Does Sulfur hexafluoride make your voice sound strange when inhaled?
Answer:
Sulfur hexafluoride can affect the sound of a person's voice if it is inhaled in small quantities. When SF6 is inhaled, the pitch of a person's voice decreases dramatically.
Although inhaling SF6 can be a novel amusement, the practice can be dangerous because, like all gases other than oxygen, the SF6 displaces the oxygen needed for breathing (a phenomenon known as asphyxiation). A myth exists that SF6 is too heavy for the lungs to expel unassisted, and that after inhaling SF6, it is necessary to bend over completely at the waist to allow the excess gas to "spill" out of the body. In fact, the lungs mix gases very effectively and rapidly, such that SF6 would be purged from the lungs within a breath or two.[5] In general, dense, odourless gases in confined areas present the hazard of suffocation.
SF6 would have a molecular weight of 32 + 6 x 19 = 146, which is indeed five times heavier than air (29). So, if inhaled, that would make a voice sound much deeper than normal -- the reverse of the effect of helium, which makes it sound much higher. But I am not certain that SF6 is non-toxic.
I've breathed it in, and it definitely makes your voice sound deeper. It's a very funny experience.
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