Oxygen in a can??

April 28, 2008 8:02 PM

Oxygen. In a can. At a convenience store. Would you try it? Why or why not? Is it safe, does it do any real good? Bonus points: Would it help migraine headaches?
posted by mmf to health (20 comments total)

No. Reason: In low concentrations: free. In high concentrations, unbelievably explosive.
posted by drmarcj at 8:06 PM on April 28 [8 favorites]

What exactly are you going to do with the oxygen? Inhale it? High concentrations of oxygen cause lung damage so it's not something I'd try.
posted by shelleycat at 8:08 PM on April 28

I should mention, anything you get in a can is unlikely to give exposure levels that cause overt toxicity (subclinical toxicity is possible). But that's because it's unlikely to do much of anything.
posted by shelleycat at 8:11 PM on April 28

They have it in Japan. Specifically they sell them on the route up Mt. Fuji.

O2 in a can was done better here IMHO.

Sort of an odd, possibly stream of thought, question though... are you sure it's oxygen you're inhaling over there?
posted by wfrgms at 8:16 PM on April 28

It has already been done. First in parody in Spaceballs, and then in reality in bars and recently in an aerosol can: see Wikipedia and Go2Air. As far as I know, there haven't been any scientific studies supporting the idea that it could be beneficial - the Go2Air website above lists mostly consumer and/or general public pieces rather than rigorous studies.
posted by Paragon at 8:19 PM on April 28

I've heard that breathing a high concentration of oxygen is good for a hangover, but I have no idea if that's true. Since I don't drink any longer, I myself wouldn't need it for that.

But DrMarcJ is right about the fire hazard. Though it's not quite the case that oxygen is explosive. It's that lots of other things become explosive when in a high concentration of oxygen. For instance, spraying it on burning wood is a good way to make an explosion.

There used to be a video online, several years ago, of a crazy college professor who poured liquid oxygen on a burning charcoal grill. The guy knew what he was doing, and did it from a great distance (the dewer flask was on the end of a long pole). The result was most impressive -- among other effects, it totally melted the grill.

He offered several warnings about how damned dangerous it was, and one of his factoids was that a charcoal briquette soaked in LOX had the explosive power of a stick of dynamite.
posted by Class Goat at 8:20 PM on April 28

It's actually proven beneficial in cluster headache, which is extremely rare; no benefit shown in migraine.

You can get flavored oxygen to breathe in various places in Vegas; the Venetian hotel's concourse has an oxygen bar. I, too, have heard anecdotally that people use this as a hangover remedy.
posted by ikkyu2 at 8:25 PM on April 28

I have partaken of consumer canned oxygen. In my experience it was no different from breathing your standard-issue atmospheric air, except that the canned stuff is available in flavors: I've had mint and tropical fruit. Having flavors gassing around inside your head is weird and fairly unpleasant if, like synthetic tropical fruit, it's an unpleasant flavor. I can imagine that if I were already suffering from a headache that would be even less tolerable.

The cans I've used say that the recommended dose is an entire one-liter can at one sitting, which is about 30 breaths. But yeah, even after all that, none of the increased energy/headache relief/clarity of mind effects that the ads promise.
posted by Eater at 8:29 PM on April 28

Dan's Data has covered "oxygenated water", and found it lacking. (I could've sworn he also wrote about canned oxygen at one point, but I can't find it.)
posted by The Shiny Thing at 9:00 PM on April 28

It can be helpful for getting rid of that altitude headache on your first day in the Rockies.
posted by JimN2TAW at 9:14 PM on April 28

A better product, in my opinion, would be a miniaturized and inexpensive oxygen concentrator that could be worn like a dust/allergy mask.

would try to patent something like that myself but am too lazy to pursue so think of this as a seed idea for more enterprising sorts.
posted by Burhanistan at 10:12 PM on April 28

i can't speak for O2 in a can, but from what my "friends" tell me I know that O2 bottles (used during emergencies/depressurization on the plane) can help out with hang over/head aches when at ground level...
posted by aggienfo at 11:42 PM on April 28

You could keep one on hand in case you get attacked by a tiny little shark.
posted by ian1977 at 5:33 AM on April 29 [2 favorites]

I've used it a couple of times while staying in hotels that have the bottled oxygen as one of the in-room amenities. Touted as a jetlag aide, I don't know if it really worked in that aspect, but after some long flights I did feel better for the couple hours after using it.

(Also, if you're watching the NHL playoffs at all right now, you can watch every team sucking out of oxygen bottles on the bench.)
posted by meerkatty at 5:59 AM on April 29

This is the bottled oxygen I was using.
posted by meerkatty at 6:02 AM on April 29

i can't speak for O2 in a can, but from what my "friends" tell me I know that O2 bottles (used during emergencies/depressurization on the plane) can help out with hang over/head aches when at ground level... posted by aggienfo

I can attest to this. When in the Air Force we used to go on board the C130 transport aircraft after a particularly heavy night and take a few minutes breathing O2 from the emergency walkaround kit in the back of the aircraft. Bingo. Hangover gone and feeling about 1000% better.

We probably should have thought about the consequences if the crew needed the kit during an actual emergency, but, you know, getting rid of the hangover was our main concern.
posted by worker_bee at 6:02 AM on April 29

Class goat - is it this one?
posted by prentiz at 6:03 AM on April 29

I was put on oxygen once when I was in the hospital, and I loved it. I pitched a fit when they took it away. I could see myself getting addicted to canned oxygen. Which probably means it's something I shouldn't try.
posted by Metroid Baby at 7:14 AM on April 29

In addition to lung damage, too much oxygen can blind you. Probably not the amount you'd get in a soda can-sized, uh...can, though.
posted by SlyBevel at 7:24 AM on April 29

Prentiz, that's it, but the original had sound, and wasn't as jerky, and was bigger, and had better fidelity, and full frame rate... It was an MPG.
posted by Class Goat at 1:48 PM on April 29