Ben

> I have a typical human oxygen equilibrium
> curve infront of me, and our blood becomes saturated with oxygen at a   
PO2 of
> around 120 mmHg (oxygen bound to hemoglobin, and dissolved in   
hematocrit).
> Now unless my math is wrong....  100% oxygen at sea level is at a PO2   
of 1
> atm, which is equal to 760mmHg.  Even a normoxic mixture has a PO2 of   
around
> 160mmHg.  This would indicate to me (again unless my math is wrong)   
that
> breathing gases with higher PO2s will allow for no physiological or
> biochemical mechanisms of increased gas exchange since no more oxygen   
can
> physically get into our systems.

I read in John Lipman's book that says that 15% of O2 is transported by   
Plasma.  Unfortunately, this was about the point I put the book down!  I   
have no idea whether this transport mechanism would play a greater role   
with increasing ambient pressure.

Dave
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