• Question: Is Krypton considered to be a non-toxic asphyxiant? If yes, why?

    Asked by arnoxlade10 to Bob, Katie, Nisha, Sallie, Vee on 3 Jul 2012.
    • Photo: Bob Bonwick

      Bob Bonwick answered on 3 Jul 2012:

      Good question – breathing normally is good, there is a very very small amount of krypton in the air as it is, but not enough to do you any harm. However, is the concentraion in the air were increased, we would be less and less happy about things. This is due to the amount of available useful air, if you go up a mountain, there is air, just not enough for us to breath normally, you will become light headed and dizzy, you will feel sick and not be able to think as well as you can when your full saturated with oxygen in your blood. This is called hypoxia.

      The same thing will happen if you increase the total concentration of Krypton in the air, about 50% krypton will be the equivelent of being up that mountain again. But the Krypton is not doing you direct harm, hence “non-toxic”, it’s just stopping you getting enough oxygen into your blood, acting as an “asphyxiant”.

    • Photo: Vee Mitchell

      Vee Mitchell answered on 3 Jul 2012:

      Yes as Krypton is an inert gas (as are the other noble gases helium, neon, argon, xenon, and the radioactive radon) it is chemically unreactive and so has no toxic effect on your body (which is why they are allowed to add it the gases inside fluorescent lights). However if you increase the amount of any gas in the air you breath then you reduce the amount of oxygen which your body needs and so effectively asphyxiate the body (starve of oxygen).

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