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> Just to clarify something here:
> 
> 1. The effect of O2 is completely different from N2 and wouldn't be 
> termed narcosis. High PO2 is actually neurotoxic, i.e. it can cause 
> irreversible damage to your nervous system. > 

Thanks, Beat - this sounds like a fresh and knowledgable perspective. Could 
you elaborate on this?  I have a number of experiences which 
strongly suggest to me that nitrox can be more narcotic than air at 
depths in excess of about 180 or 200 feet.  By "narcotic", I mean will 
induce symptoms of confusion, loss of short-term memory, slowed reaction 
times, etc. - i.e., the things that I experienced while diving deep on 
air, and that divers have traditionally attributed to nitrogen.

> 2. O2 actually chemically reacts with components of (nerve) cells 
> while N2 (and other inert gases) seems to undergo mainly transient 
> physical interactions. Comparing lipid solubilities therefore doesn't 
> make much sense. > 

It was my understanding that hyperbaric physiologists have noticed a 
correlation between the lipid solubility of a gas and its narcotic 
potency. I also understand that there is a correlation between molecular 
weight and narcotic potency.

From everything I've read, the actual biochemical mechanism of "narcosis" 
has not been fully elucidated (an anaesthesiologist fried once told me 
that who ever could work that out would probably win the Nobel prize).  I 
know there are several biochemical hypotheses out there, but if you know 
of a proposed mechanism that is widely accepted, then I'd like to know 
about it (any pointers to reading material?) It seems to me that there 
are many more unanswered questions thn answered ones on this topic, which 
makes me tend to believe my real-world experiences in favor of various 
theoretical models; and my real-world experience tells me that oxygen 
plays a role in inducing the symptoms commonly classified as "narcosis".

Aloha,
Rich

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