You Breathe Through Your Pores
Friday June 9, 2006
If you were to seal every pore on your body, you would suffocate within 7 minutes.
Conversly, If you seal your mouth and nose, you will pass out, but not suffocate.
Pores are responsible for 80% of oxygen intake in primates. You don’t drown when you swim because pores can still extract oxygen from water; albeit at a reduced efficiency (10% vs 35% in air). However, when your pores are submerged, you become reliant upon your lungs because your pores do not provide enough oxygen on their own. You drown from the combination of reduced pore efficiency and total lack of oxygen intake from the lungs.
Babies can drown in a half inch of water because their pores are not fully developed and are only responsible for 45% of their oxygen intake.