Just What We Needed Dept: Canned Oxygen

I suppose we can tell those old people whose lungs don't process oxygen like they used to that they need to suck it up and take deeper breaths. You know, the ones with oxygen tanks :p

But seriously, 100% pure oxygen can be good for you in small doses. Considering the atmosphere in places like NYC and Beijing, you can't really call me surprised to see these flying off the shelves. Have you breathed in polluted city air? It smells like shit and leaves an aftertaste in your mouth. An AFTERTASTE! Air shouldn't leave me feeling like I just ate a giant slice of cow pie. I can't condone the disposable bottle way of going though. What was so hard about making reusable bottles? Fill up stations, hello?

Anyone, the fact that you have to buy oxygen in the US makes a pretty bold statement about how crappy our environment has gotten. You really can't get any better advertisement for the green culture than a young 20 something huffing on a can of air because they can't BREATHE in their own neighborhood due to smog and pollution.

I have a feeling that rumour-mongers may be telling people this is a way to quck-sober-up before driving. I'm pretty certain it won't fool anyone, especially a police officer.

And NYC air is pretty damn good, being on the ocean and all. I would rather breathe NYC air than Atlanta, LA basin, Kansas City, etc. NY State is fiftieth in America with regards to energy use, because of the concentration of population in NYC. America's air would be a lot fouler without it.

You're confusing 'oxygen' with 'air'. People with lung diseases have been buying and living on medical oxygen for years. It isn't free, and it does have medically recommended health benefits. There is plenty of oxygen in the air we breath for function, that doesn't mean we wouldn't (or shouldn't) get a little boost from time to time.

Sounds like Spaceballs - Perri-Air

funny...and sad

i think the fact that oxygen is selling like hotcakes in NY is less of a statement about how bad the environment has gotten and more about how people would rather find a quick fix than make changes for a long-term benefit.

either that or it's trendy, like those oxygen bars that were (are??) so wildly popular. either way, it does seem pretty silly.

What we need now is designer bottled oxygen, or oxygen imported from Tahiti.

I'm rather frail and sickly and I for one welcome the idea. Unlike with oxygen tanks, you don't need a written prescription and it's not cost prohibitive like a trip to an oxygen bar.

its not air, its oxygen - there is a difference. and yes, pure oxygen does things like relieve hangovers and tiredness, but in the long run, its bad for you

"When the children inhaled pure oxygen, their breathing quickened, resulting in the rapid exhalation of carbon dioxide from their bodies," said study co-author Paul Macey, a UCLA associate researcher in neurobiology. "The drop in carbon dioxide narrowed their blood vessels, preventing oxygen from reaching tissue in the brain and heart."

For those of you who are planning on getting canned oxygen, I have a DVD rewinder you may be interested in buying. ;)
*sigh*

Maybe this is good for sick people like MandyPandy, but to everyone else, I would strongly recommend trying out a deep breath before you fork $16 for this bull.

An AFTERTASTE! Air shouldn't leave me feeling like I just ate a giant slice of cow pie.

If that's the case, there should be a huge market for this in Lancaster, at least in the spring when the surrounding farms spread manure on the fields!

Heh, that's kinda funny. People will buy anything if it's marketed correctly.

And yes, air is something like 20% oxygen, 70% nitrogen and other gases like CO2 and whatever else. So conflating this pure oxygen can and air is incorrect.

You could probably make a pretty intensely hot flame using a can of pure oxygen, though I'm not sure what use that would be. Other than that, if you're short on breath and you need this stuff, more aerobic exercise would probably do the trick in the long run and save you a bunch of money and empty cans.

And as for NYC having stinky air, I guess it depends on where you are. There are definitely some stale spots around, but for the most part NYC has pretty decent air quality for being such a large city.

Oxygen is Oxygen... what's abusive here is the outrageous price tag when you can go to a welding supply house and get an oxygen refill for a ten gallon tank for half that!

The problem is that medical grade oxygen, which is just plain old oxygen ordained kosher by some wave of the wand, is labelled a class A drug by the FDA and can't be sold without a prescription, which leads me to wonder, how did this company get around that loop hole?

That's why all the Oxygen bars were put out of business by the FDA, including the one Woody Harrelson opened in LA... because they couldn't get medical grade oxygen for these places, they just bought the regular stuff meant for industrial application, and got busted, because if the tanks weren't clean, you could potentially breath in toxic particulates.

Oxygen therapies have been around awhile... Oxygen boosting does have rather amazing medical healing properties... bacteria for example can't survive in oxygen rich environments, so if you jack your system with the stuff, you can fend off some infections. Keith Richards is rumored to get his blood periodically oxygenated. He also drinks organic vodka!

Deep divers use it to stay underwater for ten minutes or more...You can't abuse it, which is why it's classified as a drug... there's a whole cult of information suppression around its harm and benefits used in its pure form.

I'm sure Sigg will come along, make an oxygen holding bottle, so we can refill at oxygen dispensing stations rather than chuck away a disposable bottle.

The air today isn't fit to breath, the water isn't fit to drink... we might fix this place, but in the meantime things are just getting worse, and those who can afford oxygen tanks will survive in our new sealed Cousteau malll universe.

I first discovered the POD, personal oxygen device, (see www.oxygenpod.com) before my 3 month trip to Beijing. I got caught up in the media's exaggeration of the pollution in the city leading up to the Olympics and stocked up on my own fresh air. While the pollution wasn't as bad as I expected it was really nice to have access to a breath of fresh air, especially on really smoggy days. While I don't know the medical stuff behind it, I use my pod for recreational use and found it to have positive effects towards boosting my energy...and on occasion relieving hangovers. I don't plan on abusing the product and know it's addictive like cigarette's, but I'm definitely a fan. And I'd support this boost of energy any day over redbull or related heart-pumping drinks.

I'm confused by the "Oh, there just isn't enough fresh air up there" under the picture of the guy snowboarding, because while there might be plenty of air, I doubt there's plenty of oxygen. I've been hospitalized after skiing because of the fact that at high altitudes there simply isn't as much oxygen available to breath. I couldn't get enough oxygen from the air, and I felt like I was suffocating, like my chest was being compressed to prevent me from breathing. I was on oxygen for 3 days. That was a silly caption for that image because skiers and snowboarders at high altitudes (ex: Rocky Mountains) are rather likely to need oxygen at a young age.

You can't abuse it, which is why it's classified as a drug

The antibiotic and related effects of pure oxygen seem very interesting. You can get diffusion into tissue with a higher concentration that you can't really get with plain air. It is amazingly stupid or malicious that the government requires a proscription for the stuff.

But you have to be very careful with pure O2 when diving. Under about 20 feet of water (1.67 atmospheres of pressure) the stuff will become toxic.