Oxygen Regulator Fires from Incorrect Use of Seals

FDA and NIOSH are alerting healthcare professionals that incorrect use of certain seals in oxygen regulators can result in fires and are recommending an important precaution to avoid such fires.

FDA has received 12 reports in which regulators used with oxygen cylinders have burned or exploded, in some cases injuring personnel. FDA and NIOSH believe that improper use of gaskets or washers in these regulators was a major factor in causing the fires, although there may have been other contributing factors as well.

Two types of washers, referred to as CGA 870 seals, are commonly used to create the seal where the cylinder valve and the regulator are connected. The type that is recommended by many regulator manufacturers is a metal-bound rubber sealing washer that is designed to be re-used many times. The other common type, often supplied free-of-charge with refilled oxygen cylinders, is a plastic crush gasket that's intended to be used just once.

The re-use of these plastic gaskets appears to be the cause of the problem. These gaskets require higher torque than the metal-bound rubber washers in order to seal the cylinder valve to the regulator, and they require more and more torque each time they're re-used. It is important to understand that the connection between the cylinder valve and the regulator is designed to be hand-tightened. If the plastic gaskets are re-used, the need for more and more torque can require using a wrench or other tool, and this can deform the plastic gasket and damage the cylinder valve and regulator. The deformed plastic gasket can cause oxygen to leak. According to research supported by FDA and NIOSH, the leaking oxygen may produce enough thermal energy to ignite the plastic in the gasket.

Because of this, FDA and NIOSH are recommending that plastic crush gaskets never be reused.

There are also other, general safety precautions that you should follow to avoid explosions, tank ruptures and fires from oxygen regulators. Here are some of them:

• Before attaching the regulator to the valve, inspect the regulator and the seal to insure that they're in good condition, and be sure that the regulator has just one of the CGA-870 seals.

• Tighten the T-handle firmly by hand, but don't use wrenches or other tools that may over-torque the handle.

• Open the cylinder valve slowly while maintaining a grip on the valve wrench so that it can be closed quickly if gas escapes between the regulator and the valve.

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News & Politics

Tags:

• Oxygen
• Regulator
• Fires
• FDA
• Patient
• Safety
• Death
• Seriuos
• Injury
• Plastic
• Gaskets
• Seal
• Leak