How does nitrous oxide work? Is it dangerous?
Dear Cecil: For the last several years, I’ve been dipping my lungs into a substance called nitrous oxide–known to dentists as laughing gas, and on the street as whippets. In its most portable form, the gas is packed into handy single-serving cartridges, which are then discharged into a balloon or metal cannister, from which the gas is inhaled. What follows is ninety seconds of euphoria. As a clean-cut all-American boy, I know that anything this enjoyable must be harmful. But how–and how much? A friend showed me an article which listed four dangers: (1) damage to the brain from lack of oxygen; (2) damage to the lips from “freezer burn,” caused by excessively cold equipment; (3) damage to the lungs from inhaling too much too soon; and (4) damage to the head from hitting it during a nirvanaesque blackout. The last three are trivial and easily avoidable (you’ll have to take my word on this one, Cece), and the first seems insignificant–you don’t go that long without oxygen in this experi
