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Frostbitten fingers
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| Man pouring liquid nitrogen |
Is Liquid
Nitrogen Dangerous? What Happens If You Drink Liquid Nitrogen?
Hussain
Kanchwala
Liquid nitrogen is used as a coolant in many applications,
including preparing luscious ice cream and the coolest science projects at
school/college.
However, is it really safe? Let’s find out!
Liquid Nitrogen
Nitrogen is a common
chemical element that occurs naturally in the soil, ocean and air.
Liquid nitrogen is
the liquefied form of nitrogen chemically produced by a process called
fractional distillation.
It is made of two
nitrogen atoms sharing covalent bonds (N2).
Liquid nitrogen is
also denoted as LN, LN2 or LIN. It is extremely cold and is used to preserve
foods and medicines.
At normal pressure,
liquid nitrogen begins boiling at −195.8oC (77K or −320.4 F)
You’ll commonly see
science museums using nitrogen liquid to create enticing visual demonstrations
relating to the qualities of extreme cold.
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Dewar flask
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Liquid nitrogen is
stored in special insulated containers called Dewar flasks. These are
double-walled containers that have an insulating vacuum between the walls.
These flasks are
vented to allow gas to escape the container to avoid pressure building up to
dangerous levels.
Depending on the
design of the Dewar flask, liquid nitrogen can be stored for a few hours up to
several weeks.
Perils of Liquid
Nitrogen
When working with
liquid nitrogen, users must be extremely careful and should ensure that all
safety precaution measures are taken before usage.
Let’s take a closer
look at what happens if you attempt to use liquid nitrogen carelessly.
Frostbite
As mentioned earlier,
nitrogen has an extremely low boiling point. Moreover, it is stored in a specialized
insulated container (Dewar flask) so that it doesn’t boil into a gas.
If you happen to
accidentally drop liquid nitrogen on your bare skin, however, it is likely to
cause frostbite, the severity of which would depend on the amount of liquid nitrogen
coming in contact with the skin.
Upon coming in
contact, liquid nitrogen absorbs heat from the skin and begins boiling rapidly —
the transition phase from liquid to gas generates an enormous amount of
pressure, which can severely damage your skin tissue.
What’s even worse
would be putting your fingers inside a container filled with the liquid
nitrogen.
According to John
Emsley, a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, if you did this, your
fingers would turn to brittle rock and may even fall off your palm entirely!
That’s why it is
absolutely critical to wear proper safety gear when liquid nitrogen is being
used.
Asphyxiation
Nitrogen has an
enormous liquid-to-gas expansion ratio of 1:694. This means that even a small
amount of liquid nitrogen can boil into a dense cloud of nitrogen gas that
would quickly fill the room with nitrogen gas.
Upon being converted
to gas, the relative amount of oxygen decreases as the nitrogen starts quickly
filling up the space. This can result in asphyxiation.
People working on the
ground with liquid nitrogen face the greatest risk of asphyxiation, as cold
nitrogen gas is heavier than the air.
Furthermore, as the
nitrogen evaporates, there is the risk of the violent oxidation of organic
matter in the vicinity.
There have been
several instances of death due to asphyxiation, including a lab worker named
James Graham, who died from asphyxiation while working with liquid nitrogen in
Edinburgh.
Clearly, it is
necessary to ensure that the area in which liquid nitrogen is being used is
properly ventilated.
What if You Drink
Liquid Nitrogen?
Now that we know that
even slight negligence in the handling of liquid nitrogen coupled with improper
ventilation can lead to asphyxiation, what if you drink this freezing liquid?
While sipping a drop
of liquid nitrogen might not turn out deadly, guzzling down liquid nitrogen
like a normal beverage can cause severe damage to the mouth, esophagus and
stomach.
When you consume it
by drinking, the liquid nitrogen would start to vaporize into nitrogen gas,
exerting tremendous pressure, and the gas would not be able to find a way to
escape from the body.
This pressure would
cause perforations of the vital organs inside the stomach.
A man in India
accidentally drank liquid nitrogen and ended up with a hole in his stomach.
This man, after drinking liquid nitrogen, felt an excruciating pain in his
abdomen and experienced the sensation of breathlessness.
He was immediately
rushed to a hospital, where doctors found that he had developed a hole in his
stomach.
The doctors said that
when the liquid nitrogen vaporized into gas, the N2 gas did not have an escape
route, as the sphincter was closed.
This lack of exit
options led to the perforation (a hole) in his stomach. His heart rate, blood
pressure, and oxygen saturation were also way outside the normal range.
Luckily, doctors were
able to save him by removing the damaged portion of the stomach and connecting
the rest to the small intestine.
The bottom line is
never work with liquid nitrogen without prior precautions and knowledge,
regardless of whether you are opening a container with it inside, using it
improperly without safety gear, or foolishly attempting to quaff it!
Hussain
Kanchwala is an Electronic Engineer from University of Mumbai. He
is a tech aficionado who loves to explicate on wide range of subjects from
applied and interdisciplinary sciences like Engineering, Technology, FinTech,
Pharmacy, Psychology and Economics.
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