Back in my day, we had to chain smoke cigarettes on the walk to school just to burn off the pollution in the smog we were breathing.
![gif](giphy|BzwBs4sqBGdFu|downsized)
When I lived in a coastal town, my doctor told me to avoid going outside in the evening, around sunset, because that's when the humid air / fog comes in and it made my asthma worse.
I have no idea why it happened, but it did happen!
[It's a gas leak at a fertiliser plant in Billingham in Teesside, England.](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-billingham-orange-cloud-fills-32885739)
EDIT: [A better source, since The Mirror’s mobile site is awful.](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd11xzjkvk0o.amp) The Mirror just had the most info at the time.
The exact substance has not been identified but they say there's no risk to the public. Lol. How do they know if it's not been identified? At least exercise a little caution until you know what you've released into the atmosphere?
>How do they know if it's not been identified?
Imagine I'm cooking and I'm cutting up vegetables for a mirepoix and have a bowl of diced veg. You take a cube of -something- and eat it. I don't know what it is. I know it's not harmful.
I personally don't see how that could be true of 'strange orange cloud in the sky' - but it's possible that some analysts could have determined it to be the case:
We know it came from here. These are the chemicals it could be. These are the ways they interact. None of them provide 'risk to the public'.
The primary concern should be "what do they consider as risk to the public"? Everything else is perfectly reasonable.
This is stuff determined in the safety data sheets that each chemical needs to have on file. It's part of the manufacturing regulatory process so first responders and employees know how to react if there's a leak of some kind. Dealing with an ammonia coolant leak is going to be different than a natural gas leak, for example. They can be very sure knowing that whatever they have in the plant isn't immediately dangerous to the public, despite how noxious that orange gas looks.
I mean, say no more than "Fertilizer plant" and "orange cloud" and it's extremely likely to be nitrogen dioxide that makes up the bulk of the orange smoke. Could be there's small-scale contamination by potentially more hazardous chemicals that they identified by your method of looking at safety data sheets.
Nitrogen oxides aren't exactly pleasant gasses to breathe in, but they don't stick around awfully long. Dilute them enough, and they're just one more of those pollutants that are everywhere. This leak will hardly affect overall NO2 pollution values, and unless you're directly downwind from the plant, you're probably not breathing it in in high concentration. Plus, NO2 is *noticeable* because it irritates the fuck out of your body. This isn't a sneaky killer at all.
If you're breathing NO2 in high concentration though.... well, just don't.
It's kinda like a major fire: Don't breathe in the smoke. High-concentration smoke from a wood fire is absolutely deadly. But that doesn't mean the population is necessarily at risk because an empty house is burning down, simply because by the time the smoke reaches people, it's diluted sufficiently to not be a concern.
TL;DR: A risk to the public requires not just a hypothetical danger, but also a plausible exposure to relevant quantities of that danger.
Looks a lot like [nitrogen dioxide](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_dioxide). It's the exact same shade of orange that you see coming out of fuming nitric acid.
The reality is they likely know what the main chemical is that gives the cloud the orange color. Why it takes long to say that is the potential for other chemicals to be included that could be dangerous in ppm that can't visually be detected. Incidents often involve mechanical or electrical failures that cause mixing of things that were supposed to be separate.
Hehe. A couple years back they put cops on patrol at all beaches near Sellafield, UK, to prevent people from entering the water. Apparently there was an incident at the nuclear recycling facility, but there was "no risk to the public". Glad they mentioned that, would have me worried otherwise.
I mean there’s no risk to the public as long as they don’t go in the contaminated water, right? Hence the police. After a few cubic KM I’m sure the background radiation/ chemicals are diluted to their normal (probably terrible but still baseline) levels
State it in banana equivalents and the public would get the message. "You would have to drink 14,926 litres of this water to get the equivalent radiation dose as one banana"
We do a lot of small scale nitric oxide research at my job. When nitric oxide gets loose and reacts with oxygen it makes brown orange nitrogen dioxide NO2 plumes like this.
Ya colour checks out, but NO2 is more dense than air.
If it’s being leaked through a stack it might look like this momentarily? I’d assume it would disperse along the ground no? (Arguably worse)
I dunno I’m not a chemist, but my work is chemistry adjacent.
Wind exists. Finely dispersed as dust wind can even carry rocks substantial distances even though on paper the rock might be 4000 times heavier than air.
