Abstract
IN diving and in caisson operations where men are subjected to air pressures above ordinary atmospheric pressure, the amount of air dissolved in the blood stream and body tissues increases. The excess oxygen can be disposed of by the ordinary combustion process, but the excess nitrogen tends to separate in the form of bubbles when the pressure is released. As the amount dissolved is approximately proportional to the pressure, there may be enough separating in the blood stream and tissues of a diver or caisson worker coming up rapidly from a considerable depth to produce ‘caisson illness.’ This is accompanied by severe bodily pains, and, in more severe cases, unconsciousness or even death.
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HILDEBRAND, J., SAYERS, R. & YANT, W. Helium in Deep Diving and Caisson Working. Nature 121, 577–578 (1928). https://doi.org/10.1038/121577a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/121577a0