Yes, laughing gas, also known as nitrous oxide, can hurt your lungs, especially when inhaled incorrectly or directly from a canister.
Risks of Laughing Gas to the Respiratory System
Inhaling laughing gas can pose immediate dangers to your respiratory tract, from your nose all the way down to your lungs.
- Tissue Burns: According to safety information, within seconds, it can burn the nose, lips, mouth, throat, vocal cords and lungs. These burns can be painful and cause significant damage.
- Damage from High Pressure: The gas is typically stored under high pressure. When inhaled directly from a pressurized source, the force of the gas itself can be harmful. The provided information states that the gas is also under high pressure and can rupture lung tissue when inhaled directly. This physical trauma to the delicate lung tissue is a serious risk.
- Airway Obstruction: A severe consequence of the burns caused by inhaling the gas is swelling. In some cases, the swelling can obstruct the airway, which can be life-threatening and require urgent medical treatment to prevent suffocation. This highlights the potential severity of even short-term exposure if it results in significant tissue swelling.
Therefore, while used safely in controlled medical or dental settings, direct or improper inhalation of laughing gas carries significant risks, including burns and physical rupture of lung tissue, with the potential for dangerous airway obstruction.
