Carbon Dioxide (CO2) simple painless method (still researching idea)

[newmethodresearcher]

Hi guys, this is my first post and I wanted to share something I've been researching (through I haven't completed all of the research yet).

Carbon Dioxide (co2) the natural gas we emit when exhaling could be a very effective and almost entirely painless way to ctb within 10-15 minutes. The mechanism includes 1. Connecting an oxygen mask (can be bought very cheap at various stores or online), with tubing to the valve of a CO2 cylinder (usually used for carbonating beverages at home so very accessible and cheaper than Nitrogen or helium, I think the pure version can be bought on Amazon, then placing the mask over the mouth and a plastic bag taped over head to ensure so leakages then having the gas slowly fill the mask creating a direct flow of only co2 and no oxygen.

While breathing normally (though maybe a small difficulty inhaling because of large amounts of co2), you would become unconscious in less than 20 seconds approximately and the co2 would cut the oxygen while you're unconscious and kill you in about 10-15 minutes or less. Also the cause of death would be multiple things so not just lack of oxygen increasing the chances of ctb (effectiveness) significantly while not using something thats actually toxic to others or yourself (like using a chemical that could cause side effects while still alive).

I'm still doing research on this to create a full method and am very much considering using it myself next summer to finally be at peace. Please let me know what you guys think of it and if you agree it would be a good method

 

[RoseGirl]

high carbon dioxide content in blood is the scariest thing in existence. it'll make you panic even if you don't have an amygdala.
I'd love to see how terrifying it would be to try and breath in pure co2

 

[daydrey]

It seems they use a similar method when using it on pigs. In videos from animal welfare organizations, the pigs appear to be in great pain or panic. I'm not sure if it's a good method. According to some research papers, there have been occasional cases of using dry ice, but I couldn't find any videos of it. Wouldn't putting dry ice in a sealed bag produce the same effect?

 

[boredout]

Sounds like I'd just suffocate.

 

[Forveleth]

Someone did not research basic biology. There is a reason this very accessible method is not listed in any methods thread here.

This is the same thing as putting a bag over your head. Do that for even 30 seconds and see how panicked you feel. The amount of carbon dioxide in your blood is what tells your body you need to breathe. The more CO2, the louder your brain screams at you to take a breath. This eventually leads to extreme panic and a feeling of terror.

You would rip the mask off in a panic before you got close to passing out. This is not an option.

 

[diazepam23]

OP, are you sure you're not confusing CO2 (carbon dioxide) for CO (carbon monoxide)?

 

[newmethodresearcher]

Hi guys, I just wanted to clarify that I am researching methods and this is just something I came across a small study on and haven't finished the research. I just wanted to hear everyone's thoughts about it since I knew it could be effective but wasn't entirely sure if it would be painless or not. I'm not recommending this to anyone I just wanted to get insight into the method from others to see if it would actually be effective. Thank you guys for the input on details that might have been missed in the articles I read.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24114436/ Here's the link of the article I read about it and started research on.

 

[Dejected 55]

It would kill you... but it would not be peaceful at all.

 

[Galahad]

For painless or as near as possible you want CO/Carbon Monoxide

Or an inert gas such as nitrogen, argon or helium ( latter used to be gold standard but increasingly harder for Joe Public to purchase).

You can make CO by combining Sulphuric Acid and Formic Acid in a homemade device called a GULPS generator


CO2 would be far from painless.

 

[Intoxicated]

The mechanism includes 1. Connecting an oxygen mask (can be bought very cheap at various stores or online), with tubing to the valve of a CO2 cylinder (usually used for carbonating beverages at home so very accessible and cheaper than Nitrogen or helium, I think the pure version can be bought on Amazon, then placing the mask over the mouth and a plastic bag taped over head to ensure so leakages then having the gas slowly fill the mask creating a direct flow of only co2 and no oxygen.

Displacing nearly all oxygen seems unnecessary, because 30% CO2 is enough to cause unconsciousness in half a minute. A simple plastic bag with CO2 over the head could work well.

