The man who died from his own passed wind.

[George Ford]

Hi,

A few years ago I remember reading (or possibly hearing) a story about an obese American man who was staying in a small bedroom. He had eaten a lot of greens and grain or whatever. Anyway there was also something else about it being cold so he had all the windows shut.

During the night he passed a huge amount of wind and died from gas poisoning.

So for this 'Urban Legend' to be true, he would have needed to have expelled a huge amount of wind. Also the room must have been small and the door closed.

What's human wind made off?

How much wind could an obese person make in say 12 hours?

How much air does a person use up in 12 hours?

[Rocketgirl33]

OMG! I just laughed so hard when I read this! I personaly have never heard of anything like this ever happening. I am not even sure that it is possible. I think human "wind" is mostly methane gas which is flamible so I think it could logically casuse death if you were in an air tight small space. Not unlike running a hose from your tail pipe into the car widow and taping it up for a quick suicide. But a larg man in a bedroom gassing himself? I am sure that if it is possible this is the place to look, we have some pretty smart people here and this is a good place to look for this answer! I can't wait to here how this turns out! I am going to go fishing this day and see what I can find too.

Rocketgirl

[Lilly]

While passing gas can be horribly stinky, it's not deadly. See here for details.

[Sakari]

If passing gas could kill someone, my wife would be dead....I lost count on how many dutch ovens I have given her.....

[Timothy]

If passing gas could kill someone, my wife would be dead....I lost count on how many dutch ovens I have given her.....

LOL!

[Nateman]

They did something like that on Mythbusters where they set up a room and filled it with gas that is in farts...it only got deadly after having over weeks worth of farts stuck in that room

[Gatofeo]

True story:

My father was an American soldier in World War II.

Somewhere in Germany, his platoon was billetted in a small building. Dad figured there were about 60 guys in there.

All the windows were covered and sealed to prevent any light from leaking and revealing them to the Germans.

During the night, Dad awoke with a headache. He threw on his boots and stepped outside where one of the platoon members was pulling guard duty.

They chatted quietly and, slowly, Dad became aware of a regular symphony of farts from inside the building.

Remember: 60 guys, all eating canned C-rations, which were notorious for giving you gas.

Dad remarked to the guard that there certainly was a steady stream of farts. The guard replied he'd been there for two hours, and it had been going on steadily all that time.

As a Technical Sergeant, Dad went back in, pulled down some window covers, and opened a few windows. Many awoke and complained but he told them that fresh air was needed. He didn't give more of an explanation until the next morning.

Everyone got quite a chuckle from that, but a number of them said they awoke with headaches when Dad began opening the windows.

Now, I never saw the Mythbusters episode but I believe my father. And I believe the dynamics of 60 guys, eating a steady diet of C-rations, and then sealed into a small building.

Until you've eaten the old C-rations, as I did in the 1970s before MREs replaced them, you can't appreciate what a natural gas producer they can be.

Edited June 22, 2011 by Gatofeo

[George Ford]

True story:

My father was an American soldier in World War II.

Somewhere in Germany, his platoon was billetted in a small building. Dad figured there were about 60 guys in there.

All the windows were covered and sealed to prevent any light from leaking and revealing them to the Germans.

During the night, Dad awoke with a headache. He threw on his boots and stepped outside where one of the platoon members was pulling guard duty.

They chatted quietly and, slowly, Dad became aware of a regular symphony of farts from inside the building.

Remember: 60 guys, all eating canned C-rations, which were notorious for giving you gas.

Dad remarked to the guard that there certainly was a steady stream of farts. The guard replied he'd been there for two hours, and it had been going on steadily all that time.

As a Technical Sergeant, Dad went back in, pulled down some window covers, and opened a few windows. Many awoke and complained but he told them that fresh air was needed. He didn't give more of an explanation until the next morning.

Everyone got quite a chuckle from that, but a number of them said they awoke with headaches when Dad began opening the windows.

Now, I never saw the Mythbusters episode but I believe my father. And I believe the dynamics of 60 guys, eating a steady diet of C-rations, and then sealed into a small building.

Until you've eaten the old C-rations, as I did in the 1970s before MREs replaced them, you can't appreciate what a natural gas producer they can be.

Excellent! Good story thanks for sharing.

So it sounds if taken to the extreme then it could be possible. Plus all those army guys would have been using up oxygen and breathing out carbon dioxide. It stands to reason that given enough time they would have asphyxiated, especially with the added ass gas.

