8 ms·

It's from buildup of co2. You would need to scrub that.

JoshTriplett 10y ago
In particular, in an environment that has insufficient oxygen in the air but that doesn't have carbon dioxide, you don't feel a desperate need to breathe; you just pass out and die.
- saidajigumi 10y ago
  This can and does kill people, in a variety of low oxygen situations. E.g. labs with liquid nitrogen freezers are mostly now fitted with O2 alarms to warn occupants about a dangerous and undetectable low O2 situation. Since you're still able to expel CO2, you literally won't feel anything wrong until you just collapse and quietly asphyxiate. Movies get this wrong all the time, and it bugs the heck out of my biotech friends with safety training with aforementioned labs.
  - Raticide 10y ago
    But at least it's a totally painless and stress free way to die.
  - gozur88 10y ago
    Your body will prompt you to breath when either CO2 levels are too high or O2 levels are too low. In your example the subject is still breathing even if he isn't getting O2. One problem ER docs see periodically is the CO2 "sensor" can become broken in patients with chronically high blood CO2 levels, i.e. people with certain types of COPD. They only breath when their blood O2 levels are low, and if you give them oxygen they just stop breathing.
    - teacup50 10y ago
      This is not true; just about any relatively non-toxic inert gas other than CO2 can take the place of oxygen without any significant response. We do have a hypoxic respiratory drive, but it is exceptionally weak, and unconsciousness will occur before any noticable distress is noted. The hypercapnia alarm response we're all familiar with is tied to carbon dioxide levels, not oxygen.
      - gozur88 10y ago
        What's not true? That he's not breathing?
      - SpikeDad 10y ago
        Hence the recommended method of life exit for people with terminal illness is to use a hood connected to Helium. Of course you need some "assistants" to remove the evidence since most places assisted suicide is illegal.
  - digi_owl 10y ago
    I guess one thing to look out for is the smell of rotten eggs in a server room. From what i understand that is a sign that the UPS batteries are venting hydrogen sulfide.
    - throwanem 10y ago
      That or sulfur dioxide, yeah. I've smelled the latter in an office that doubled as a data center, when one of the UPSs' charge regulation circuit went wonky and overdrove its batteries. That's probably not a major asphyxiation risk unless you're trapped in a room with it, though, because, unlike inert gases like helium or nitrogen, sulfur compounds are irritating as hell - a UPS boiling its batteries will send you fleeing for the nearest source of fresh air, with eyes and nose streaming, before it'll suffocate you.
  - vectorpush 10y ago
    Excuse the morbidity, but if this type of asphyxiation is essentially pain and stress free, would it not be a humane method for euthanasia or even for capital punishment?
    - andrewchambers 10y ago
      Yes it would.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - Sidnicious 10y ago
      Yes. It's been approved for capital punishment in the US state of Oklahoma: http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-oklahoma-came-to-embrace-the-gas-chamber http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-oklahoma-came-to... Also search for “exit bag”. You’ll find instructional images, as well as an instructional video made for the sick and elderly, about using this technique to commit suicide.
    - mikeash 10y ago
      It sure would. If I had to be executed and could choose my method, I would choose this. I don't know why it's not universally used. I suppose it's some combination of tradition and a belief that executed criminals should suffer.
- ridgeguy 10y ago
  This is inert gas asphyxiation [1]. CO2 buildup is what drives the panicked "I can't breathe" response. If there's no CO2 buildup and no oxygen, it's a rapid and apparently peaceful lights out. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inert_gas_asphyxiation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inert_gas_asphyxiation
  - tehrei 10y ago
    I seem to remember that this was looked into as a more humane form of carrying out death sentences.

In particular, in an environment that has insufficient oxygen in the air but that doesn't have carbon dioxide, you don't feel a desperate need to breathe; you just pass out and die.

saidajigumi 10y ago
This can and does kill people, in a variety of low oxygen situations. E.g. labs with liquid nitrogen freezers are mostly now fitted with O2 alarms to warn occupants about a dangerous and undetectable low O2 situation. Since you're still able to expel CO2, you literally won't feel anything wrong until you just collapse and quietly asphyxiate. Movies get this wrong all the time, and it bugs the heck out of my biotech friends with safety training with aforementioned labs.
- Raticide 10y ago
  But at least it's a totally painless and stress free way to die.
- gozur88 10y ago
  Your body will prompt you to breath when either CO2 levels are too high or O2 levels are too low. In your example the subject is still breathing even if he isn't getting O2. One problem ER docs see periodically is the CO2 "sensor" can become broken in patients with chronically high blood CO2 levels, i.e. people with certain types of COPD. They only breath when their blood O2 levels are low, and if you give them oxygen they just stop breathing.
  - teacup50 10y ago
    This is not true; just about any relatively non-toxic inert gas other than CO2 can take the place of oxygen without any significant response. We do have a hypoxic respiratory drive, but it is exceptionally weak, and unconsciousness will occur before any noticable distress is noted. The hypercapnia alarm response we're all familiar with is tied to carbon dioxide levels, not oxygen.
    - gozur88 10y ago
      What's not true? That he's not breathing?
    - SpikeDad 10y ago
      Hence the recommended method of life exit for people with terminal illness is to use a hood connected to Helium. Of course you need some "assistants" to remove the evidence since most places assisted suicide is illegal.
- digi_owl 10y ago
  I guess one thing to look out for is the smell of rotten eggs in a server room. From what i understand that is a sign that the UPS batteries are venting hydrogen sulfide.
  - throwanem 10y ago
    That or sulfur dioxide, yeah. I've smelled the latter in an office that doubled as a data center, when one of the UPSs' charge regulation circuit went wonky and overdrove its batteries. That's probably not a major asphyxiation risk unless you're trapped in a room with it, though, because, unlike inert gases like helium or nitrogen, sulfur compounds are irritating as hell - a UPS boiling its batteries will send you fleeing for the nearest source of fresh air, with eyes and nose streaming, before it'll suffocate you.
- vectorpush 10y ago
  Excuse the morbidity, but if this type of asphyxiation is essentially pain and stress free, would it not be a humane method for euthanasia or even for capital punishment?
  - andrewchambers 10y ago
    Yes it would.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - Sidnicious 10y ago
    Yes. It's been approved for capital punishment in the US state of Oklahoma: http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-oklahoma-came-to-embrace-the-gas-chamber http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-oklahoma-came-to... Also search for “exit bag”. You’ll find instructional images, as well as an instructional video made for the sick and elderly, about using this technique to commit suicide.
  - mikeash 10y ago
    It sure would. If I had to be executed and could choose my method, I would choose this. I don't know why it's not universally used. I suppose it's some combination of tradition and a belief that executed criminals should suffer.
ridgeguy 10y ago
This is inert gas asphyxiation [1]. CO2 buildup is what drives the panicked "I can't breathe" response. If there's no CO2 buildup and no oxygen, it's a rapid and apparently peaceful lights out. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inert_gas_asphyxiation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inert_gas_asphyxiation
- tehrei 10y ago
  I seem to remember that this was looked into as a more humane form of carrying out death sentences.