Rob Meddes
Guest
Munin once bubbled...
The narcotic effect of a gas in humans can be predicted by the solubility of that gas in an organic solvent (olive oil, actually). Higher lipid solubility means more narcosis. That's the Meyer-Overton rule. Bunsen solubility coefficients for some gasses of note:
He - .015
N2 - .052
O2 - .110
CO2 - 1.340
Nitrous Oxide - 1.560
Nitrous Oxide is narcotic at 1ATA. He isn't narcotic at depth. Hmmmm..... I wonder what how narcotic O2 is compared to N2....
Theoretically, O2 is 2x as narcotic as N2. However, some is metabolized, reducing the effect.
The best guess on the cause of narcosis is dissolved gas in the cell membranes (lipid) interfering with nerve cell function.
The things you learn
