nitrogen gas?

[ColJack]

is it bad for you to be in an atmosphere with a higher than usual concentration of nitrogen?

I ask because we make large air conditioning units at work and they use nitrogen to purge the pipes whilst brazing and it's just venting into the shop..

also they use nitrogen to pressure test the units up to 300psi and they sometimes take 2-3 bottles of gas.. also vented into the shop..

 

[ricicle]

Nitrogen is an asphxiyant and needs proper monitoring in a confined space.Your company could be breaching H+S guidelines by allowing you to work in these conditions.

 

[Trazor]

Nitrogen is an inert gas as far as breathing goes, normal air contains over 75% nitrogen. Its normally only dangerous when breathed under pressure, as in SCUBA diving.

However, as ricicle says, if it displaces to much oxygen in a given space it could cause you to lose consciousness, even kill you by depriving you of Oxygen.

 

[ColJack]

that's what got me thinking.. saw something on the news about 2 guys dying at a steel works after an argon leak.. not poisonous but suffocated..

 

[MarkBarl]

There was an article on the BBC website that mentioned the suggestion to use Nitrogen for administering the death penalty. Apparently you will die fairly quickly but with no pain and a euphoric feeling.

Having ruled out all four methods, mainly because there was a risk of pain, Mr Portillo looked at an alternative, the deprivation of oxygen - hypoxia. It's commonly used in the killing of lab animals because it preserves their body tissue.

He discovered that nitrogen could do the job in about 15 seconds, and the prisoner would not feel pain - on the contrary he would feel euphoric, like being drunk.

From this article. "The search for a 'humane' execution"

 

[tim west]

I'm not sure it would be a nice quick death as you would literally suffocate

 

[ColJack]

hypoxia is different to suffocation..

you still breathe i and out, just that you don't get any oxygen.. you feel light headed and euphoric, then pass out and die while unconsious..

 

[tim west]

what about carbon monoxide as an execution device?

 

[noseall]

what about carbon monoxide as an execution device?

what about it?

 

[tim west]

I asked first

 

[noseall]

and i, second.

 

[tim west]

Oh ok then, I just wondered if it would be more effective as they say its the silent killer.

 

[noseall]

the fact of the matter is, the death penalty was never meant to be pleasant. certainly not euphoric.

suggesting a pleasant way for a death row prisoner to die, in an American southern state, will get you hung. it doesn't make for good politics.

can you imagine the ripples or shockwaves, across the good ole U.S. of A, amid suggestions that a baby murderer should NOT suffer whilst being executed.

 

[tim west]

Then why do they feed them? They could just let them starve to death in their cells.

 

[noseall]

Then why do they feed them? They could just let them starve to death in their cells.

good idea, but not legal.