Is oxygen toxic/poisonous?

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I read somewhere that oxygen is, in fact, poisonous, and it “oxidises” your cells, burning you slowly, which is why anti-oxidants are important.

Is there any truth to this?

Thanks!

p.s. not a debate or anything, just want info on the negative/positive effects of oxygen on organic matter and properties of oxygen

p.p.s will this go in chemistry or biology???

In: Chemistry

5 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Under general circumstances, oxygen doesn’t do much to you. If you SCUBA dive, you have the possibility of encountering it when you go deep enough, Oxygen at a high pressure will result in [oxygen toxicity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_toxicity). This can cause brain/nerve damage, lung issues, and eye issues. You can avoid this by not diving that deep (most of the interesting stuff is in the top 10-15 meters anyways), or by breathing a different mixture in your tank (Usually tanks are filled with air which is about 20% oxygen, for deep diving you will be breathing something with less oxygen and more helium).

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