Safety
The major safety hazards of nitrous oxide come from the fact that it is a compressed liquefied gas, an asphyxiation risk, and a dissociative anaesthetic. Exposure to nitrous oxide causes short-term decreases in mental performance, audiovisual ability, and manual dexterity. Long-term exposure can cause vitamin B deficiency, numbness, reproductive side effects (in pregnant females), and other problems (see Recreational use and Biological factors in this article).
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommends that workers' exposure to nitrous oxide should be controlled during the administration of anesthetic gas in medical, dental, and veterinary operators.
Read more about this topic: Nitrous Oxide
Famous quotes containing the word safety:
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—Lewis P. Lipsitt (20th century)
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—Christopher Lasch (b. 1932)
“[As teenager], the trauma of near-misses and almost- consequences usually brings us to our senses. We finally come down someplace between our parents’ safety advice, which underestimates our ability, and our own unreasonable disregard for safety, which is our childlike wish for invulnerability. Our definition of acceptable risk becomes a product of our own experience.”
—Roger Gould (20th century)