Additional hazards are also associated with the actual work of underwater cutting and welding, materials handling, hull scrubbing, and other types of work utilizing hand and power tools. Recognition Summary Sheet . The increased gas pressure underwater is called hyperbaric pressure. Boyle's Law applies to the expansion and contraction of gases within the body because of external pressure changes due to depth. Henry's Law states a gas will dissolve into a liquid in proportion to its partial pressure in the air and its solubility in the liquid, and can predict the body's absorption of inert gases into and back from the body at any pressure or depth.
Divers face an array of unique health hazards.
Gas toxicities caused by oxygen and carbon dioxide. The effect of carbon dioxide changes from a respiration stimulant at normal partial pressures of 15-40 mm Hg to a respiration suppressor above 80 mm Hg. Pain due to expanding or contracting trapped gases, potentially leading to Barotrauma . This acute symptom and potential damage can occur either during ascent or descent but are potentially most severe when gases are expanding. Acute symptoms of DCS can occur during a decrease in pressure, but they occur most commonly soon after the ascent has been completed.