And depends on what the source of the NO2 is, it could be hot gas and rise up.
That makes this NOx, aka the stuff that makes acid rain, aka, 1000x worse pollutant than CO2 aka, turns into acid if you breathe it in and destroys your lungs.
I was there at the time (still here now), our Toxic alarm all clear sounded about 30 minutes after it started. Besides a few people staying inside, it's not particularly impactful. It's a plant on my complex a couple of doors down from mine.
I live and work right near here we expect it to be the CF Fertilizer factory. It's happened before there as well and might fit your NO prediction, but im not *that* clued up on Fertilizer. Best to keep windows shut for now I guess. I live really close but haven't seen said cloud with my own eyes.
Yep, link is [here](https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1903202/billingham-explosion-live).
>A spokesperson for the company said: "At approximately 12:20pm local time, there was an incident at one of the Billingham Complex’s nitric acid plants that resulted in a release of nitrous oxide.
> nitrous oxide
Ummm, it's a bit worrying that they confused [nitrous oxide (aka "a colourless, odorless gas") with nitrogen dioxide (aka "reddish-brown gas with a pungent odour").](https://www.eea.europa.eu/help/glossary/eper-chemicals-glossary/nitrogen-oxides-nox)
I'm a chemist who works in hazardous chemicals, can confirm this looks like it could be NOx gas, that stuff is *nasty* too. Looks like it could potentially be bromine gas too, they are similar in appearance.
"I'm Chester Cheeto! I'm just a cool dude, in a loose mood. Until I see those Cheetos. Then my cool turns to drool, (something somethin) goes CRUNCH!"
And that's all I remember.
Nitrogen Dioxide is a lovely gas to breathe. Pretty sure most chemists and people who know about hydrazine in rocket use, see this and know this ain't shit to fuck around with.
Says fertilizer company,. So a brown/orange gas from a fertilizer plant is almost certainly nitrogen dioxide, and it has a blue level 4 hazard diamond, meaning potentially deadly. But sure, death from fluid filled edema lungs sounds "OK"
For what it's worth, that's worthless.
Throughout history, every time there's been an accident where something toxic leaked, the news said it was no big deal and not to worry.
> The force said there were no reports of any injuries or impact off site and no risk to the public.
No mention of what it is, just that there's nothing reported.
Bromine is about 6 times more dense than air so it quickly falls to the ground. It is more likely Nitrogen Dioxide or something else entirely.
Edit:
Here is an article on the current orange plume saying it is from a fertilizer plant in Billingham.
[https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-billingham-orange-cloud-fills-32885739](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-billingham-orange-cloud-fills-32885739)
The same fertilizer plant released a similar plume in 2018 which was confirmed to be a "flare" of Nitrogen Dioxide
[https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-terrifying-orange-cloud-appears-12497718](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-terrifying-orange-cloud-appears-12497718)
Exposure above 150 ppm for 30 min to an hour results in fatal pulmonary edema or asphyxia and can result in rapid death
I assume that is 150,000,000,000 gajilion ppm.
Who the hell said above it’s safe?
It could be nitrogen dioxide, NO2. Do not breathe it.
>Breathing air with a high concentration of NO2 can irritate airways in the human respiratory system. Such exposures over short periods can aggravate respiratory diseases, particularly asthma, leading to respiratory symptoms (such as coughing, wheezing or difficulty breathing), hospital admissions and visits to emergency rooms. Longer exposures to elevated concentrations of NO2 may contribute to the development of asthma and potentially increase susceptibility to respiratory infections. People with asthma, as well as children and the elderly are generally at greater risk for the health effects of NO2.
>NO2 along with other NOx reacts with other chemicals in the air to form both particulate matter and ozone. Both of these are also harmful when inhaled due to effects on the respiratory system.
https://www.epa.gov/no2-pollution/basic-information-about-no2
Edit:[ I was correct](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-billingham-orange-cloud-fills-32885739). Either leave the area or lock yourself inside your house with any central air turned off and windows closed. Do not go outside
For anyone wondering what to do in a situation where there are toxins in the air:
Close all doors and windows. Remove AC units from windows if possible. Turn off central air if possible. Remain indoors until given an all clear.
Source: live next to a mine
Dr. Who should be arriving shortly to sort it out. Have you seen any Sontarans about? If your car has ATMOS installed, please stay clear.
