LETTERS TO THE EDITORCommentary on Viewpoint “Heliox, nitrox, and trimix diving; hyperbaric oxygen treatment; and a flaw in Henry's law”C. Balestra, and P. GermonpréC. Balestra, and P. GermonpréPublished Online:01 Apr 2007https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00048.2007MoreSectionsPDF (28 KB)Download PDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesGet permissionsTrack citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailWeChat to the editor: Although a nonlinear behavior on gas dissolution has been shown, both the nature of dissolved gases and the presence or not of bubbles (or micronuclei) have to be considered.A classical example has been shown with “hydreliox” (6), probably due in part to the polar nature of dissolved hydrogen in the final mix.Thus it seems probable that apart from the physical or electrolytic changes in solute behavior affecting the linearity of Henry's law, other mechanisms, such as gas-solute interfaces found in the presence of macroscopic bubbles or micronuclei or even the surface tension of such interfaces, play an important role (3).With helium, even local temperature gradients are likely to influence the driving forces of Henry's law.Recent experiments conducted in divers (2) show that changes in fluid compartments induce concomitant changes in surface tension of body fluids that will widely affect the radius of pre-existing or de novo gas (micro)bubbles (5) and thus the contact surface and finally dissolution speed of gases (4).In conclusion, it is undeniable that the simple linear concept of Henry's law is probably untrue, even in relatively “simple” circumstances and certainly in situations where “exotic gas” mixes are breathed. We cannot agree more with Arieli (1). We would like to stress, however, that, as the exact nature of these changes is extremely difficult to model, one has to consider that these changes can occur in both ways; therefore, the observation that nitrox dives seem to be safer than air dives is possibly also due to other factors, rather than this hypothesis alone.REFERENCES1 Arieli R. Heliox, nitrox, and trimix diving; hyperbaric oxygen treatment; and a flaw in Henry's law. J Appl Physiol. In press.Google Scholar2 Blatteau J, Boussuges A, Gempp E, Pontier JM, Castagna O, Galland FM, Robinet C, Bourdon L. Hemodynamic changes induced by sub-maximal exercise prior to a dive and its consequences on bubble formation. Br J Sports Med In press. [2006 Nov. 30. Epub ahead of print].Google Scholar3 Blatteau JE, Souraud JB, Gempp E, Boussuges A. Gas nuclei, their origin, and their role in bubble formation. Aviat Space Environ Med 77: 1068–1076, 2006.Google Scholar4 Boussuges A, Blanc F, Carturan D. Hemodynamic changes induced by recreational scuba diving. Chest 129: 1337–1343, 2006.Crossref | PubMed | ISI | Google Scholar5 Hjelde A, Koteng S, Eftendal O, Brubakk AO. Surface tension and bubble formation after decompression in the pig. Appl Cardiopulm Pathophys 1: 47–52, 2000.Google Scholar6 Sebert P, Barthelemy L, Caroff J, Cann-Moisan C. Effects of breathing an O2-H2 (20%–80%) mixture on the energy metabolism of the eel at 1 ATA. Aviat Space Environ Med 59: 754–757, 1988.Google ScholarAUTHOR NOTESAddress for reprint requests and other correspondence: C. Balestra, 91, Ave. C. Schaller, Brussels, Belgium B-1160 (e-mail: [email protected]) Download PDF Previous Back to Top Next FiguresReferencesRelatedInformationCited ByEnvironmental Physiology and Diving Medicine2 February 2018 | Frontiers in Psychology, Vol. 9 More from this issue > Volume 102Issue 4April 2007Pages 1720-1720 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2007 the American Physiological Societyhttps://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00048.2007PubMed17409297History Published online 1 April 2007 Published in print 1 April 2007 Metrics