# "Centrally provided oxygen"--safe? (How is oxygen piped around a building a safe thing to do?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 8, 2020, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centrally-provided-oxygen-safe-how-is-oxygen-piped-around-a-building-a-safe-thing-to-do/851323 "2020-04-08T01:46:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centrally-provided-oxygen-safe-how-is-oxygen-piped-around-a-building-a-safe-thing-to-do/851323/21 "2020-04-08T12:48:44Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Wasn’t that the plot of a Michael Crichton novel? Starring Genevieve Bujold? _Coma_ and CO2 not nitrous. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Bert\_Nobbins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@Bert\_Nobbins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bert_Nobbins)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centrally-provided-oxygen-safe-how-is-oxygen-piped-around-a-building-a-safe-thing-to-do/851323/22 "2020-04-08T12:54:04Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > _Coma_ and CO2 not nitrous. > > CMC fnord! No, it was carbon monoxide. CO ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centrally-provided-oxygen-safe-how-is-oxygen-piped-around-a-building-a-safe-thing-to-do/851323/23 "2020-04-08T13:16:52Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Wasn’t that the plot of a Michael Crichton novel? Starring Genevieve Bujold? The novel was by Robin Cook, but [Michael Crichton was the director of the 1978 movie adaptation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coma_(1978_film)). In that novel/movie, the gas switch was a deliberate attempt to build a roster of previously-healthy coma patients whose organs could eventually be harvested for profit. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centrally-provided-oxygen-safe-how-is-oxygen-piped-around-a-building-a-safe-thing-to-do/851323/24 "2020-04-08T14:19:11Z")
> [@Bert\_Nobbins](#): > > No, it was carbon monoxide. CO :smack: ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centrally-provided-oxygen-safe-how-is-oxygen-piped-around-a-building-a-safe-thing-to-do/851323/25 "2020-04-08T14:45:04Z")
Oxygen is dangerous - remember the Apollo 1 accident? The pure oxygen made everything much more flammable than they normally are. But here, the choice is between oxygen piped through facility plumbing vs. oxygen stored in tanks. High-pressure gas tanks are far more dangerous. A damaged tank can fill a room with oxygen much quicker than a leaky pipe. Not to mention the physical damage that can be caused by a ruptured tank. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centrally-provided-oxygen-safe-how-is-oxygen-piped-around-a-building-a-safe-thing-to-do/851323/26 "2020-04-08T15:15:19Z")
Back in 1970 I worked in the “old” wing of an old hospital that didn’t have central oxygen. Whenever a patient in my wing needed 02, it was my job to grab a dolly, go outside to the “tank farm,” and get a fresh tank, then later return the used tank. I noted that the tank farm was located on the far end of the parking lot. And it wasn’t unusual to have valves crack from the tank being jostled around, or leak from wear and tear. Much, much safer to have a central system. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centrally-provided-oxygen-safe-how-is-oxygen-piped-around-a-building-a-safe-thing-to-do/851323/27 "2020-04-08T22:52:55Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > You are absolutely on the right track : oxygen is very dangerous and can burn stainless steel pipes down to molten mess and you don’t even need a spark for that to happen; a sharp bend is all that is needed. But that is High pressure oxygen - kind of pressures you see in space ships and chemical plants. In fact pipes and equipment have to go through special cleaning procedures before they can be used for oxygen service. > > But at the low pressures seen in medical oxygen (I guess it a few psi at the most), it is quite benign. > > [Metals | Free Full-Text | Combustion of Metals in Oxygen-Enriched Atmospheres](https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/10/1/128/htm) Very informative—thanks. One thing that occurs, in connection with this news story about the Javits Center: ‘oxygen-piping in medical settings’ may most often exist in buildings designed for such a system; whereas the Javits Center is obviously being retrofitted. Not that this necessarily means anything, other than that we hope everyone involved in the project is being very careful. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centrally-provided-oxygen-safe-how-is-oxygen-piped-around-a-building-a-safe-thing-to-do/851323/28 "2020-04-08T23:56:22Z")
> [@steatopygia](#): > > [Interesting story](https://www.nytimes.com/1977/08/03/archives/deaths-at-pennsylvania-hospital-laid-to-mixup-in-labeling-gases.html) that I was unaware of. > > The CYA back in 1973 was very weak. > > Quote "\*Mr. Anderson ‘said the switched lines were discovered by Dr. Leonard Becker, the hospital’s chief anesthesiologist, when a patient began turning blue after receiving what Dr. Becker thought was oxygen. One of our hospitals in Sydney.NSW.Australia had a similar problem ~ 20 years ago, detected after construction. It was built that way, and the problem was only detected when a doctor was doing acceptance testing. Letting a doctor in to do acceptance testing happens very late in the build process 🙂 and the discovery that medical gas pipes built into the walls were transposed caused delay and expense. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centrally-provided-oxygen-safe-how-is-oxygen-piped-around-a-building-a-safe-thing-to-do/851323/29 "2020-04-09T00:21:04Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > And I suppose the resulting lawsuits led to the hospital’s closure? That is horrifying! Actually no, the hospital was still there last time I drove past a few years ago. Not sure what lawsuits resulted, but they didn’t kill the place. Probably didn’t do anything for their malpractice insurance rates. This was 1973, probably a less litigious time. It was an osteopathic hospital if that matters. Gave osteopaths a bit of a black eye at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centrally-provided-oxygen-safe-how-is-oxygen-piped-around-a-building-a-safe-thing-to-do/851323/30 "2020-04-09T00:22:19Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > One of our hospitals in Sydney.NSW.Australia had a similar problem ~ 20 years ago, detected after construction. It was built that way, and the problem was only detected when a doctor was doing acceptance testing. Letting a doctor in to do acceptance testing happens very late in the build process 🙂 and the discovery that medical gas pipes built into the walls were transposed caused delay and expense. At least they found out before someone died. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centrally-provided-oxygen-safe-how-is-oxygen-piped-around-a-building-a-safe-thing-to-do/851323.md?page=1)