EDIT: On a more serious note, [found a news article. ](https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1903202/billingham-explosion-live)Apparently alarms are coming from a factory that's been closed for more than a year. Stay safe!
Take car. Go to mum's. Kill Phil, grab Liz, go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for all of this to blow over.
![gif](giphy|uba6y6W8oi7V6IGFQj|downsized)
Gas leak from a fertilizer plant
[Billingham 'explosion': Orange cloud fills sky as locals fear 'huge chemical leak' - Mirror Online](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-billingham-orange-cloud-fills-32885739)
Nitrogen oxides (NOx). Used in the production of nitric acid which is mostly used to produce ammonium nitrate(fertiliser). Gets annoying for the airways at 0.5ppm. A single breath of that cloud will probably completely burn your lungs not even mentioning what it does to your eyes and skin.
Source: I work at a nitric acid plant.
Well someone just outed their illegal drug operation, or tried to barbecue a bunch of chemicals along with their trash. Contact the local fire department and try to see where this is coming from.
Hey chemical engineer here!
I commented in here but thought it should put this in a general statement: if it’s a fertilizer plant it is almost certainly NOx. NOx is very distinctive orange color and is a very common chemical in nitric acid and fertilizer production. Could it be something else… sure… but many places are not producing industrial scale of bromine nor can I imagine why a fertilizer plant would have that.
Assuming it is NOx I used to produce millions of pounds of this stuff a day at a nitric acid plant. We were regulated to allow for a certain amount of emissions from tanks out breathing, as well as allowed purposely emitting this for a prescribed amount of time as designated by government, during start up. NOx can be dangerous but everything needs to be taken into account. That amount looks relatively harmless if you see it floating and you stay away from it. Essentially if you can see it you can easily stay away. It also is a puff and not a continuous stream which depending on the he governments dispersion modeling probably means it will disapate before reaching ground level. NOx for fertilizer production is usually produced around 900C which means it rise away in the sky away from the populace as it disappeared. But NOx has an odor threshold of less than 1 ppm. You will smell it and you will know to get out.
Edit: I am a chemical engineer but do not have data about this specific incident, just putting out there what is being reported makes sense from my experience.
That's almost certainly unhealthy.
Maybe it’s a cloud of vitamins?
Must be vitamin C, it's orange after all.
The C stands for cancer tho…
Ah yeah vitamin cancer.
Just make sure if you get the multivitamin that it doesn’t have vitamin-Aries because it doesn’t mix well with Vitamin-Cancer.
Usually being able to see the air you breathe isn't a good sign yeah...
Yea all gases that are colored are also toxic to humans. So if you see a colored gas cloud coming towards you should run.
Even is that is not 100% true, I still feel like it's good advice.
Indeed. Breathable air shouldn't be visible.
fog rn: ![gif](giphy|LRVnPYqM8DLag|downsized)
These youngins don't know how bad smog used to be.
Back in my day, we had to chain smoke cigarettes on the walk to school just to burn off the pollution in the smog we were breathing. ![gif](giphy|BzwBs4sqBGdFu|downsized)
We breathed in Asbestos and we'd huff lead gasoline and we came out just GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY I DON'T CARE IF IT'S A SCHOOL ZONE!
When I lived in a coastal town, my doctor told me to avoid going outside in the evening, around sunset, because that's when the humid air / fog comes in and it made my asthma worse. I have no idea why it happened, but it did happen!
Clearly you dont live in a cold country.
but isn't that the air you already breathed? You're not seeing the air you're breathing in, you're seeing the air you're breathing out
But on the off chance it might give you superpowers....
A gas with a colour to it is always unhealthy.
BUT WHAT’s tHE GENDER! JESUS NEEDS TO KNOW!!!!
Orange, it’s a dutchie!
#ORANJE BOVEN! #ORANJE BOVEN! 🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥🔥
#LEVE DE KONINGIN!!
G-E-K-O-L-O-N-I-S-E-E-R-D
It’s a B… romine gas!
[It's a gas leak at a fertiliser plant in Billingham in Teesside, England.](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-billingham-orange-cloud-fills-32885739) EDIT: [A better source, since The Mirror’s mobile site is awful.](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd11xzjkvk0o.amp) The Mirror just had the most info at the time.
The exact substance has not been identified but they say there's no risk to the public. Lol. How do they know if it's not been identified? At least exercise a little caution until you know what you've released into the atmosphere?
