• Free_Opinions@feddit.uk
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    13
    ·
    1 day ago

    I don’t know about pleasant but I imagine breathing in nitrogen is among the least unpleasant ways to go. You first pass out and then suffocate while you’re unconscious. I believe that carbon monoxide acts in a similar fashion.

    • steeznson@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      12 hours ago

      The first nitrogen execution in the USA did not go well. And arguably the first nitrogen suicide pod they tried in Switzerland went even worse.

      • kiwifoxtrot@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 hour ago

        If you look up industrial accidents with nitrogen, it isn’t at all like the accounts of that execution. It takes one breath of pure nitrogen and you’ll just fade out. There have been plenty of accidents where someone connected a respirator up to nitrogen and put it on, and they passed out immediately and didn’t even know to take it off. If you are trying to hold your breath for as long as you can, it is very painful as the buildup of CO2 in the body is what triggers us to breathe.

    • JackbyDev@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      17 hours ago

      No, I don’t think it does. Carbon monoxide is actively poisonous to you while Nitrogen just displaces Oxygen.

      Very relevant to all of these discussions is the fact that your body doesn’t give you a feeling of suffocation from a lack of oxygen but from an abundance of carbon dioxide. This is why if you exhale while holding your breath it provides some relief.