Since Xe is big for an atom but still small, it may be just the right size to fit into some sort of pain receptor - adsorbing via nonspecific VdW interactions but effectively having a specific (i.e. biological) interaction.
The brain reacts weirdly to small greasy objects. Nitrous, obviously, and halothane, CF3-CHCl2, is/was a standard anesthetic. Heck, at high pressure N2 becomes narcotic. Deep or long residence divers have to replace it with He. In this group Xe isn't too out of place. I wonder if there have been any animal studies on Rn?
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Since Xe is big for an atom but still small, it may be just the right size to fit into some sort of pain receptor - adsorbing via nonspecific VdW interactions but effectively having a specific (i.e. biological) interaction.
The brain reacts weirdly to small greasy objects. Nitrous, obviously, and halothane, CF3-CHCl2, is/was a standard anesthetic. Heck, at high pressure N2 becomes narcotic. Deep or long residence divers have to replace it with He. In this group Xe isn't too out of place. I wonder if there have been any animal studies on Rn?
I just checked and halothane is actually CF3-CHClBr. Wikipedia also notes cyclopropane as an anesthetic.
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