What is nitrogen narcosis?

Question

i want to start doing diving and my teacher told me i should look up nitrogen narcosis but i dont get it what effects does it have and what is the chemistry behind it.

Answer 1

Nitrogen narcosis or inert gas narcosis is a reversible alteration in consciousness producing a state similar to alcohol intoxication in scuba divers at depth. It occurs to some small extent at any depth, but in most cases does not become noticeable until greater depths, usually from 30 to 40 meters (100 to 130 feet). Jacques Cousteau famously described it as the "rapture of the deep". Its precise mechanism is not well understood, but it appears to be a direct effect of nitrogen dissolving into nerve membranes and causing temporary disruption in nerve transmissions. While the effect was first observed with nitrogen (in air), other gases including argon, krypton, and hydrogen also cause very similar effects under higher than atmospheric pressure. These effects are most likely due to antagonism at NMDA receptors and potentiation of GABAA receptors, similar to the mechanism of nonpolar anesthetics such diethyl ether or ethylene.

The noble gases argon, krypton, and xenon are more anesthetic than nitrogen at a given pressure, and xenon has so much anesthetic activity that it is actually a usable anaesthetic at 80% concentration and normal atmospheric pressure. (Xenon has historically been too expensive to be used very much in practice, but xenon has been successfully used for surgical operations, and xenon anesthesia systems are still being proposed and designed).

Due to its perception-altering effects, the onset of nitrogen narcosis may be hard to recognize, its severity is unpredictable, and in scuba diving it can be fatal, as the result of illogical behaviour in a dangerous environment or in extreme cases from its own toxic effect. However, the cure for nitrogen narcosis is a simple one, as effects disappear within minutes upon ascending to shallower depths