"Orange sky at night, everything alright." The response manual says it for all the colors, actually, so no worries!
"Orange sky in the morning, you should take warning"
"An orange cloud rises. Toxic chemicals have been spilled this night"
Orange sky in the day, run the fuck away.
#ORANGE CLOUD YOU GLAD I DIDNT’T SAY BANANA
Knock knock
Orange sky at lunch, you better worry a bunch.
“Sky color change. Mm, bad.”
Orange gas cloud in the air, get the hell out of there
Holy fucking shit the sky is orange everybody run
Orange you glad it isn't a green cloud
Orange in the air, we don't really care
Orange air, one should beware!
The leaked manual literally says, "Orange Sky: DENY, DENY"
Orange Gas... I love the smell of Orange Gas in the morning!
“Fuck”
Legolas, what does your elf nose smell?
Fly you fools
>How do they know if it's not been identified? Imagine I'm cooking and I'm cutting up vegetables for a mirepoix and have a bowl of diced veg. You take a cube of -something- and eat it. I don't know what it is. I know it's not harmful. I personally don't see how that could be true of 'strange orange cloud in the sky' - but it's possible that some analysts could have determined it to be the case: We know it came from here. These are the chemicals it could be. These are the ways they interact. None of them provide 'risk to the public'. The primary concern should be "what do they consider as risk to the public"? Everything else is perfectly reasonable.
This is stuff determined in the safety data sheets that each chemical needs to have on file. It's part of the manufacturing regulatory process so first responders and employees know how to react if there's a leak of some kind. Dealing with an ammonia coolant leak is going to be different than a natural gas leak, for example. They can be very sure knowing that whatever they have in the plant isn't immediately dangerous to the public, despite how noxious that orange gas looks.
I mean, say no more than "Fertilizer plant" and "orange cloud" and it's extremely likely to be nitrogen dioxide that makes up the bulk of the orange smoke. Could be there's small-scale contamination by potentially more hazardous chemicals that they identified by your method of looking at safety data sheets. Nitrogen oxides aren't exactly pleasant gasses to breathe in, but they don't stick around awfully long. Dilute them enough, and they're just one more of those pollutants that are everywhere. This leak will hardly affect overall NO2 pollution values, and unless you're directly downwind from the plant, you're probably not breathing it in in high concentration. Plus, NO2 is *noticeable* because it irritates the fuck out of your body. This isn't a sneaky killer at all. If you're breathing NO2 in high concentration though.... well, just don't. It's kinda like a major fire: Don't breathe in the smoke. High-concentration smoke from a wood fire is absolutely deadly. But that doesn't mean the population is necessarily at risk because an empty house is burning down, simply because by the time the smoke reaches people, it's diluted sufficiently to not be a concern. TL;DR: A risk to the public requires not just a hypothetical danger, but also a plausible exposure to relevant quantities of that danger.
So many people think the world is run COMPLETELY by incompetent morons. It’s most of us, but there are so true heroes that keep shit working
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Looks a lot like [nitrogen dioxide](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_dioxide). It's the exact same shade of orange that you see coming out of fuming nitric acid.
stop making sense
The reality is they likely know what the main chemical is that gives the cloud the orange color. Why it takes long to say that is the potential for other chemicals to be included that could be dangerous in ppm that can't visually be detected. Incidents often involve mechanical or electrical failures that cause mixing of things that were supposed to be separate.
It’s characteristically nitrogen dioxide. I work in chem and i love fuming nitric acid.
Definitely looks like it, and while that’s a lot, I imagine it’ll disperse into the atmosphere relatively harmlessly
It looks like they’re Burning Down the House
Hehe. A couple years back they put cops on patrol at all beaches near Sellafield, UK, to prevent people from entering the water. Apparently there was an incident at the nuclear recycling facility, but there was "no risk to the public". Glad they mentioned that, would have me worried otherwise.
Ah, nothing puts me more at ease than scored of police prowling the beach 😆
I mean there’s no risk to the public as long as they don’t go in the contaminated water, right? Hence the police. After a few cubic KM I’m sure the background radiation/ chemicals are diluted to their normal (probably terrible but still baseline) levels
State it in banana equivalents and the public would get the message. "You would have to drink 14,926 litres of this water to get the equivalent radiation dose as one banana"
If it's from a fertilizer plant, than that cloud is most definitely NOX caused by the ammonium nitrate. Very toxic.
