Posted on 04/23/2010 8:41:52 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
In a ruling of first impression, a Criminal Court judge in Manhattan has found helium to be a "noxious material."
Based on that finding, Judge Matthew A. Sciarrino Jr. has allowed the Manhattan District Attorney's Office to proceed with the prosecution of three men arrested for selling helium balloons outside of Madison Square Garden during a Phish rock concert.
The men were charged with a Class B misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to 90 days in jail.
The arresting officer reported seeing "unapprehended individuals" inhaling helium from the balloons.
Although "nothing makes a little kid smile more than being handed a balloon," Judge Sciarrino wrote, helium, if inhaled excessively, can generate "noxious or suffocating fumes" that "can immobilize a person."
Helium balloons are commonly used at social, business and political events ranging from children's birthday parties to celebrations of initial public offerings in front of the New York Stock Exchange. The ruling left open the extent to which event planners and balloon purveyors could be open to prosecution when others abuse their decorations.
A spokesman for the New York Police Department said patrolmen are given "no special instruction" for making arrests involving the sale or possession of helium balloons. The Manhattan district attorney's Office did not respond to a request for comment.
Ellen Forman, the owner of Balloons to Go, said that "if some idiot inhales helium because he thinks he is being cute, it should not be on me."
While inhaling helium can be dangerous for someone with a health condition like asthma, Ms. Forman said that "helium is not poisonous and does not create a high. It just makes your voice squeaky."
Ms. Forman reported selling 21,000 helium balloons to decorate restaurants last New Year's Eve.
The New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse has issued an advisory about the use of inhalants that can produce "mood altering" effects when inhaled excessively. While the advisory listed more than a dozen common household products such as glue, spray paint, deodorants and felt tip markers, there is no reference to helium.
Steven J. Pasierb, the president of Partnership for a Drug Free America, however, cautioned that any gas that is "huffed" can be dangerous because it deprives the body of oxygen. Lack of oxygen is what "makes the head spin and creates a dizzy, fuzzy sensation," he added.
Spokespeople for the city and state health departments and the city Department of Consumer Affairs report that their agencies have not issued advisories about helium or sought to regulate its use.
Nah. Merely a weapon of mass inflation ... Kinda like a mixture of the Fed, Congress, and the SEC.
(I like the “they were really selling nitrous oxide” theory - though that was NOT what these vendors were being arrested for!)
Nothing...difference in the weight of the gas causes the alteration of sound. No physiological changes in the cords.
Ain't that the truth.
When lawyers try to teach science.
Helium is one of the “noble gas family” which are called that because their valence electron shell is full.
Translation: Helium doesn’t react with anything.
Also since its lighter than Oxygen, it can’t displace it and cause suffication.
Gosh..why don’t they outlaw nitrogen?
“Judges obviously need more education”
I think we should bring back the stocks. A large dose of public ridicule is called for.
The judge does not know what the Biden he is talking about. Helium is an inert gas. The only danger involved in inhaling it is that it contains no oxygen, i.e. similar to an oxygen-deficient atmosphere. This is in fact the danger (”simple asphyxiant”) stressed by Praxair’s Material Safety Data Sheet, and is a hazard shared with nitrogen:
http://www.praxair.com/praxair.nsf/0/e07a16c722ad227385256a860081517c/$FILE/p4602g.pdf
Yes, you could kill yourself with the stuff by strapping a mask to your face and breathing helium while talking like Donald Duck. If you inhaled the contents of a balloon long enough to lose consciousness, though, you would drop the baloon and start breathing air normally.
If oxygen IS present, then helium is completely harmless; some divers use helium-oxygen mixtures to avoid the bends.
This judge has real problems. http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/criminal_court_judge_to_be_tra.html
Next thing you know argon and xenon are going to under the judicial microscope!
>>> Slightly off topic, but what exactly does it do to your vocal cords? <<<
Helium does NOTHING to your vocal cords.
The sound changes because of the physical properties of the fluid.
I'm rather surprised that states haven't switched to a gas chamber that just flushes the chamber with pure nitrogen. It is easily flushed when finished and is otherwise inert. The individual being executed would simply pass out and die from lack of oxygen. Odorless. Painless. No toxic poison of any kind.
>>>>It makes your voice sqeaky and can ruin your lungs can’t it?<<<
No, it can not ruin your lungs.
I wonder how this ruling will effect the balloons in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? They are helium filled and IIRC on deflation, the helium in them is released to the atmosphere.
Nitrogen is regularly used to keep up the pressure in underground telephone cables while splices are open for maintenance, etc. I’ve used it many times in manholes with no ill effects so long as normal underground safety practices (venting) were employed.
It's not that funny. Nitrogen is heavier than air and can cause suffocation if trapped in one area.
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