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>>Question for the group:  Does anyone know if carbon dioxide buildup is more
common on air than on trimix?  Why or why not?  There's nothing in the
techdiver archive on keywords 'hypercapnia' or 'carbon dioxide'<<

At increased depth gas density increases.  This cause primarily a limitation on
the expiratory flow rate a diver can generate, and will limit the maximum minute
ventilation a diver can sustain.  Since these effects are density dependent, a
less dense gas, trimix, would be less likely than air to result in hypercapnia
particulary when a diver is at maximum exertion.

This argument neglects the effects of the breathing apparatus per se, but in
general increased gas density will result in a greater work of breathing that
also may predispose to hypercapnia if the design is faulty.

Regards, John Zumrick, MD.

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