Yeah, CO2 suffocation is a legitimately awful way to go out, because it feels like you’re suffocating the entire time. Basically, there isn’t an easy way for your body to detect how much oxygen you have. From a biological standpoint, there aren’t many good (or accurate) ways to measure oxygen saturation.
But CO2 is a different story. When CO2 is dissolved in water, it forms carbonic acid. This is the same acid that gives carbonated drinks their characteristic bitter bite; flat sodas taste overly sweet because there isn’t any acid balancing out the sugar. On a biological level, carbonic acid is really easy to detect.
So that’s what your body does. It detects carbonic acid in your blood. And when those levels rise, you feel like you’re suffocating. If you hold your breath, that urge to breathe isn’t caused by a lack of oxygen; It’s caused by a buildup of CO2. So if you gas someone with CO2, it instantly sends them into “I’m suffocating” mode. And they’ll stay there until they pass out from the lack of oxygen. But that entire time, they’ll feel like they’re suffocating, because their CO2 levels are continuing to rise.
A more humane method would be something like nitrogen. It still allows the CO2 to be expelled, so the feeling of suffocation never starts.
Yeah, CO2 suffocation is a legitimately awful way to go out, because it feels like you’re suffocating the entire time. Basically, there isn’t an easy way for your body to detect how much oxygen you have. From a biological standpoint, there aren’t many good (or accurate) ways to measure oxygen saturation.
But CO2 is a different story. When CO2 is dissolved in water, it forms carbonic acid. This is the same acid that gives carbonated drinks their characteristic bitter bite; flat sodas taste overly sweet because there isn’t any acid balancing out the sugar. On a biological level, carbonic acid is really easy to detect.
So that’s what your body does. It detects carbonic acid in your blood. And when those levels rise, you feel like you’re suffocating. If you hold your breath, that urge to breathe isn’t caused by a lack of oxygen; It’s caused by a buildup of CO2. So if you gas someone with CO2, it instantly sends them into “I’m suffocating” mode. And they’ll stay there until they pass out from the lack of oxygen. But that entire time, they’ll feel like they’re suffocating, because their CO2 levels are continuing to rise.
A more humane method would be something like nitrogen. It still allows the CO2 to be expelled, so the feeling of suffocation never starts.