Why is Carbon Monoxide dangerous?
Oxygen is carried to our tissues through the blood. It cannot be simply dissolved in the blood, it needs a carrier. The carrier is HEMOGLOBIN. Hemoglobin is a protein, and each hemoglobin molecule has 4 binding pockets… think of them like parking stalls. Each parking stall has room for one molecule only. Oxygen, carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide could each park in a stall, but only one per stall at any given time. Which molecule gets to park in the stall at any given time depends on 2 things: how many oxygen “cars” there are compared with carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide “cars” (this is the partial pressure.) And also the binding affinity each “car” has for the “parking stall.” Kinda like how perfectly the car fits in the stall. So! The problem with carbon monoxide is that it’s affinity for hemoglobin is really high. Like 3x higher than oxygen. So much higher that even if there’s more oxygen cars trolling around the lot trying to find a place, the carbon monoxide car will get every
Because CO robs your blood of oxygen. When you inhale carbon monoxide, it bonds with the hemoglobin in your blood, displacing life-giving oxygen. This produces a toxic compound in your blood called “Carboxyhemoglobin” (COHb). Over time, exposure to CO can make you sick. Victims exposed to enough carbon monoxide can suffer brain damage, or even die. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), 1500 people die each year because of CO poisoning, and another 10,000 become ill. Since you can’t see, smell, or taste carbon monoxide, it can make you sick before you even know it’s there.
