Hydrogen Sensors
The Hydrogen Industry often uses hydrogen sensors to help detect hydrogen leaks and has maintained a high safety record using them for decades. By comparison, natural gas is also odorless, colorless, and tasteless, but industry adds a sulfur-containing odorant to make it readily detectable by people.
Currently, no known odorants can be used with hydrogen because they contaminate fuel cells and their performance. Researchers are investigating other methods that might be used for hydrogen detection, such as tracers and advanced sensors.
Hydrogen flames have low radiant heat (a hydrogen flame has a very low emissivity). A hydrogen fire has significantly less radiant heat when compared to a hydrocarbon fire of a similar magnitude. Since relatively low levels of heat are emitted near a hydrogen flame, (the flame itself is just as hot), the risk of secondary fires by ignition of other combustibles in the vicinity of the hydrogen flame is lower.
With the exception of oxygen, any gas can cause asphyxiation in high enough concentrations by excluding oxygen. In most scenarios, however, because hydrogen is so buoyant and diffuses so rapidly, it is unlikely to be confined where asphyxiation might otherwise occur.
Hydrogen is non-toxic and non-poisonous. It will not contaminate groundwater (it’s a gas under normal atmospheric conditions with a very low solubility in water), and a release of hydrogen is not known to contribute to atmospheric pollution or water pollution.