So, you didnt know Nitrous Oxide was deadly??

Firstly, this is a story from my father....

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Years ago, on a Drag strip far far away....

In the pre-staging lanes, the driver noticed the pressure drop on the NOS feed. He had the bottle in the boot (usual place), so he stuck his head in there to see what was wrong and he inhaled a couple of lungfuls of NOS. The leak was small but over a couple of minutes it filled the boot. He couldn't see anything wrong, so he got back into the car, lined up and took off on his run. At half track NOS took over and they reckon he.....in the words of the Boston Medical Journal

"worsening of the paresthesias (-no sense of touch or pain-) he noted difficulty in maintaining proper control of the movements of his arms and hands"

Result, he killed himself, the driver of the car in the other lane and 3 spectators.

This was one of cases (there were quite a few others) that lead to the requirement for "automotive" NOS to no longer be odorless. Medical NOS is still that way of course and some people still use it.

Since then I don't use NOS, I won't work on cars that have it fitted and I simply refuse to race against anyone who does.

What you choose to do is your choice

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WOW, you say, didn;t know that??
Plus you just gotta ask ...........

If my dentist gives it to me to inhale and make me laugh when he is ripping my teeth out, it can't be that bad, can it?

And it comes in a pressurised bottle like the LPG taxis use all the time, it can't be that bad can it?

If it ain't that bad, how come it's illegal?

Have you read the Boston Medical Journal's section on Nitrous Oxide??? Well, I'll save you some time googling it....

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"the hypoxia resulting from high enough concentrations of nitrous oxide may result in irreversible brain damage."

"use of it can damage the bone marrow and nervous system"

"nitrous oxide rapidly leads to complete loss of motor control, and anyone who breathes it while standing will soon reel about and fall down"

"nausea, neuropathy and myeloneuropathy"

"hyperesthesia, hyperalgesia and hyperhomocysteinemia"

"serious mood and personality changes"

"nitrous does kill brain cells"

"severe bilateral sensory dystaxia"

And the best one of all

"This 36-year old electrical engineer came to the emergency room complaining that he was unable to walk. Symptoms had begun 4 days earlier with "pins and neeedles" in both feet that gradually worsened and ascended to involve the knees and the fingertips. With worsening of the paresthesias (-no sense of touch or pain-) he noted difficulty in maintaining proper control of the movements of his arms and hands and trouble in walking. He also reported the sensation of electric shocks through his back and legs upon flexion of the neck. He denied bladder or bowel impairment but he had been unable to have an erection for the past week."

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That's it, no NOS for me....

Discuss....

"This 36-year old electrical engineer came to the emergency room complaining that he was unable to walk. Symptoms had begun 4 days earlier with "pins and neeedles" in both feet that gradually worsened and ascended to involve the knees and the fingertips. With worsening of the paresthesias (-no sense of touch or pain-) he noted difficulty in maintaining proper control of the movements of his arms and hands and trouble in walking. He also reported the sensation of electric shocks through his back and legs upon flexion of the neck. He denied bladder or bowel impairment but he had been unable to have an erection for the past week."

Hmmmmm was this confirmed as a case of exposer to N20, this sounds way to familiar to symptoms of MS.

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Originally Posted by SPEEDCORE

"This 36-year old electrical engineer came to the emergency room complaining that he was unable to walk. Symptoms had begun 4 days earlier with "pins and neeedles" in both feet that gradually worsened and ascended to involve the knees and the fingertips. With worsening of the paresthesias (-no sense of touch or pain-) he noted difficulty in maintaining proper control of the movements of his arms and hands and trouble in walking. He also reported the sensation of electric shocks through his back and legs upon flexion of the neck. He denied bladder or bowel impairment but he had been unable to have an erection for the past week."

Hmmmmm was this confirmed as a case of exposer to N20, this sounds way to familiar to symptoms of MS.

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Came from the Boston Medical Journal.... So I guess so.. I didn't think MS symtoms came up so quickly though...

Another thing you have to consider is this.... in medical use N2O is used on conjunction with piped O2.

It is used in a breather mask which mixes O2, N20 and normal atmospheric air.

It is not in the concentration of ummmmmm PURE N2O which you would find in a bottle of N2O..... of course if you are only breathing N2O you are going to be having a period of hypoxia, dependant on this period of hypoxia will determin the extent of damage to the brain and other systems within the body.

Please remember that hypoxia is caused by the lack of oxygen, not caused by the inhalation of N20.

What else you want to know?

MS symptoms can manifest themselves for the first time with surprising levels of impairment.

Usually to that level yes you would think that it would have been an advanced case..... though the pins and needles, extream loss of motor and fine-motor skills does occur in "1st" attacks of MS and is actually one of the most common.

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Originally Posted by SPEEDCORE

Another thing you have to consider is this.... in medical use N2O is used on conjunction with piped O2.

It is used in a breather mask which mixes O2, N20 and normal atmospheric air.

It is not in the concentration of ummmmmm PURE N2O which you would find in a bottle of N2O..... of course if you are only breathing N2O you are going to be having a period of hypoxia, dependant on this period of hypoxia will determin the extent of damage to the brain and other systems within the body.

Please remember that hypoxia is caused by the lack of oxygen, not caused by the inhalation of N20.

What else you want to know?

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If I remember rightly, you are a Nurse??
This was posted not so much to spell out the effects, but to show people its not a safe, happy gas...
If you have a leak in the lines...

Obviously, I am no medical expert, but after hearing one story, myself and my father decided to look up the complete effects.. and I was shocked in the least... Not something they tell you in the movies...

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Originally Posted by SPEEDCORE

MS symptoms can manifest themselves for the first time with surprising levels of impairment.

Usually to that level yes you would think that it would have been an advanced case..... though the pins and needles, extream loss of motor and fine-motor skills does occur in "1st" attacks of MS and is actually one of the most common.

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There ya go.. Didn;t know that...
No expert, as I said.. I leave the medical stuff to the experts

Yer I'm a nurse.. but currently working in audio production.

Yer... not like in the movies.... but why would you want N2O??

N/A all the way bro!! ;)

Tell your old man his level of concern is warrented given his research and experiences in the old days.


Just for interests sake..... LPG is actually odourless also... they add "fragrant" ;) so as to increase its saftey.

sounds like the sort of thing that happens when dealing with pretty much any gas in concentrations higher than found in the atmosphere

-2ds