Editing Afterdamp

{{short description|Toxic gas mixture resulting from coal mining explosion}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2019}}
'''Afterdamp''' is the toxic mixture of gases left in a mine following an explosion caused by [[methane]]-rich [[firedamp]], which itself can initiate a much larger explosion of [[coal dust]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | year = 1881 | title = After-damp
 | encyclopedia = A Glossary of Mining and Metallurgical Terms | publisher = American Institute of Mining Engineers | location = Easton, Pennsylvania | url= https://archive.org/details/glossaryofmining00raymuoft}}</ref> The term is etymologically and practically related to other terms for underground mine gases—such as [[firedamp]], [[white damp]], and [[black damp]], with afterdamp being composed, rather, primarily by [[carbon dioxide]], [[carbon monoxide]] and [[nitrogen]], with highly toxic [[stinkdamp]]-constituent [[hydrogen sulfide]] possibly also present. However, the high content of carbon monoxide is the component that kills, preferentially combining with [[haemoglobin]] in the blood and thus depriving victims of [[oxygen]].{{citation needed lead|date=January 2022}} Globally, afterdamp has caused many of the casualties in disasters of pit coalfields, including British, such as the [[Senghenydd colliery disaster]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Universal Colliery Explosion - Senghenydd - 1913 |url=https://nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/accidents-disasters/glamorganshire/universal-colliery-explosion-senghenydd-1913/ |access-date=2024-11-12 |website=Northern Mine Research Society |language=en-US}}</ref> Such disasters continue to afflict working mines, for instance in mainland China.

==Etymology==
The meaning of "damp" in this term, while most commonly understood to imply humidity, presents evidence of having been separated from that newer, irrelevant meaning at least by the first decade of the 18th century, where the original relevant meaning of "vapor" derives from a Proto-Germanic origin, ''dampaz'', which gave rise to its immediate English predecessor, the Middle Low German ''damp'' (with no record of an Old English intermediary). The proto-Germanic ''dampaz'' gave rise to many other cognates, including the Old High German ''damph'', the Old Norse ''dampi'', and the modern German ''Dampf'', the last of which still translates as "vapor".<ref>Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of fire-damp. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved January 6, 2022, from [https://www.etymonline.com/word/fire-damp this link].</ref>

==Detection==
[[File:Yellow finch 1.jpg|left|thumb|100px|Domestic canary]] 
{{unreferenced section | date = January 2022}}
[[Animal sentinel]]s, such as [[mice]] or [[Domestic canary|canaries]], are more sensitive to carbon monoxide than humans, so will give a warning to miners. Canaries were introduced into British collieries in the 1890s by [[John Scott Haldane]], the noted physiologist.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sonne |first=Ole |date=2015 |title=[Canaries, germs, and poison gas. The physiologist J.S. Haldane's contributions to public health and hygiene] |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27086447/ |journal=Dansk Medicinhistorisk Arbog |volume=43 |pages=71–100 |issn=0084-9588 |pmid=27086447}}</ref> [[Gas detector|Gas detectors]] are available now which detect toxic gases such as carbon monoxide at very low levels. They are widely available to protect domestic premises. The levels of gas detection depend on the methods used.

==See also==
*[[Firedamp]]
*[[Blackdamp]]
*[[Stinkdamp]]
*[[Whitedamp]]
*[[Glossary of coal mining terminology]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* J S Haldane and [[John Gillies Priestley|J G Priestley]], ''Respiration'', Oxford University Press, 2nd ed. (1935)

{{Damp}}

[[Category:Mine safety]]
[[Category:Carbon dioxide]]
[[Category:Carbon monoxide]]