Please let me know what you guys think of it and if you agree it would be a good method

CO2 poisoning seems a decent method for me, because unconsciousness is rendered quickly and concentrated carbon dioxide can be produced with common household chemicals (baking soda + citric acid), so it's very accessible and cheap. I don't like the word "painless" for describing CTB methods, because in general people may experience significant physical discomfort that is not associated with pain, such as cold, nausea, itching, and the sense of suffocation. Maybe breathing CO2 can be "painless", but it's far from discomfort-free. You'll likely have physical discomfort in the form of suffocation paired with mental discomfort in the form of anxiety. Neither should be a big problem if you know how to induce anger which increases tolerance to physical discomfort and effectively suppresses the sense of fear. The notable advantage of this method over a plastic bag with plain air is that it reduces the duration of distress from several minutes to several seconds.

In terms of comfort, it's worse than CTB with many other asphyxiants. I'd place it after H2S

1. N2O
2. He, N2, Ar, CO
3. Propane/butane, HFC-134a, HFC-152a
4. H2S
5. CO2

 

[LettinGooo]

CO (Carbon Monoxide) is painless.
CO2 will have you feel like you're choking and suffocating as others have no doubt mentioned.

You do not want to ctb via CO2. It is probably the worst method you could think of.

 

[Intoxicated]

You do not want to ctb via CO2. It is probably the worst method you could think of.

I can imagine a lot of methods that are much worse than CO2 poisoning. For example, electrocution, self-immolation, drinking hydrofluoric acid, or ingestion of aluminium phosphide. The duration of distress from inhaling concentrated CO2 (30 - 100%) is very limited (time to LOC is 20 - 30 seconds), that is one of the key advantages of this method over the methods that kill you painfully and slowly.

 

[Whole-Ad]

Absolutely no way would I do this. I've put bags over my head and the pure panic when the carbon dioxide level increases in your blood makes you literally rip the bag open so you can finally breathe. The reason this is not listed is simply because it's not painless, easy or peaceful.

 

[locked*n*loaded]

CO2 isn't a good way to go from everything I've read about it. Inhaling CO2 triggers the body's hypercapnic response. Symptoms attributable to early hypercapnia are dyspnea (breathlessness), headache, confusion and lethargy. Clinical signs include flushed skin, full pulse (bounding pulse), rapid breathing, premature heart beats, muscle twitches, and hand flaps (asterixis). The risk of dangerous irregularities of the heart beat is increased. Hypercapnia also occurs when the breathing gas is contaminated with carbon dioxide, or respiratory gas exchange cannot keep up with the metabolic production of carbon dioxide, which can occur when gas density limits ventilation at high ambient pressures.

In severe hypercapnia (generally P aCO2 (greater than 10 kPa or 75 mmHg), symptomatology progresses to disorientation, panic, hyperventilation, convulsions, unconsciousness, and eventually death.

In no way, shape, or form is it going to be painless, nor quick.

 

[TAW122]

I voted no because CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) would likely make suffering more intense and due to the body's stubborn SI and biological instinct, it would have a high chance of failure and all the discomfort that comes along with it. CO (Carbon Monoxide), on the other hand, would be more reliable (when done correctly) towards success and less chance of discomfort.

 

[Off_Switch]

I remember watching an episode of Rescue 911 when I was a kid. A couple of children were treading water in a lake behind their family's boat that was idling with the motor still on.

They were very close to the boat and a bunch of CO from the exhaust built up in a cavity underneath the boat near their faces. One of the children passed out and almost drowned.

So, I I don't think it's as difficult as many make it out to be. But I think most of the preparation needs to allocated to ensuring that one can fall asleep while attempting. All the CO accidental deaths you read about in the news are always victims that were sleeping.

 

[TheEmptyVoid]

Displacing nearly all oxygen seems unnecessary, because 30% CO2 is enough to cause unconsciousness in half a minute. A simple plastic bag with CO2 over the head could work well.

CO2 poisoning seems a decent method for me, because unconsciousness is rendered quickly and concentrated carbon dioxide can be produced with common household chemicals (baking soda + citric acid), so it's very accessible and cheap. I don't like the word "painless" for describing CTB methods, because in general people may experience significant physical discomfort that is not associated with pain, such as cold, nausea, itching, and the sense of suffocation. Maybe breathing CO2 can be "painless", but it's far from discomfort-free. You'll likely have physical discomfort in the form of suffocation paired with mental discomfort in the form of anxiety. Neither should be a big problem if you know how to induce anger which increases tolerance to physical discomfort and effectively suppresses the sense of fear. The notable advantage of this method over a plastic bag with plain air is that it reduces the duration of distress from several minutes to several seconds.

