuff is dangerous, then people may ignore you when it comes to stuff that's genuinely dangerous. If you don't make any distinction between helium balloons and helium canisters, then people who try the one without any problems might try the other assuming it's equally safe - and conceivably die as a result.

That said, I'm sure a sub-ed could tidy up such details, if the entry was picked now.
-Martin

The guidance we've been given from BBC Health and Safety is more a case of 'be aware of this and act responsibly' rather than portents of doom. Mina raised concerns that this hadn't been addressed, but the entry now raises the issue sufficiently for us to be reassured.

Some good feedback in this thread - cheers all.

Jims

I still think my title is much too long...too much of a mouthfull

Your Guide Entry has just been picked from Peer Review by one of our Scouts, and is now heading off into the Editorial Process, which ends with publication in the Edited Guide. We've therefore moved this Review Conversation out of Peer Review and to the entry itself.

If you'd like to know what happens now, check out the page on 'What Happens after your Entry has been Recommended?' at EditedGuide-Process. We hope this explains everything.

Thanks for contributing to the Edited Guide!

Splendid

Congrats!

Congrats.

For reference - F19585?thread=220733#p2552276

squeeak squeeak squeeak!

thankies

I've got a question...this entry has been selscted and all, and that's all dandy, but it's been a long time now and nothing has happened with it.

If you search for helium balloons in the search engine, you'll find the recommended version. That's the one that will appear on the Front Page eventually.

*is guilty*