What if oxygen is poisonous

My mate sits opposite me at work and I’m sat working away and he turns around and says to me

“What if oxygen is poisonous and it just takes 80 years to kill us?

It’s got me thinking now!
Is this a good question or just stupid?

Regards Jamie

somones been smokin the devils lettuce

If we don't breath oxygen.. we die. Pretty much our entire body needs oxygen in some way shape or form. Our brain uses about 20% of our oxygen consumption.

So no basically.

Edit 2 add: We age because our DNA replicates constantly but as we get older it starts replicating glitches. We die because our vital organs break down, usually our heart.. (Assuming natural causes) or cancer which isn't really natural in my opinion, more so caused by our own doing.

reply to post by ototheb85


I thought that at one point about Aliens , what if oxygen is poisonous to them and that's why they have never landed on the whitehouse lawn !

reply to post by ototheb85


Ill have what he is having
Well I doubt that it is.
We have developed so much over centuries that it shows that oxygen really does not kill.

reply to post by ototheb85

It’s got me thinking now!
Is this a good question or just stupid?

Yes and no.

Oxygen IS very toxic and reactive in general (hence oxidation destroying quite a few non-living things - fire being a fast oxidation reaction, rust, etc...), but is necessary to life on earth given our specifics. With pressure changes, this is a different story.

Aging, however, seems to be a genetic function that I believe we are getting closer to understanding and possibly mastering - doesn't appear to have much to do with oxygen in our case.

Take care.

That would mean humans are from MARS

reply to post by rick004


Ahh aliens.
There is so many different types. How do we know if they live amoung us?
They may not even be human sized or any bigger. For all we know they might be ants.

You've heard of oxidation, and oxidizers,....right?

Oxygen is destructive to most elements. I think it might be pretty amazing that we've been able to adapt to so much of it.

reply to post by 3dman7


I think we adjust it.
Just like fish to water.

worst case its part of the prison bars if a prison planet existed bars to keep the body draining until what is called death occures and the soul energy is mindwiped and reimplanted.

Every cell in your body needs it I think , and its one of the most important substances in our system and we are built to use it . Try holding your breath a few days and get back to me if you think I'm wrong.

An anaerobic organism or anaerobe is any organism that does not require oxygen for growth. It could possibly react negatively and may even die if oxygen is present. Most such species are unicellular microbes, though some are near-microscopic metazoa and some deep-sea worms. Some largely unicellular anaerobic microbes are protists, but most of the anaerobic microbes are bacteria or Archaea. For practical purposes there are three categories:

obligate anaerobes, which cannot use oxygen for growth and are even harmed by it
aerotolerant organisms, which cannot use oxygen for growth, but tolerate the presence of it
facultative anaerobes, which can grow without oxygen but can utilize oxygen if it is present
[color=cyan] In human beings these organisms are usually found in gastrointestinal tract.

The short and long answer is No.

However

"Life is by definition a terminal disease"

gastrointestinal tract tells alot about a CREATOR CREATION that is until they evolve beyond the need to digest in that way and can have a whole nano tract designed to absorbe energy from living and dying things.

reply to post by Ophiuchus 13


OK , that one just broke my brain and I even understood it LOLS

Originally posted by ototheb85
My mate sits opposite me at work and I’m sat working away and he turns around and says to me

“What if oxygen is poisonous and it just takes 80 years to kill us?

It’s got me thinking now!
Is this a good question or just stupid?

Regards Jamie

edit on 7-8-2012 by ototheb85 because: MOOOOOO

Well, oxygen is dangerous, for a variety of reasons, and physiologically it can lead to death. Oxygen is a free-radical and can be cancer-causing. Oxygen is not harmless. We breath 21% oxygen in the atmosphere. During emergencies you can administer up to 100% oxygen, but these levels must not be exceeded much further past 48 hours. This can lead to oxygen toxicity. Basically, the cells in your lungs responsible for their strutural integrity come apart. There are also a number of other damaging effects of O2 besides the lungs. Percentages up to approximately 45% can be maintained for longer periods without danger. High flow O2 can also be dangerous to premature babies and cause blindness. This is a very simplistic summary of oxygen toxicity but you get the point.

So, just like all things in life, too much of any one thing can be bad. Great question.

reply to post by bluemooone2

Try holding your breath a few days and get back to me if you think I'm wrong.

Excellent point, blue! But it's actually the increase in carbon dioxide that makes us gasp when we hold our breath, not a lack of oxygen. Body tissues remain saturated with oxygen for several minutes before hypoxia (low levels of blood in our tissues) occurs. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. I'm board certified in Critical Care

Originally posted by 3dman7
You've heard of oxidation, and oxidizers,....right?

Oxygen is destructive to most elements. I think it might be pretty amazing that we've been able to adapt to so much of it.

Excellent insight, you nailed it. Yes, oxygen can be very destructive, and like both you and Helz below you stated, our bodies adapt to our environment and health conditions by adapting, or maintaining homeostasis. Our bodies are constantly adjusting levels of electrolytes, oxygen, carbon dioxide, acids, bases, minerals, etc, etc.

Oxygen destroys anything like life that doesn't have a barrier, like a cell wall. Most models (if not all) that show evolution depend on a non-oxygenated environment for life to begin, yet earliest rock formations show signs of oxygen being present....so back to the drawing board?