[Classified Document]

If passing gas could kill someone, my wife would be dead....I lost count on how many dutch ovens I have given her.....

BAHAHAHAHAHA, Dutch ovens? wtf? i have never heard that term used before, but it sounds crack up. BAHHAAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAA!

[Timothy]

BAHAHAHAHAHA, Dutch ovens? wtf? i have never heard that term used before, but it sounds crack up. BAHHAAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAA!

Here is the Urban Dictionary page for the definitions of 'dutch oven' - I think that should suffice!

** Warning - semi-lewd content **

[greywolf]

I Wonder If The Guy That Died Was An "Old Fart"?

[goldbuck]

I read a newspaper article That it happened to a man in the early 90s on school Lake Minnesota when was ice fishing... The shack was small and was air tight... Very true story that happened to the man... It wasn't the Saint Paul Pioneer Press newspaper

[DefenceMinisterMishkin]

Mythbusters tested this exact myth.

Result: Busted

[Joolzy]

I feel like I'm dying each time a certain person passes wind near me, and my reaction to such (having a gagging fit & feeling nauseous) used to make them laugh, but they've since admitted that not even they can stand the rotten stench. No dutch ovens needed in this case. :')

[DefenceMinisterMishkin]

I thought everyone likes the smell of their own..

*Made even funnier by Jean Claude down there..

Edited July 25, 2014 by DefenceMinisterMishkin

[Joolzy]

I thought everyone likes the smell of their own..

This individual used to until a change in diet took place.

[DefenceMinisterMishkin]

This individual used to until a change in diet took place.

Cabbage?

[Joolzy]

Cabbage?

More like, garbage!

[95-Nasty]

I aslo heard the story of a man who died from passing wind, when i was a kid, didnt believe it then and dont believe it now!

[JesseCuster]

I read a newspaper article That it happened to a man in the early 90s on school Lake Minnesota when was ice fishing... The shack was small and was air tight... Very true story that happened to the man... It wasn't the Saint Paul Pioneer Press newspaper

An ice fishing hut that was airtight? Doesn't sound right to me.

Have you got a link to the story? It sounds implausible to me. I imagine that someone in a small airtight space would die from exhausting the oxygen supply long before they could possibly pass enough gas to pollute the air to poisonous levels.

[loki720]

This must certainly be untrue. I am failing to see how human..ahem...emissions... can be toxic enough to cause a death. Yes, the odors are indeed horrendous but that is only because of chemical reactions within the body. If it were ever toxic, every terrorist in the world would be stocked with canned baked beans and cabbage.

[EllJay]

Remember reading that around 7 guys died in a septic pit somewhere in Africa some years back. I think they fell in when the earth gave way when they were standing on the edge of the pit. They didn't drown from exhaustion, swimming around in the pit, waiting for help, but instead they were poisoned by the gas the pit produced and became unconscious, and then drown.

Death by s*** must be one of the most embarrassing, and absurd, freak-deaths out there.

Here is a collection if similar accidents, but I couldn't find the story that I was referring to in there though.

http://inspectapedia..._Prevention.php

Edit: I just found this story while checking around. This just happened this summer. It is almost the same as the one in Africa I mentioned:

Seven people, all members of the same family, died in a freak accident Thursday after falling into an industrial-size septic tank on a pig farm in western Poland, firefighters said.

A woman reportedly drove a tractor onto the tank's cover, which gave way.

Seven family members who tried to rescue her were likely overcome by noxious gases and also fell into the tank, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/poland/10973779/Seven-drown-in-septic-tank-on-Polish-pig-farm.html

Edited July 28, 2014 by EllJay

[loki720]

Good work researching that elljay. I could not (would not?) Bring my self to task on that. However, do note that that was pit of rotting ans festering material, not just the "wind" of one solitary living person. And I think ive had enough of this thread at this point.

[EllJay]

Good work researching that elljay. I could not (would not?) Bring my self to task on that. However, do note that that was pit of rotting ans festering material, not just the "wind" of one solitary living person. And I think ive had enough of this thread at this point.

Well, it's not like I invested half a day looking in to this. My "research" involved typing the words; "septic, pit, tank, drowning" in the Google search-bar, and went with the top-link,

[Mantis914]

I would think it wouldn't be deadly, stinky yes, but not deadly unless he was a smoker also. One light of the flame with all that methane... I once had a buddy that was obsessed with lighting his own windage until I told him, "man, that flame is going to follow the source back inside", then he stopped after thinking about it for a short while