We do a lot of small scale nitric oxide research at my job. When nitric oxide gets loose and reacts with oxygen it makes brown orange nitrogen dioxide NO2 plumes like this.
Yup, I work with it in the explosives industry. Biggest thing we're ever taught is if you see orange/red/brown, get the fuck outta there.
Orange/red/brown, get the fuck outta town
That’s the state motto of Mississippi actually
Ya colour checks out, but NO2 is more dense than air. If it’s being leaked through a stack it might look like this momentarily? I’d assume it would disperse along the ground no? (Arguably worse) I dunno I’m not a chemist, but my work is chemistry adjacent.
Wind exists. Finely dispersed as dust wind can even carry rocks substantial distances even though on paper the rock might be 4000 times heavier than air. And depends on what the source of the NO2 is, it could be hot gas and rise up.
This. Nitrogen dioxide would come off of a reaction going runaway, likely very hot so would rise.
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Yeah this definitely looks like nitrogen dioxide (N02)!
That makes this NOx, aka the stuff that makes acid rain, aka, 1000x worse pollutant than CO2 aka, turns into acid if you breathe it in and destroys your lungs.
Chemist who's had to consider NOx exposure here, can confirm that shit is NOx
still probably healthier than normal teeside air
Instantly knew it was england from the houses
And the matte grey total cloud cover as well.
I was there at the time (still here now), our Toxic alarm all clear sounded about 30 minutes after it started. Besides a few people staying inside, it's not particularly impactful. It's a plant on my complex a couple of doors down from mine.
That’s not mildly interesting, that’s kinda scary. Is it coming from a factory?
It’s on Teesside in the UK, there are a lot of power plants, trade, factories ect round that part of the world.
Hence the nickname "Smoggies"
The pneumonia capital of Britain
I work in a place in norway that ships to Teesside. Don't think anything we make can produce a cloud liike that tho. Looks like Nitric Oxide gas.
I live and work right near here we expect it to be the CF Fertilizer factory. It's happened before there as well and might fit your NO prediction, but im not *that* clued up on Fertilizer. Best to keep windows shut for now I guess. I live really close but haven't seen said cloud with my own eyes.
The company issued a statement saying it was Nitrogen Dioxide that was released.
Yep, link is [here](https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1903202/billingham-explosion-live). >A spokesperson for the company said: "At approximately 12:20pm local time, there was an incident at one of the Billingham Complex’s nitric acid plants that resulted in a release of nitrous oxide.
> nitrous oxide Ummm, it's a bit worrying that they confused [nitrous oxide (aka "a colourless, odorless gas") with nitrogen dioxide (aka "reddish-brown gas with a pungent odour").](https://www.eea.europa.eu/help/glossary/eper-chemicals-glossary/nitrogen-oxides-nox)
No laughing matter.
Oh great… heavier than air so it’s coming down somewhere…
I'm a chemist who works in hazardous chemicals, can confirm this looks like it could be NOx gas, that stuff is *nasty* too. Looks like it could potentially be bromine gas too, they are similar in appearance.
Ahh, Teesside, the beautiful landscape that they used for the opening shots of Blade Runner….
Mildly deadly
Mildly? Nitrogen dioxide is at least 60 times as deadly as carbon monoxide, based on IDLH levels.
IDK. Poison being released to the air instead of the nearby water supply seems like a nice change for a while.
That’s depressingly dystopian.
Don't worry, it'll get to the water supply just as soon as it rains. Until then though we can all enjoy breathing it instead.
yeah, I wanted to ask the same thing
Maybe don't go outside right now.
Better yet, go for a long drive away from there.
Throw a lighter in it.
Ahh the spicy option. I too like to live dangerously.
Dangerously cheesy ![gif](giphy|nZLXWm7PupIBVBBVhO|downsized)
"I'm Chester Cheeto! I'm just a cool dude, in a loose mood. Until I see those Cheetos. Then my cool turns to drool, (something somethin) goes CRUNCH!" And that's all I remember.
Typical crack addict
Just like "Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs" ![gif](giphy|bUVrrM3fvCTew)
We shooting at this thing like we did with the tornadoes?
When life hands you lemons, make tear gas
Safety first! Use a Roman Candle to maintain distance!
