This New Mexico license plate belongs to Bert U. Eriksson It is registered to a white Ford Bronco in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Within this web site, the Nitrox plate is used to bring you back to the main menu

Nitrox is any combination of nitrogen and oxygen.

The air that we breathe is approx. 21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen. In the language of nitrox, this may be described as EANx 21, so you have been breathing nitrox since the day you were born.

In Recreational Scuba Diving nitrox is used to increase a divers allowable bottom time. Depending on the mixture, one may be able to extend the bottom time to the double and still maintain a safe nitrogen absorption

Nitrox mixtures with more than 21%, but no more than 40% oxygen are called
Enriched Air Nitrox (EANx)

The commonly used EANx mixtures are:
EANx 32 (32% oxygen / 68% nitrogen) also known as NOAA I and
EANx 36 (36% oxygen / 64% nitrogen) also known as NOAA II
The U.S.-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published tables for these mixes in the late 1970s, hence the names NOAA I and NOAA II
As Enriched Air is a subset of nitrox, it becomes important to use the proper terminology

It has been understood, for a long time, that by lowering the nitrogen content, divers can extend the no decompression limits and/or reduce the time needed for decompression. The use of oxygen to shorten the time required for decompression was first mentioned in 1878 by Paul Bert.

In 1943, Chris Lamberston (U.S. Navy) added oxygen to air for improved physiological and operating advantages.

In 1970, Dr. Morgan Wells, Ph.D., Diving officer for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) began using oxygen enriched air during diving operations.

Richard Rutkowski, the Deputy Diving Coordinator for Dr. Morgan Wells, retired from NOAA in 1985 and took the first steps to bring "Nitrox Diving" to sports divers.

In 1988 Ed Betts and Doug Pettit joined Richard Rutkowski to form the American Nitrox Divers Institute (ANDI). Their aim was to standardize sports diver training, instructor training and refill station dispensing procedures for Nitrox.

Enriched Air is NOT useful for deep diving. With an increased percentage of oxygen and hence an increase in the oxygen partial pressure, the potential for oxygen toxicity becomes a limiting factor with regards to depths.