HeLa cells, plated onto plastic petri dishes, were exposed to various atmospheres composed of air and carbon dioxide; helium, oxygen, and carbon dioxide; and xenon, oxygen, and carbon dioxide in a pressure vessel. Survival curves with x-rays, 280 kilovolts (peak), show that air and helium have the same effect, but that xenon potentiates x-irradiation to the extent that the dose to produce a given level of survival with xenon is 0.58 of the dose required with air.