Is hydrogen safe to breathe

Answer 1

No - certainly not. Hydrogen is very flammable, and can explode even at very low concentrations. Most flammmable gases only explode when there is a narrow range between the amount of air and amount of gas in the mixture. With hydrogen, however, the range is huge, and so from a very small concentration of hydrogen to a very large one any hydrogen and air mixture (and there will always be residual air in your lungs) is potentiallly explosive. And the temperatuure of exploding hydrogen is extremely high - high enough to burn lung tissue. If the mixture did explode in your lungs, it would cause irreparable lung damage resulting very quickly in death long before any treatment would be possible.

Furthermore, hydrogen molecules are very small and can diffuse into the bloodstream causing hydrogenation of fats and other organic moolecules in the blood. This can also be potentially fatal.

Helium, however, is safe, up to a point, to breathe for a short period - just long enough to make your voice go funny. This is because helium is a noble gas - and is very unreactive - and doesn't react with anything in the human body, not does it burn in air. However, even if you breathe this 'safe' gas, more than a few puffs will lead to oxygen starvation in your body which, in turn can lead to permanent heart, lung and brain damage.

Kush :

Actually, You can breathe in Hydrogen. I was just wondering the same thing, and then I remembered Hydrox. It's a mixture of Oxygen and Hydrogen, Divers use it to dive really deep and for longer periods of time.

You wouldn't wanna breathe 100% pure hydrogen.. But then you wouldn't wanna do the same with helium or oxygen (exception with oxygen in controlled environment..like a hospitol.)

Answer 2

Oxygen is the best to breath, however in the oxygen that you breath now there are tons of other gasses that have been mixed in. These gasses are unsafe, however in the small amount you breathe them in they do little if no harm.

Answer 3

All gases are potentially harmful as they can cause death by asphyxiation by displacing oxygen from the lungs. An excess of oxygen can also be harmful and cause hyperoxia, which is of particular concern to divers.

In terms of reactions with other gases or chemicals, the noble gases are about as safe as you can get as they will hardly react with anything.

Answer 4

If you dont breathe you will die, so it is more than safe to breathe..

Answer 5

78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, 1% Argon, 0.003% Carbon Dioxde