Authorities Confirm Cause of
Death of Salon Worker Who
Died Inside a Cryotherapy
Chamber. Weeks after a spa worker was found
dead at a Las Vegas cryotherapy center,
authorities said Tuesday she suffocated
in the chamber chilled by liquid
nitrogen.
Chelsea Patricia Ake-Salvacion, 24, died
accidentally from the asphyxia caused by
low oxygen levels, the Clark County
coroner's office said.
The death drew scrutiny to the treatment
where people are subjected to extremely
low temperatures not found anywhere
on earth.
Backers claim it can ease pain and
inflammation, aid blood flow and weight
loss, improve skin, and even ward off
aging and depression.
The treatments, however, have not been
approved for medical use by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration.
The coroner's ruling will likely factor
into the Nevada Health Department's
broad investigation of cryotherapy,
which could result in some of the first
regulations of its kind worldwide. Family members of Ake-Salvacion said
they would keep pushing for regulation
of the unproven treatments.
"Accidental death from an oxygen-poor
environment raises more questions than
it answers," said a statement released by
family attorney Richard Harris. "Chelsea
died from breathing poisonous liquid
nitrogen produced from a cryotherapy
chamber touted for its health benefits."
Cryotherapy can involve two- to four-
minutes-long exposures to temperatures
ranging from minus-166 to minus-319
degrees Fahrenheit.
Ake-Salvacion was found on Oct. 20 at
the Rejuvenice spa where she worked
after apparently entering the
cryotherapy chamber while she was
alone the night before.
The coroner's office said she died in an
"oxygen-poor environment."
Normal air is about 21 percent oxygen,
but the coroner said cryotherapy
chambers can bring down that level to
less than 5 percent during treatments.
"Breathing air with this low level of
oxygen can quickly result in
unconsciousness and then death," the
coroner's office said.
Her family has said Ake-Salvacion was
found crumpled at the bottom of the
machine about the size of a phone booth.
They do not believe she made any
mistakes that night, insisting she was an
experienced operator of the machine.
Harris has said Ake-Salvacion had texted
a friend about a possible nitrogen leak
in the machine, noting that the nitrogen
appeared to be used quickly.
The owners of Rejuvenice have not
returned calls and emails seeking
comment. They were forced to shut
down Rejuvenice locations over a lack of
state and local approvals unrelated to
the death.
State Occupational Safety and Health
investigators have said Ake-
Salvacion should not have been using the
cryotherapy chamber after hours. Las
Vegas police say no crime was suspected.