Gas transfer across the skin in mad

rg63.-Any inert component of the inspired gas reaches the skin by the cutaneous perfusion. When part of the body is enclosed in an oxygen-filled chamber, a portion of the inert gas is transported out of the tissues into the oxygen atmosphere. The rates of helium, argon, and nitrogen transport were de-termined in the forearm and hand of a normal subject at am-bient temperatures ranging from 18 to 43 C, analysis being performed by gas chromatography. At any temperature, the ratio vA/\jHe was found to be equal to (a~-PA/dmol wt A)/ (aHe*PHe/dmolwt He) h w ere v is the rate of gas transport, a! the solubility of the gas in blood, P the pressure of the gas in the blood, and mol wt the molecular weight of the gas. This indicates that the gas transport is limited by diffusion through the skin barrier and is affected only indirectly by changes in cutaneous blood flow in individual capillaries. Gas transpor