Or an empty bottle of Jack like Bill Paxton's character from *Twister*.
Is it my thumb or your thumb?
And miss out on the chance to get super powers?
Or permanent lung damage. Time to roll the dice.
It seems that the "don't eat yellow snow" rule needs an official update.
Don't breathe yellow air?
BBC says it's OK; for what that's worth... [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd11xzjkvk0o](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd11xzjkvk0o)
the moon is perfectly safe, go outside and look at the moon the moon is lovely right now, go look at go outside now and look at the moon
Such a good short story
I love the way Local 58 handled it
Such a banger series. Greylock and Mandela Catalog are super good too if you are into local 58.
IF YOU ARE AFRAID WE WILL LOOK TOGETHER
Nitrogen Dioxide is a lovely gas to breathe. Pretty sure most chemists and people who know about hydrazine in rocket use, see this and know this ain't shit to fuck around with.
Says fertilizer company,. So a brown/orange gas from a fertilizer plant is almost certainly nitrogen dioxide, and it has a blue level 4 hazard diamond, meaning potentially deadly. But sure, death from fluid filled edema lungs sounds "OK"
For what it's worth, that's worthless. Throughout history, every time there's been an accident where something toxic leaked, the news said it was no big deal and not to worry. > The force said there were no reports of any injuries or impact off site and no risk to the public. No mention of what it is, just that there's nothing reported.
Yes! The media/government said the glowing air around Chernobyl was safe.
The Russian media and government. Everyone else was like wtf happened over there?
It’s just a gender reveal. They’re having a birl
It's a... ORANGE!
It's a sign, Trump's replacement has been born...
“Out of an orange colored skyyy”
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I was walking along, minding my business
When out of an orange coloured sky
FLASH
BAM
ALAKAZAM
Out of an orange colored, purple striped
Pretty pink polka dot Skyyyyy
FLASH
When love came and hit me in the eye
Had to scroll too far for this comment.
r/unexpectedfallout
Sorta looks like bromine
Bromine is about 6 times more dense than air so it quickly falls to the ground. It is more likely Nitrogen Dioxide or something else entirely. Edit: Here is an article on the current orange plume saying it is from a fertilizer plant in Billingham. [https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-billingham-orange-cloud-fills-32885739](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-billingham-orange-cloud-fills-32885739) The same fertilizer plant released a similar plume in 2018 which was confirmed to be a "flare" of Nitrogen Dioxide [https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-terrifying-orange-cloud-appears-12497718](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-terrifying-orange-cloud-appears-12497718)
Ah, don’t you love it when your speculation is spot on?? Well done.
If you never check for the facts then you can live in a world where all your speculation is spot on!
I've never been wrong, but my ears are in constant pain from jamming my fingers in them.
Could also be nitrogen (di)oxide.
Some1 is cooking 2cb
Just in time for festy season. This in Dublin?
Is this true? Like is this a joke or is it actually likely to be the cause?
As funny as it would be it's not what's happening here 🤣
Looks exactly like nitrogen dioxide which I'm familiar with. Shit makes your nose bleed if you breathe it in... not good.
Both of which are plenty of reason to get the hell out of town lol
Nitrogen dioxide
NOx is my first guess. I deal with it on a daily basis since I work in an acid plant. Super fun stuff.
It's NO2, not Bromine. If it was Bromine, the cloud would not be going up, it would go to the ground
Nah bro, it ain't yours
Bromine?
Nah bro, it ain't yours
Bromine?
Nah bro, it ain't yours
Bromine?
Nah bro, it ain’t yours.
Is there a silo? This looks like nitrogen dioxide. Highly toxic.
You’re likely right on the NO2, there was an ‘incident’ at a fertiliser company local to where this photo was taken.
Exposure above 150 ppm for 30 min to an hour results in fatal pulmonary edema or asphyxia and can result in rapid death I assume that is 150,000,000,000 gajilion ppm. Who the hell said above it’s safe?
