Hypoxia and Medicine

if i breathed in hydrogen and only hydrogen would i die of hypoxia and how long will it take to die?

What are the side effects (apart from dying) of breathing in too much hydrogen

Public Comments

1. I believe that your brain dies after 4 minutes without oxygen. ==edit=== I'm sorry; you will have irreversible brain damage after five (5) minutes. I don't think that pure H2 is poisonous or anything, so if you were getting enough 02, I don't think that hydrogen alone will harm you. Don't test this by snorting circus balloons, however.: ----------- ...Complications of cerebral hypoxia include prolonged vegetative state -- basic life functions, such as breathing, blood pressure, sleep/wake cycle, and eye opening may be preserved, but there is no consciousness or response to the environment. Prolonged vegetative state is usually followed by death in less than 1 year, although, rarely, it may last longer. Other complications depend upon the degree of neurologic function and include lung infections (pneumonia), improper nutrition, bed sores, and clots in the veins (deep vein thrombosis)....
2. You'd black out in a minute or two, and suffocate in about 7-10 minutes.
3. The actual timing would depend on your personal physical condition, but you'd be unconscious in a few minutes and dead in a few minutes more. Some people have greater oxygen reserves (functional residual capacity) and would last a little bit longer than someone who was obese, was a smoker, or who had lung disease.
4. Well; I don't know about hydrogen, but I routinely have patients on a mixture of 70% helium and 30% oxygen to overcome resistance in narrowed airways. Pure hydrogen would kill you from lack of oxygen. Loss of consicousness would take place in about 60-90 seconds, death in a few minutes.