I read somewhere that the reason people feel the need to breathe because of carbon dioxide building up in the body. So if you were to be per say in a room filled with just pure oxygen or some other gas other then carbon dioxide, would it be possible to suffocate due to lack of oxygen without getting that tight feeling in your chest that compels you to breathe? I.e you’re still inhaling and exhaling, but you don’t feel the tight chest feeling, while simultaneously suffocating
In: Biology
> would it be possible to suffocate due to lack of oxygen without getting that tight feeling in your chest that compels you to breathe?
Yes. This is one of the big reasons the gas created by liquid nitrogen is so dangerous. It’s ordinary nitrogen, completely harmless, ordinary air’s over 70% nitrogen.
The danger is that the gas pushes out all the oxygen and you’re breathing a pure nitrogen atmosphere. Without the need-to-breathe warning signal, you keep on feeling normal until you pass out and die.
[Last month on ELI5](https://old.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/l79tv5/eli5_how_does_one_die_from_a_liquid_nitrogen_leak/) there was a question about a recent liquid nitrogen disaster that killed 6 people.
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