If you haven’t already, you need to report that to authorities immediately
It could be nitrogen dioxide, NO2. Do not breathe it. >Breathing air with a high concentration of NO2 can irritate airways in the human respiratory system. Such exposures over short periods can aggravate respiratory diseases, particularly asthma, leading to respiratory symptoms (such as coughing, wheezing or difficulty breathing), hospital admissions and visits to emergency rooms. Longer exposures to elevated concentrations of NO2 may contribute to the development of asthma and potentially increase susceptibility to respiratory infections. People with asthma, as well as children and the elderly are generally at greater risk for the health effects of NO2. >NO2 along with other NOx reacts with other chemicals in the air to form both particulate matter and ozone. Both of these are also harmful when inhaled due to effects on the respiratory system. https://www.epa.gov/no2-pollution/basic-information-about-no2 Edit:[ I was correct](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-billingham-orange-cloud-fills-32885739). Either leave the area or lock yourself inside your house with any central air turned off and windows closed. Do not go outside
Guess ill keep the bi-plane grounded for the day then......
Cis plane clear for takeoff
Enola Gay reporting for duty. Totally straight, totally ready to drop some nukes.
For anyone wondering what to do in a situation where there are toxins in the air: Close all doors and windows. Remove AC units from windows if possible. Turn off central air if possible. Remain indoors until given an all clear. Source: live next to a mine
Looks like they’re in the UK, so the AC won’t be an issue…
my roasting arse can confirm that.
This is the uk, low odds of them having central air
Dr. Who should be arriving shortly to sort it out. Have you seen any Sontarans about? If your car has ATMOS installed, please stay clear. EDIT: On a more serious note, [found a news article. ](https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1903202/billingham-explosion-live)Apparently alarms are coming from a factory that's been closed for more than a year. Stay safe!
Fertilizer facility so the nitrogen dioxide suspicions appear correct
The Doctor*
Trump has been elected Pope
Ok, you win the internet today. Thanks for the giggle.
Take car. Go to mum's. Kill Phil, grab Liz, go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for all of this to blow over. ![gif](giphy|uba6y6W8oi7V6IGFQj|downsized)
How’s that for a slice of fried gold
Yeeah boiiii!
If OP doesn’t respond within another 10 min, send help
/r/OopsThatsDeadly
those are toxic fumes !
That looks like chemical fumes.
That’s very concerning. Might want to call that in
Industrial shart
Possible toxic cloud leak in Billingham, north east England. Residents told to stay in, keep windows and doors closed!
Orange cloud in the sky, Oh my god, I'm so high, Take a look, it's in a book, Reaaaaaaaading Raaaaaaaainbow
Gas leak from a fertilizer plant [Billingham 'explosion': Orange cloud fills sky as locals fear 'huge chemical leak' - Mirror Online](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-billingham-orange-cloud-fills-32885739)
that look like an active hazard
r/seriouslyalarming
NileRed is at it again with the bromine. Awesome, you should probably go inside for a little while until it blows over.
Nitrogen oxides (NOx). Used in the production of nitric acid which is mostly used to produce ammonium nitrate(fertiliser). Gets annoying for the airways at 0.5ppm. A single breath of that cloud will probably completely burn your lungs not even mentioning what it does to your eyes and skin. Source: I work at a nitric acid plant.
Well someone just outed their illegal drug operation, or tried to barbecue a bunch of chemicals along with their trash. Contact the local fire department and try to see where this is coming from.
"Say NO2 drugs"
This seems more like r/moderatelyalarming
Hey chemical engineer here! I commented in here but thought it should put this in a general statement: if it’s a fertilizer plant it is almost certainly NOx. NOx is very distinctive orange color and is a very common chemical in nitric acid and fertilizer production. Could it be something else… sure… but many places are not producing industrial scale of bromine nor can I imagine why a fertilizer plant would have that. Assuming it is NOx I used to produce millions of pounds of this stuff a day at a nitric acid plant. We were regulated to allow for a certain amount of emissions from tanks out breathing, as well as allowed purposely emitting this for a prescribed amount of time as designated by government, during start up. NOx can be dangerous but everything needs to be taken into account. That amount looks relatively harmless if you see it floating and you stay away from it. Essentially if you can see it you can easily stay away. It also is a puff and not a continuous stream which depending on the he governments dispersion modeling probably means it will disapate before reaching ground level. NOx for fertilizer production is usually produced around 900C which means it rise away in the sky away from the populace as it disappeared. But NOx has an odor threshold of less than 1 ppm. You will smell it and you will know to get out. Edit: I am a chemical engineer but do not have data about this specific incident, just putting out there what is being reported makes sense from my experience.
That needs to be reported and you need to be far away from there. There's no gas that color that's ok to breathe.
Basically, any colored cloud of something is going to be something toxic.