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th3krackan t1_j1da7un wrote

Reply to comment by Skipp_To_My_Lou in Can our bodies tolerate environments without oxygen? by purvel

If you walked into a vessel under nitrogen purge could you physically take a breath of nitrogen in and out ? Or will your body just not respond. In the few seconds you'd have before you pass out of course

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Skipp_To_My_Lou t1_j1db52e wrote

Our atmosphere is mostly nitrogen already, so you probably wouldn't notice any difference. Since there would be a higher gas pressure of nitrogen in the air than in the blood, the lungs would absorb inhaled nitrogen, then because there would be a lower gas pressure of oxygen & CO2 in the air than in the blood the lungs would expel those gasses. The exchanging oxygen out part would happen in any oxygen-deficient atmosphere, like e.g. an argon purge or very thin air, like if an airplane's cabin depressurizes.

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