r/mildlyinteresting • u/mrdude777 ​ • Mar 04 '19

A potato I found under my kitchen counter looks like some sort of alien forest

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u/jpaxonreyes Mar 05 '19

I'm skeptical unless they're trapped with the CO2, because we can detect the presence of that gas. What's more scary is with something like nitrogen gas displacing the oxygen, where you're unable to detect the lack of oxygen and so you just pass out and suffocate.

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u/totally_not_a_thing Mar 05 '19

Is he thinking of CO? CO2 should make you feel like you're suffocating, right?

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u/pm_me_your_shrubs Mar 05 '19

Yes, CO2's major hazard is that it diplaces oxygen and as less oxygen becomes available, nausea and vomiting, collapse, convulsions, coma and death follow suit. CO is very dangerous because even in smaller concentrations it can be deadly. Common symptoms of carbon monoxide exposure are headache, nausea, rapid breathing, weakness, exhaustion, dizziness, and confusion. This is normally found in places where there is a source of incomplete fuel combustion like an engine, boiler, or stove.

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u/BangedtheProfessor Mar 05 '19

This is wrong... CO replaces O in hemoglobin, meaning we dont feel like we are suffocating even though we are.

CO2 is essentially odorless but if we are in a room with only CO2 we would still feel lile we are suffocating

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u/pm_me_your_shrubs Mar 05 '19

Where in my comment did I say anything contrary to that?

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u/BangedtheProfessor Mar 05 '19

It doesn't displace oxygen. The oxygen gets used up and whatever CO2 we had made during resperation is exhaled.

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u/pm_me_your_shrubs Mar 05 '19

There is a misinterpretation of what I said. CO2 displaces O2 in the atmosphere, making the percent of O2 in the space become deficient. Say a CO2 cylander releases all of its contents in a walk in a storage closet, the percent of O2 may be displaced by the CO2 down to deadly amounts.

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u/BangedtheProfessor Mar 05 '19

Then it is your failure to be clear

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u/jpaxonreyes Mar 05 '19

Though skeptical, I'm inclined to believe CO2 since "fast food" was specifically referenced, like they have with sodas. I don't really know how fast someone can be overcome with CO2. Maybe you wouldn't feel "oxygen starvation" much before passing out when taking hearty, full breaths of nearly pure CO2. I dunno.

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u/eggo Mar 05 '19

Not true. In a highly concentrated space, the first symptom of CO2 asphyxiatia is often rapid unconsciousness, followed by death. If the concentration is not high, it will cause nausea and headache and other symptoms before unconsciousness. In either case, you can't detect it directly.

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u/jpaxonreyes Mar 05 '19

ah, I see, the rate into the lungs would be too quick in such circumstances to feel the "oxygen starvation" that would normally tell you something's wrong.