In terms of comfort, it's worse than CTB with many other asphyxiants. I'd place it after H2S

1. N2O
2. He, N2, Ar, CO
3. Propane/butane, HFC-134a, HFC-152a
4. H2S
5. CO2

I added vinegar into a cup and held a deflated bag and quickly poured baking soda into the vinegar and quickly put the bag on top of the cup and sealed it and it started a reaction and creates nearly pure co2 and some water vapor and some vinegar mist but literally zero oxygen is in it, I used a straw and inhaled directly and nearly instantly felt a burning sensation in my throat and I had a huge urge to cough and huge urge to breathe but surprisingly the urge to breath was gone after inhaling deeply inside the bag 2 more times and I held my breath with my pulse oximeter on my finger, and without noticing I passed out, I didn't even read my pulse oximeter even after waking up, I passed out all within 5 seconds. But pure co2 poisoning is probably the most lethal method, and pretty painless because it lasts so short. And co2 in 90% pure form is lethal on it's own by causing acidosis in the blood and depresses the hearts ability to pump blood even with normal oxygen levels, even if you somehow have enough oxygen in your body to keep you perfectly conscious and alive. And you said 30% co2 is enough to make you unconscious in half a minute, so the 90% co2 gas itself would make you unconscious in like 5-10 seconds even with perfectly normal oxygen levels enough to keep you perfectly conscious and alive. 0% oxygen gas on its own without co2 makes you unconscious in 5-30 seconds, and the fact it's pure co2 + anoxia, makes this perfectly 100% lethal if no one saves you, I'm choosing this method.

 

[hell toupee]

I added vinegar into a cup and held a deflated bag and quickly poured baking soda into the vinegar and quickly put the bag on top of the cup and sealed it and it started a reaction and creates nearly pure co2 and some water vapor and some vinegar mist but literally zero oxygen is in it, I used a straw and inhaled directly and nearly instantly felt a burning sensation in my throat and I had a huge urge to cough and huge urge to breathe but surprisingly the urge to breath was gone after inhaling deeply inside the bag 2 more times and I held my breath with my pulse oximeter on my finger, and without noticing I passed out, I didn't even read my pulse oximeter even after waking up, I passed out all within 5 seconds. But pure co2 poisoning is probably the most lethal method, and pretty painless because it lasts so short. And co2 in 90% pure form is lethal on it's own by causing acidosis in the blood and depresses the hearts ability to pump blood even with normal oxygen levels, even if you somehow have enough oxygen in your body to keep you perfectly conscious and alive. 0% oxygen gas on its own without co2 makes you unconscious in 5-30 seconds, and the fact it's pure co2 + anoxia, makes this perfectly 100% lethal if no one saves you, I'm choosing this method.

How long did you pass out for?

 

[TheEmptyVoid]

How long did you pass out for?

I do not know actually but it felt like 10 seconds

 

[Intoxicated]

I added vinegar into a cup and held a deflated bag and quickly poured baking soda into the vinegar and quickly put the bag on top of the cup and sealed it and it started a reaction and creates nearly pure co2 and some water vapor and some vinegar mist but literally zero oxygen is in it, I used a straw and inhaled directly and nearly instantly felt a burning sensation in my throat

Vinegar is a water solution of acetic acid which is a volatile irritant, so it could contribute to the burning sensation. I think, citric acid would be a better option, because it doesn't form irritating vapours. Alternatively, it's possible to use carbon dioxide from CO₂ soda chargers like these

and without noticing I passed out

That's interesting. When I tried asphyxiation with N₂O, I always had a noticeable period of gradual transition from full consciousness to unconsciousness that took a few seconds. It looks like your transition to unconsciousness from breathing CO₂ was so quick that you can't even recall the semi-conscious state?

And you said 30% co2 is enough to make you unconscious in half a minute

There were experiments with giving 30% CO₂ / 70% O₂ mixture to people, where unconsciousness was produced within 30 seconds

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So even if you dilute carbon dioxide with air at proportion 30% CO₂ / 70% air, you can pass out in half a minute from inhaling the mixture. This makes CO₂ different from simple asphyxiants like He or Ar which would remain efficient at producing rapid fainting as long as the percent of added air does not exceed 25 - 28% (the concentration of O₂ in the breathed mixture should be 6% or below).

