Laughing gas, N2O, dinitrogen monoxide or to use its older name, nitrous oxide has a range of uses in our society. Most of these would have to fall into the category of non-essential.
Nitrous oxide is well known as a dental anaesthetic gas. Having gas at the dentist though, is much less common nowadays, because of accidents that have happened. There have been occasions where patients have had the wrong percentage of oxygen mixed with the nitrous oxide they were given. The requirement in some states that a fully qualified anaesthetist is present when nitrous oxide is used. It is not as pleasant to be given nitrous oxide as it sounds, it often causes nausea and dizziness.
Whipped ice-cream uses nitrous oxide as the gas in the tiny bubbles. Nitrous oxide ice-cream chargers have caused death to individuals who have inhaled the gas directly. Nitrous oxide is not poisonous, but inhaled in large amounts, like this and without any added oxygen, it causes the lungs to collapse. Inhaling nitrous oxide in this way is illegal in many jurisdictions. Accidents have also occurred when people have confused nitrous oxide with the highly poisonous nitric oxide gas.
Nitrous...