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Oxygen toxicity is a condition resulting from the harmful effects of breathing molecular oxygen (O 2) at increased partial pressures. Severe cases can result in cell damage and death, with effects most often seen in the central nervous system, lungs, and eyes.
If you breathe air with a much higher than normal O2 concentration, the oxygen in the lungs overwhelms the blood's ability to carry it away. The result is that free oxygen binds to the surface proteins of the lungs, interferes with the operation of the central nervous system and also attacks the retina.
Hyperoxia is a state where the cells and tissues of the body are exposed to an excessive amount of oxygen, usually from oxygen supplementation via nasal cannula or mechanical ventilation. This increases the partial pressure of arterial oxygen (PaO2).
Severe cases of oxygen toxicity can lead to cell damage and death. Those at particular risk for oxygen toxicity include hyperbaric oxygen therapy patients, patients exposed to prolonged high levels of oxygen, premature infants, and underwater divers.
Oxygen toxicity is lung damage that happens from breathing in too much extra (supplemental) oxygen. It’s also called oxygen poisoning. It can cause coughing and trouble breathing. In severe cases it can even cause death.
Dangerous Blood Oxygen Levels. If your oxygen level dips below 90%, it's not always a cause for alarm. However, a drop into the low 90% range and below can become dangerous quickly. Many tissues in your body require a constant supply of oxygen to function.
Supplemental oxygen can be a life-saving intervention for patients with hypoxemic respiratory failure; however, emerging evidence suggests that too much oxygen is harmful (NEJM JW Gen Med Dec 1 2016 and JAMA 2016; 316:1583).
Too much oxygen can be dangerous for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with (or at risk of) hypercapnia (partial pressure of carbon dioxide in arterial blood greater than 45 mm Hg).
Yet growing research suggests that inhaling straight oxygen can actually harm the brain. It's a scenario straight out of "Grey's Anatomy"— a paramedic or doctor plops a mask over the face of a person struggling to breathe and begins dispensing pure oxygen.
Too much oxygen can cause oxidative stress, which can damage cells, proteins, and DNA. It can also affect our metabolism and inhibit certain enzymes. Symptoms of oxygen toxicity include nausea, dizziness, breathing problems, vasoconstriction, vertigo, a change in behavior, and in serious cases, seizures and convulsions.