Is there any kind of gas mask that you can put on underwater?

Question

Wondering if there is any kind of gas mask that can be put on while totally submerged under water (as in, a room is filled with gas, and you're in the room but underwater in a pool. you have a gas mask but it's not on, it's in your hand. Is there any mask (NOT scuba equipment) that you can then put on and climb out of the pool into the gas-filled room?)

Answer 1

Sort of. The self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) designed for firefighting and other applications where the air is unbreathable will work for *some* underwater applications. The manufacturers certainly do not endorse them as such.

These do not use air-purifying cartridge respirators, such as the ones you're discussing. These use high pressure canned air, same as SCUBA. The FDNY tested the MSA rigs years ago, and found out they'd work for 10-20' water depth or so.

Answer 2

well...

first: most gas mask type systems use some form of "filter" (charcoal, special paper, chemicaly treated granuals, ect) that act as an adsorbent to the material you want to keep out of the persons lungs. known as air purifying systems, these filters are not waterproof, would be open to the water, and really wouldnt work if the filter got wet. in that case, the answer is no.

SCBA (self contained breathing apparattus...notice the underwater part is not there) is a system where the air is contained in a tank, which is passed into the mask, breathed once, and exhausted to the outside. since its regulator is geared to provide air to the user at atmosheric pressures only (14.7 pounds per square inch) and doent normally contain provisions to prevent water from entering the regulator...its pretty much a gone conclusion that putting one on under the water could rupture the regulators membrane, destroying the regulator, and either allowing all the stored air to rush into the mask as fast as it will go, or not at all. so theres problems with doing this with a normal scba in a pool.

but an oxygen rebreather is different. these are called re-circulatary systems, as oxygen is passed from a closed hose to the mask, exhaled into another hose that takes it to a scrubber that removes the exhaled carbon dioxide, and then adds a little more oxygen from the tank and sends it back to the mask. Sometimes called a rebreather system. since the entire system is sealed, it can be used on water or land.

hope this helps. personally, i dont know why you would need something like this coming out of a pool, but....:)

Answer 3

What would the purpose of a GAS MASK be if you were under water?

All the particulate matter that you are trying to prevent yourself from breathing would be in the water. You would be better off breathing through a Brita water filter.

If you are just worried about submersing the gas mask; have you thought about a plastic bag?

Answer 4

No, there would be water in the gas mask and no way of purging the water out since there is no extra air in a gas mask but only a filter.

Answer 5

although the previous answer was almost complete but it left the most important part...

some chemicals (not remember for sure already - something with N) while contacting with CO2 do produce O2... so one can breath as much, as he/she those chemicals in his mask (instead of filters) has...

P.S. but underwater breathing system anyway must have also pressure regulating systems - because the pressure under the water is much more than in the air... so the "MASK"
will be bigger than gas mask...

Answer 6

Yes... it's called a scuba tank.

Answer 7

WTF