Journal of Applied Physiology Virginia Commonwealth University
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

J Appl Physiol 102: 1720, 2007; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00048.2007
8750-7587/07 $8.00
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF) Free
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Balestra, C.
Right arrow Articles by Germonpré, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Balestra, C.
Right arrow Articles by Germonpré, P.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Commentary on Viewpoint "Heliox, nitrox, and trimix diving; hyperbaric oxygen treatment; and a flaw in Henry's law"

TO THE EDITOR: Although a nonlinear behavior on gas dissolution has been shown, both the nature of dissolved gases and the presence or not of bubbles (or micronuclei) have to be considered.

A classical example has been shown with "hydreliox" (6), probably due in part to the polar nature of dissolved hydrogen in the final mix.

Thus it seems probable that apart from the physical or electrolytic changes in solute behavior affecting the linearity of Henry's law, other mechanisms, such as gas-solute interfaces found in the presence of macroscopic bubbles or micronuclei or even the surface tension of such interfaces, play an important role (3).

With helium, even local temperature gradients are likely to influence the driving forces of Henry's law.

Recent experiments conducted in divers (2) show that changes in fluid compartments induce concomitant changes in surface tension of body fluids that will widely affect the radius of pre-existing or de novo gas (micro)bubbles (5) and thus the contact surface and finally dissolution speed of gases (4).

In conclusion, it is undeniable that the simple linear concept of Henry's law is probably untrue, even in relatively "simple" circumstances and certainly in situations where "exotic gas" mixes are breathed. We cannot agree more with Arieli (1). We would like to stress, however, that, as the exact nature of these changes is extremely difficult to model, one has to consider that these changes can occur in both ways; therefore, the observation that nitrox dives seem to be safer than air dives is possibly also due to other factors, rather than this hypothesis alone.

FOOTNOTES


Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: C. Balestra, 91, Ave. C. Schaller, Brussels, Belgium B-1160 (e-mail: balestra{at}daneurope.org)

REFERENCES

  1. Arieli R. Heliox, nitrox, and trimix diving; hyperbaric oxygen treatment; and a flaw in Henry's law. J Appl Physiol. In press.
  2. Blatteau J, Boussuges A, Gempp E, Pontier JM, Castagna O, Galland FM, Robinet C, Bourdon L. Hemodynamic changes induced by sub-maximal exercise prior to a dive and its consequences on bubble formation. Br J Sports Med In press. [2006 Nov. 30. Epub ahead of print].
  3. Blatteau JE, Souraud JB, Gempp E, Boussuges A. Gas nuclei, their origin, and their role in bubble formation. Aviat Space Environ Med 77: 1068–1076, 2006.[Medline]
  4. Boussuges A, Blanc F, Carturan D. Hemodynamic changes induced by recreational scuba diving. Chest 129: 1337–1343, 2006.[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
  5. Hjelde A, Koteng S, Eftendal O, Brubakk AO. Surface tension and bubble formation after decompression in the pig. Appl Cardiopulm Pathophys 1: 47–52, 2000.
  6. Sebert P, Barthelemy L, Caroff J, Cann-Moisan C. Effects of breathing an O2-H2 (20%–80%) mixture on the energy metabolism of the eel at 1 ATA. Aviat Space Environ Med 59: 754–757, 1988.[Medline]

C. Balestra1
P. Germonpré2
 1Environmental and Occupational Physiology Department, Haute Ecole Paul Henri Spaak, Auderghem; 2Center for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (Belgium), Military Hospital Brussels, Brussels, Belgium





This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF) Free
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Balestra, C.
Right arrow Articles by Germonpré, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Balestra, C.
Right arrow Articles by Germonpré, P.

HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Visit Other APS Journals Online
Copyright © 2007 by the American Physiological Society.