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How did this happen?

30 Jan 2025

Helium is an inert gas that is lighter than air. In fact it's the second-lightest element, coming in just behind hydrogen.

A key difference between helium and hydrogen however is the fact that although hydrogen is keen to react with other elements to form compounds, helium is classified as an "inert" gas and under normal circumstances, refuses to form compounds.

It is this difference that has made helium the preferred gas for balloons, be they used for parties or for research high above the surface of the planet.

Another use for helium is as a "filler" gas when divers wish to descend to great depths.

Using regular "air" at such depths carries several risks, one of the worst being that of nitrogen narcosis. Replacing the nitrogen with helium eliminates that risk.

The fact that divers have been using a helium/oxygen blend for decades indicates that it is well tested and proven safe.

So what happened recently here in New Zealand when a woman collapsed and died after breathing in helium balloon gas at a party?

We all know that because helium is less dense than nitrogen, inhaling helium will give our voice a squeaky quality as all the resonances in our airways shift up in frequency. People have been doing this for decades and I've heard of very few deaths as a result.

However, breathing pure helium will cause apoxia that ultimately results in unconsciousness and death. Apparently it's not a bad way to go -- dizziness, disorientation, drowsiness and ultimately: "goodbye".

Because of this, it has been the method of choice for many who wish to euthenize themselves for medical reasons. At least one of the "right to die" groups have issued instructions in the past that involve the use of "balloon gas" to achieve such ends.

The industry's response to this was simple... they made sure that canisters of gas sold for inflating balloons were 80 percent helium and 20 percent oxygen. This mix is still lighter than air but can be breathed entirely safely -- because the oxygen will eliminate the risk of apoxia.

Some readily available canisters of balloon gas from retailers such as Spotlight are clearly labeled as including oxygen however, I also found products that seem to be using pure helium.

In the recent incident where a woman lost her life one can only assume that the canister used contained pure helium -- but even then I am surprised that the effects were so severe and so rapid. This seems to be far more than simply apoxia through oxygen displacement.

A quote from the NZ Herald story paints a terribly incorrect picture:

"Diane Waterman said helium gas attached to the oxygen molecules in a person’s body, and once that happened there was no saving her."

I'm pretty sure that Aardvark readers will spot that this is simply impossible, due to the inert nature of helium.

Strikes me that this death was more likely caused perhaps by an embolism. The story states " just as she inhaled, another person turned up the flow on the canister" so I guess it's possible that a high-pressure jet of gas effectively forced helium gas directly into the blood vessels in the poor woman's neck.

Whatever the cause, the effect was tragic. However, it does demonstrate that perhaps we should give more emphasis to science in our classrooms. The levels of public awareness and understanding of such things seem very low.

Personally, I have never inhaled helium from a balloon (or other source) and won't. That's because you have no idea, in the case of cheap canisters of non-medical-grade gas imported from China, what impurities may be contained in the gas and what the effects of those impurities might be.

Carpe Diem folks!

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