Nitrogen Hypoxia:
Alabama successfully executed a man who spent decades on death row using a new method called nitrogen hypoxia.
- Nitrogen hypoxia is a medical term for a state of insufficient oxygen in the body.
- It is a process where pure nitrogen gas, or nitrogen gas at concentrations high enough to be lethal, is inhaled to the point of causing asphyxiation.
- It is a relatively new alternative to more common forms of capital punishment, like lethal injection and electrocution.
- In this method of execution, a respirator mask is placed over the inmate’s face, and pure nitrogen is pumped into the person’s lungs instead of oxygen.
- It leads to unconsciousness and then death from lack of oxygen.
