Young Ukraine chess couple 'killed by laughing gas'

[Neill Cooper]

Young Ukraine chess couple 'killed by laughing gas' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51767082

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Very sad. This should really also be in obituaries, as he was a 27-year-old 2552-rated grandmaster, see his FIDE rating card: Bogdanovich, Stanislav (born 1993) - with his most recent results on the rating site being in the Aeroflot Open 2020 B in February (though other results may still be pending). See also his girlfriend Vernigora, Alexandra (born 2001), rated 1861 and described in the article as "also a top chess player" and as "also a professional chess player" (though studying at Moscow State University).

[Joey Stewart]

Kind of sad, but if you mess around with solvent abuse that is often the consequence. That gas really needs properly regulating, you see the cylinders littering the streets all over the place from kids using while it is the fashionable new high

[Kevin Thurlow]

"That gas really needs properly regulating, you see the cylinders littering the streets all over the place from kids using while it is the fashionable new high"

It is illegal to manufacture or supply it in the UK (apart from medical use). It has been a drug of abuse for many years.

[Tim Spanton]

It seems strange that two people would die at the same time 'just' from using nitrous oxide, unless there were additional factors, at least if Wikipedia's take on safety is correct:

The major safety hazards of nitrous oxide come from the fact that it is a compressed liquefied gas, an asphyxiation risk and a dissociative anaesthetic.
While relatively non-toxic, nitrous oxide has a number of recognised ill effects on human health, whether through breathing it in or by contact of the liquid with skin or eyes.
Nitrous oxide is a significant occupational hazard for surgeons, dentists and nurses. Because nitrous oxide is minimally metabolised in humans (with a rate of 0.004%), it retains its potency when exhaled into the room by the patient, and can pose an intoxicating and prolonged exposure hazard to the clinic staff if the room is poorly ventilated. Where nitrous oxide is administered, a continuous-flow fresh-air ventilation system or N
2O scavenger system is used to prevent a waste-gas buildup.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommends that workers' exposure to nitrous oxide should be controlled during the administration of anaesthetic gas in medical, dental and veterinary operators. It set a recommended exposure limit (REL) of 25 ppm (46 mg/m3) to escaped anaesthetic.

[Neill Cooper]

Nitrous oxide is the second most commonly used recreational drug in England and Wales after cannabis, inhaling it from small cannisters. See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-48308053. Every year a few people die from it in the UK.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"It seems strange that two people would die at the same time 'just' from using nitrous oxide, unless there were additional factors"

A fair point. It may be the whole room was filled with the gas, or it was contaminated with something else, or there was another cause. Apparently investigations continue

[NickFaulks]

It seems strange that two people would die at the same time 'just' from using nitrous oxide

I have always believed there was more to this story.