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Breathing in pure helium can cause death by asphyxiation in just minutes. Inhaling helium from a pressurized tank can also cause a gas or air embolism, which is a bubble that becomes trapped...
In short, inhaling helium is a lot more dangerous than simply not breathing oxygen. It creates a diffusion gradient in your lungs that "sucks out" the oxygen that's already there, which can cause your body's oxygen to drop to dangerously low levels within seconds.
Helium can be lost if sampling is not performed and processed properly at the laboratory. Furthermore, the toxicological analysis of helium is not easy to perform by standard methods. A special gas-inlet system should be considered crucial to receive reliable results.
According to the NIPC, huffing helium can cut off oxygen supply or can cause an embolism if a person inhales too deeply. In addition, pressurized tank gas can cause lungs to rupture.
Helium is non-toxic and you'll start breathing normal air as soon as you move away from the balloon. Breathing Helium From a Pressurized Tank. Inhaling helium from a pressurized gas tank, on the other hand, is extremely dangerous.
Suicide by helium inhalation has become increasingly common in the last few decades in Europe and the US because it produces a quick and painless death. Inhaled-gas suicides can easily be assessed through death scene investigation and autopsy.
Death by helium still seems to be quite rare. U.S. Poison Control Centers reported only two fatalities between 2000 and 2004. There’s still an outcry from concerned parents whenever helium...
Exposure to helium does not lead to poisoning; instead, death is caused by asphyxia. Deaths due to helium asphyxiation are still a problem for modern forensic toxicology. Most current methods for collecting biological specimens and identifying the gas seem to be insufficient to give definite opinions in cases of helium asphyxiation.
The answer really depends on just how much helium you’re inhaling. As you probably already know, oxygen deprivation is never a good thing for your body. On the less severe end of the spectrum, it can leave you feeling lightheaded and dizzy, while serious cases can lead to brain damage or even death. When you inhale helium you’re actively ...
Breathing in pure helium deprives the body of oxygen, as if you were holding your breath. If you couldn't breathe at all, you'd start to die in minutes—as soon as your body exhausted the supply of oxygen stored in the blood. But helium speeds up this process.