Hypercapnia Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

Hypercapnia is a condition where the level of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the body is abnormally elevated. Carbon dioxide is a gaseous product of the body's metabolism, which is normally expelled through the lungs.

Hypercapnia is generally caused by hypoventilation, lung disease or diminished consciousness. It may also be caused by exposure to environments containing abnormally high concentrations of CO₂ (usually due to volcanic or geothermal causes), or by rebreathing exhaled carbon dioxide.

The symptoms of hypercapnia are disorientation, panic, hyperventilation, unconsciousness and eventually death.

In closed-ciruit SCUBA diving, exhaled carbon dioxide must be removed from the breathing system, usually by a "scrubber" containing a solid chemical compound with a high affinity for CO₂. If not removed from the system, it may be re-inhaled, causing an increase in the inhaled concentration.

Hypercapnia during diving

There are a variety of reasons the carbon dioxide is not being expelled completely when the diver exhales:

• the diver is exhaling into a vessel with inadequate ventilation, such as a long snorkel, full face diving mask or diving helmet, and then re-inhaling from that vessel
• the scrubber in the rebreather the diver is failing to remove sufficient carbon dioxide from the loop
• the diver is overexerted, producing excess CO₂ due to elevated metabolic activity
• the density of the breathing gas is higher at depth so the effort required to fully inhale and exhale has increased making breathing more difficult and less efficient
• the diver is deliberately hypoventilating, or skip breathing, a technique to conserve breathing gas

See Also

hypocapnia

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