Originally Posted by
xolinlevh
so if the pressure in the cabin drops, and your in the lav, wouldnt the pressure difference between the closed lav and the cabin create a large differential that would hold the door closed, preventing you from opening it easily in order to reach a mask outside the lav? Thereby ensuring that anyone IN the lav at the time will probably die?
This is not going to be a problem. The lav is not air-tight so the pressures on both sides will be the same. I thought that the oxgygen masks are locked behind a panel until they are deployed. The oxygen comes from a series of reactions with some nasty chemicals, some of which are explosive:
"The oxidizer core is sodium chlorate (NaClO3), which is mixed with less than 5 percent barium peroxide (BaO2) and less than 1 percent potassium perchlorate (KClO4). The explosives in the percussion cap are a lead styphnate and tetrazene mixture. The chemical reaction is exothermic and the exterior temperature of the canister will reach 260 °C (500 °F). It will produce oxygen for 15 to 20 minutes." Access to this collection in a lav is potentially serious.