Posted by John Walker on June 13, 2001 at 14:37:40:
In Reply to: Re: 160' on nitrox? posted by MHK on June 13, 2001 at 14:12:30:
Obviously toxicity keep us from being able to feel any narcotic effects but thats not to say that we are not experiencing it. Jarrod and Ted straightened me out a few years ago when I did a lecture on nitrox, implimenting the old ANDI logic that nitrox was surely less narcotic because it contained less nitrogen.
Each gas in a mixture will load into tissue based on its own charactiristics. O2 has its own as does CO2 and so-called inert gases.
One thing is that we are not sure of is what happens with O2 beyond the blood brain barrier.
Also the transport mechanism for O2 has a unique latching-unlatching charactorisics and metabolim converts 4-6 percent of it in transit from each breath. Besides the CO2 byproduct in itself is even more narcotic narcotic.
Who knows, but for now it doesn't hurt to simply consider it narcotic and displace it with a freindlier gas (like Helium) on deeper dives.
JW