[QUOTE=LoneWolf_Recon;50758335]That's actually a big hazard to those who do TIG welding, if you're not careful Argon can build up in your lungs and its hard to get out because of the density vs air.[/QUOTE]
It's also a big hazard for anything that's kept under a nitrogen blanket. A person doing service could walk in and die without ever knowing. Great for keeping things from exploding or catching fire, though.
Is it really right that you can die in mere seconds from this? I thought your body could survive for minutes without breathing, or is this only if you breathe in oxygen and the effect is different when breathing other gasses?
Does this also stop breathing? So if a person falls unconscious due to hypoxia, you would have to breathe air into their lungs to get them breathing again? Putting the mask on them wouldn't be enough?
I think the difference is that if you hold your breath, you're using stored air (your lungs can store liters of it) while if you breath in a decompressed environment the air is being sucked out of your lungs because of the difference in pressure.
Hypoxia happens when the amount of oxygen in your blood starts to get lower. In a low pressure environment, you're not getting enough oxygen to your blood, so the level starts to decline. Too little and you'll die. (Asphyxia) Holding your breathe will cause hypoxia too, but since you're holding oxygen in your lungs and not dumping your lungs and inhaling low oxygen air, you're going to last longer. Since you're filling your lungs with carbon dioxide, you'll start to suffer the feeling of suffocation. With other gasses and low oxygen hypoxia, you won't feel this so you just let yourself die without realizing it in your euphoric bliss. You'll die really fast in a pure inert gas environment, like Nitrogen. (Painlessly and unaware)
[url]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inert_gas_asphyxiation[/url]
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