Scientist 'drunk' because of laughing gas in penguin droppings

The researchers encountered symptoms such as drowsiness, nausea, headache, after hours of breathing the laughing gas born from the emperor penguin droppings in Antarctica.

Emperor penguins in Antarctica. (Photo: Carbon Brief).

The emperor penguins in Antarctica are emitting so much laughing gas (nitrogen oxide or N2O)  so much that scientists are "intoxicated" when studying them, according to an article published on 4/5 in the journal. Science of The Total Environment. According to Professor Bo Elberling of the Faculty of Geosciences and Natural Resources Management at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, the team leader, penguin droppings produce an extremely high amount of laughing air around their flocks.

While studying emperor penguins on South Georgia Island in the Atlantic Ocean, between South America and Antarctica, the team was "intoxicated" when surrounded by massive bird droppings. In addition to its impact on the climate, nitrous oxide has the same effect as the sedative laugh that dentists often use. After hours of exposure to bird droppings, one team member became "paralyzed," and others felt nauseous and had headaches from N ₂ O, Elberling said.

N ₂ O pollutes the environment 300 times more than carbon dioxide. N ₂ O is the result of a diet high in krill and fish with high nitrogen content of penguins. Nitrogen is released from bird droppings into the soil, then bacteria in the soil convert it into N ₂ O.

"Although N ₂ O emissions in this case are not enough to affect the Earth's energy fund, our findings provide a new insight into the impact penguins have on their surroundings. This is interesting because the penguin colonies are getting wider and wider , " Elberling said.