How Narcotic Is Oxygen?

Janos

My ex-boss did some research a few years back into narcosis and they proved that O2 was narcotic. At least that's what he says. An intersting phenomena is that O2 is directed to parts of the body that need it the most, and so the tissues that are most affected are the ones that are working the hardest.

There is a chap called A. Angel who did some stuff at the University of Sheffield on this, but when I google for "Angel" and "Narcosis" I come up with spotty teenagers refelctions on the drugs they took last night

Janos

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Barrie Law

Hi Simon, dteubner

I think the common consensus is that Oxygen does have a Narcotic dimension, I would be very interested in data that can accurately evaluate it's effect.

Regards

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Simon Mitchell

Hi Randy,

Yes, well, I "must" I'm afraid. Subjective impressions of narcotic effect are notoriously unreliable. Dave's studies will include objective measurements of cognitive function, and this is the only way the problem can be sorted out.

Barrie and Janos,

Nobody is arguing that oxygen does not / cannot have some degree of narcotic effect when breathed at elevated pressures. Indeed, I have said as much in my earlier post. However, the question is usually framed in terms of a comparison with nitrogen (as it was at the beginning of this thread). My interpretation of the evidence as it stands is that oxygen is not as narcotic as nitrogen (probably for the reasons discussed earlier) and that a straight mmHg for mmHg partial pressure swap of oxygen for nitrogen in the inspired gas will reduce narcosis.

Simon M

Mixaddict

Simon,

Is it not conceivable that the "missing nitrogen induced narcotic effect" is replaced by an "oxygen induced narcotic effect" and thereby the overall narcotic effect is approximately the same with both air and Nitrox?

Regards,
Randy

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Steve

Hi Randy, well it is definetly possible but without the sort of trial that DJOT is planning it is just another theory with no basis. Quality info, like the stuff David produces, wil provide valuable answers and I will be waiting eagerly for good science to give me an answer rather than my personal theories. For what it is worth I think that any narcotic properties that oxygen has will be unable to be experienced by divers due to it's toxic properties. I have a hunch that a propper study will conclude that it is pointless to factor it into any dive planning. Just my theory though.

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Mixaddict

I'm with you on this Steve. It will be quite interesting to see the results of the controlled study.

Best regards,
Randy

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Scuba_Vixen

This debate over oxygen narcosis has been going on for longer than I can remember, and it's still not definitively resolved.

The air versus nitrox narcosis is always a hot topic as everyone (by the time they are on these boards) has dived both which yields a lot of anecdotal evidence.

While Randy's experience leaves him feeling the same either way, Dave's experience clearly favored nitrox as less narcotic.

From years of discussions on these tech forums, Dave's is certainly more the norm, and Randy's the exception.

My own experiences where the same dive was done back to back on air/nitrox, (depth of ~100') gave nitrox a noticable advantage. I based my determination of narcosis level by the duration and intensity of my attention span while diving the wreck at 100'.

Since then, I've had several opportunities to watch groups of divers on that wreck, some on air, some on 'trox, (me on 30/30) and I generally observe that the air divers just sort of "zone out" and loose focus within 10 minutes or so, while the trox divers are still more alert to things to see.

Several years back, I recall there being some research findings posted that suggested that O2 was about one fifth to one third as narcotic as nitrogen. That seems to be about what most folks conclude from their experiences.


Can't wait to see some definitive testing results though.




Darlene

jradomski

I think alot of us had similar experiences that Notrox proved to be less narcotic than diving on air.. I Think its especially noticable when you are near your personal limits of exposure..

I remember doing 2 back to back dives with a friend of mine.. We were in 150fsw of water (cold and marginal viz).. He was practicing reel skills.. On 26% He was able to run the reel correctly and use it properly, The second dive was done on the same wreck but he used air instead.. He never got more than 15 or 20 ft at a time before fouling the reel, and even the simpleist of snags was a major issue (he took a mix class from me not long after this)..

He said he definately felt the difference, He felt the effects on 26% but was able to make due, but just a few percent more nitrogen had him totally screwed up..

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Mdemon

Sit in a chamber on O2 and see how you feel on the air breaks. If you feel narked during the air breaks then O2 is not as narcotic for you as nitrogen.

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ccr_ada

I take it you are talking from past experience then? Something you would like to get off your chest, Sir? Do tell

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