 

[UltimateTrip]

For those who want a quick read here's a quote from the article I'll add below:

"CO2 toxicity in humans

Carbon dioxide at low concentration has little, if any, toxicological effects. At higher concentrations (>5%), it causes the development of hypercapnia and respiratory acidosis. Severe acidosis increases the effects of parasympathetic nervous activity, possibly by interfering the hydrolysis of acetylcholine by acetylcholinesterase, resulting in a depression of the respiration and the circulation. Concentrations of more than 10% carbon dioxide may cause convulsions, coma, and death. CO2 levels of more than 30% act rapidly leading to loss of consciousness in seconds. This would explain why victims of accidental intoxications often do not act to resolve the situation (open a door, etc.).
Concentrations of fatal cases of carbon dioxide vary between 14.1 and 26% CO2 and an accompanying O2 level between 4.2 and 25%.
It was also determined that CO2 tolerance decreases with age (p < 0.0001) and suggested that smokers might have more tolerance due to habituation of higher CO2 levels in cigarette smoke."

Link to the full article: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5380556/

 

[notreallybored]

ב''ה, this went around on here a few months ago (early 2025 on the usual calendar) as happened to coincide with getting to stick my head into giant coolers of dry ice on the regular.

Basically, everything said here, yet with familiarity the CO2 panic response lessens. The irritation from the slightly acidic chemistry it creates kinda doesn't but that isn't much of a thing compared to working with lemons or such.

As much as holding a breath of CO2 when not giving any fucks is only vaguely unpleasant - but quite dizzying and leaving the question of how many brain cells that killed - once acclimated, I proposed the possibility of taking hits of CO2 in preparation for any *more pleasant* inert gas method.

Because once acclimated to CO2 such that it barely causes any sense of stress, any anxiety in the few seconds of consciousness nitrogen or something less stressful will be no thing and make those moments far more peaceful than with any anxiety over the whole procedure. Also it's cheap and common even compared to nitrogen etc.

My thought was to hit balloons of it as with nitrous, as would keep that at the level of experimentation and acclimation, before any kind of hood/mask setup for a more peaceful inert gas exit.

That said, once acclimated, CO2 is probably not the worst way to go if via acclimation the panic response is down to a 'dull roar.' As much as that whole environment probably had levels above standard outdoor normal, and taking a full whiff of what settled in the coolers was available if you'd want to feel fully faint and hypoxic, with the endorphins of an active workday.. maybe there'd be some chest tightness and head pounding with CO2 as might be more mitigated with nitrogen, helium etc., but regular exercise endorphins and air hunger made it not feel particularly worse than what pounding the equivalent amount of alcohol in a stressful workday might have been like.

But since the more completely stress free options aren't particularly more rare, CO2 is probably better training wheels to make them feel more absolutely like air/just breathing/something to take the last nap with, than some big stressful unfamiliar moment if committing to going out this way.

 

[E2Mont]

You do NOT want to use CO2. When you breathe that in you get a panic alert !! In fact, the reason you only put a lose band around the bottom of your exit bag is so that the inert gas coming from the tube end at the top of your bag, pushes the CO2 out !! Use use inert gas because you don't get the BREATH BREATH !!panic alert with an inert gas. It is not the lack of oxygen that makes your brain send a panic breath alert, it is the CO2 you are breathing that does that. Inert gases don't trigger that reaction like CO2 does. Also, those of you not using exit bags but jury-rigging wearing an commercial mask, make sure the mask has some way of expelling the CO2 you will breath out until you stop breathing !

 

[Intoxicated]

You do NOT want to use CO2. When you breathe that in you get a panic alert !!

Only for a few seconds, that is not a big deal for a person with a strong motivation to die.

In fact, the reason you only put a lose band around the bottom of your exit bag is so that the inert gas coming from the tube end at the top of your bag, pushes the CO2 out !!

Removing CO2 from a ventilated bag looks useful only because CO2 buildup would stimulate respiration, possibly leading to sucking too much air from the outside due to the resulting imbalance between respiration demands and the flow rate of the inert gas. This is not an issue with a completely sealed bag, but a non-ventilated bag doesn't let you remove O2 from there as a ventilated system could, thus imposing stricter accuracy requirements on the procedure of placing the bag over the head plus stricter requirements on suitable minimum size of the bag and potentially implying a longer period of waiting before LOC occurs.

