Helium - Biological Effects

Biological Effects

The speed of sound in helium is nearly three times the speed of sound in air. Because the fundamental frequency of a gas-filled cavity is proportional to the speed of sound in the gas, when helium is inhaled there is a corresponding increase in the pitches of the resonant frequencies of the vocal tract. This causes a reedy, duck-like vocal quality. (The opposite effect, lowering frequencies, can be obtained by inhaling a dense gas such as sulfur hexafluoride or xenon.)

Inhaling helium can be dangerous if done to excess, since helium is a simple asphyxiant and so displaces oxygen needed for normal respiration. Breathing pure helium continuously causes death by asphyxiation within minutes. This fact is utilized in the design of suicide bags.

Inhaling helium directly from pressurized cylinders is extremely dangerous, as the high flow rate can result in barotrauma, fatally rupturing lung tissue. However, death caused by helium is rare, with only two fatalities reported between 2000 and 2004 in the United States. However, there were two cases in 2010, one in the USA in January and another in Northern Ireland in November.

At high pressures (more than about 20 atm or two MPa), a mixture of helium and oxygen (heliox) can lead to high-pressure nervous syndrome, a sort of reverse-anesthetic effect; adding a small amount of nitrogen to the mixture can alleviate the problem.