Room Air O2 Percentage

Nearly all of the earth s atmosphere is made up of only five gases.

Room air o2 percentage.

Each cell uses and requires oxygen to thrive. Comparing the fraction of inspired oxygen fio2 in the air to a portable oxygen device is expressed as a percentage. A normal healthy person should have an spo2 of between 94 and 99 percent while breathing normal room air. Before we can answer the question of how to measure oxygen levels in a room we must look at why you re measuring oxygen levels in a room.

The human body takes the oxygen breathed in from the lungs and transports it to the other parts of the body via the body s red blood cells. Oxygen saturation is the fraction of oxygen saturated hemoglobin relative to total hemoglobin unsaturated saturated in the blood the human body requires and regulates a very precise and specific balance of oxygen in the blood. Nitrogen oxygen water vapor argon and carbon dioxide several other compounds are also present. The reduction of oxygen availability in the air thus reduces the oxygen saturation in the blood and brains of unacclimatized people introduced to the environment.

Humans need oxygen to live but not as much as you might think. Normal arterial blood oxygen saturation levels in humans are 95 100 percent. It doesn t have to be 24. O2 from a tank is mixed with air and bubbled through water to add additional water vapor.

If the level is below 90 percent it is considered low and called hypoxemia. The result is that oxygen molecules in the air are further apart reducing the oxygen content of each breath incrementally as one goes up in altitude. Varying the amount of supplemental o2 can change the percentage of o2 in the mixture. The percentage of oxygen you are receiving from a given flow rate is not a precise science but there are some guidelines you can rely on for a relatively accurate estimate.

The atmospheric air that we inhale on a day to day basis is made up of 21 oxygen 78 nitrogen and 1 trace elements such as argon carbon dioxide neon helium and methane. Although this crc table does not list water vapor air can contain as much as 5 water vapor more commonly ranging from 1 3 the 1 5 range places water vapor as the third most common gas which alters the other percentages. The minimum oxygen concentration in the air required for human breathing is 19 5 percent. Someone with an upper respiratory infection or disease should have an spo2 above 90.

Fio 2 the fraction of inspired oxygen is defined as the percentage or concentration of oxygen that a person inhales. If this level falls below 90 the person will require oxygen to maintain brain heart and other organ function. At oxygen levels of 10 to 14 percent faulty judgment intermittent respiration and exhaustion can be expected even with minimal exertion exs. The air s natural oxygen concentration is around 21 percent.

Breathing air containing 6 to 10 percent oxygen results in nausea vomiting lethargic movements and perhaps unconsciousness.