 

[E2Mont]

Only for a few seconds, that is not a big deal for a person with a strong motivation to die.

Removing CO2 from a ventilated bag looks useful only because CO2 buildup would stimulate respiration, possibly leading to sucking too much air from the outside due to the resulting imbalance between respiration demands and the flow rate of the inert gas. This is not an issue with a completely sealed bag, but a non-ventilated bag doesn't let you remove O2 from there as a ventilated system could, thus imposing stricter accuracy requirements on the procedure of placing the bag over the head plus stricter requirements on suitable minimum size of the bag and potentially implying a longer period of waiting before LOC occurs.

No matter what your motivation to die is, you will rip the bag off your head once you get a panic alert. CO2, not lack of Oxygen, is what causes this alert. AND that's why this method uses an inert gas. Inert gases don't cause this panic alert. Guys, you don't want to screw this up by getting bad information and doing it incorrectly. I have attended a 4 hour live training course that instructs you how to do this correctly with a live demonstration, and then they let you try it !
IF YOU WANT GOOD ACCURATE INFORMATION READ TIRED HORSE'S POSTS. HE KNOWS WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT AND HAS IT CORRECT.

 

[Intoxicated]

No matter what your motivation to die is, you will rip the bag off your head once you get a panic alert.

Suicide by plastic bag suffocation combined with the mixture of citric acid and baking soda in an adolescent | 10.1007/s00414-018-1856-y_Science Hub

tesble.com

Sci-Net: A forensic autopsy case of suicide using baking soda and citric acid in a bathtub

It seems, these people didn't know that they were supposed to rip the bag off or escape.

AND that's why this method uses an inert gas.

That's just a different method. Inert gases are simple asphyxiants, CO₂ is a chemical asphyxiant (like CO or H₂S) which remains effective with up to 70% air added to it.

Inert gases don't cause this panic alert.

Inert gases may be more difficult to obtain than carbon dioxide. The key advantages of CO₂ poisoning are low cost and high availability of the chemicals needed to produce the gas and less strict requirements for permissible % of air/oxygen that can added to it without compromising the intended effect.

CTB method via inhalation in a sealed plastic bag	Effective concentration in air	Discomfort	Common sources	Danger for the first responders
Inert gas asphyxiation	≥ 72%	-	Cylinder/tank	-
Propane/butane asphyxiation	≥ 72%	Smell of mercaptans	Canister or tank	Flammability
N₂O asphyxiation	≥ 70%	-	Culinary cream chargers or canisters	-
CO₂ poisoning	≥ 30%	Irritation of the thoat and airways, sense of suffocation	Sodium carbonate or hydrocarbonate + citric acid or oxalic acid or sulfamic acid; CO₂ soda chargers	-
CO poisoning	> 1.3%	-	Concentrated sulfuric acid + citric acid or sodium formate or potassium ferrocyanide or formic acid	Toxicity
H₂S poisoning	> 0.1%	Smell of spoiled eggs, irritation of the throat and airways	Metal sulfide + sulfuric acid or hydrochloric acid	Toxicity

 

[Intoxicated]

Wouldn't putting dry ice in a sealed bag produce the same effect?

At least, there is an example of a successful application of a plastic bag with dry ice:


The deceased was a 29-year-old male. When the landlord failed to contact the deceased after the lease term expired, he visited the residence and found him dead in the bathroom. The plastic bag covering the deceased's head contained five individually wrapped bags of dry ice, which were tied around his neck with a belt ( Fig. 2A ). The delivery box containing the dry ice was also present ( Fig. 2B ). An external examination revealed signs of putrefaction throughout the body, including discoloration, the formation of a putrefactive network, easy peeling of the skin, and desiccation. There were no petechial hemorrhages on the palpebral junction. Water droplets were found inside the plastic bag. An autopsy revealed no internal damage or disease that could be considered pathologically significant. Although the cause of death was deemed undetermined due to decomposition, the circumstances at the scene and the investigative records suggest that the death may have been caused by asphyxiation due to oxygen deprivation or carbon dioxide intoxication caused by the dry ice. The investigation concluded that there was no evidence of homicide, and based on the confirmed facts, the case was ruled a suicide.