What is Carbon Monoxide (CO)?
Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a non-irritating, highly toxic gas. CO is tasteless, odorless and colorless making human detection extremely difficult. CO is produced when fossil fuels burn incompletely because of insufficient oxygen. These fuels include natural gas, propane, kerosene, gasoline, coal, fuel oil, wood and charcoal. The products of complete combustion are water vapor and carbon dioxide (CO2). What are sources of Carbon Monoxide? Common CO combustion sources include furnaces, water heaters, oven, ranges, clothes dryers, fireplaces, space heaters, charcoal grills, wood-burning stoves or an idling vehicle in an enclosed space. What is the effect of exposure to CO? Red blood cells (hemoglobin) carry oxygen throughout the body. CO enters through the lungs and attaches to red blood cells. CO molecules attach to red blood cells 200 times faster than oxygen. This prevents oxygen from being able to flow to your heart, brain and vital organs. As CO accumulates the body becomes starved of o
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, extremely poisonous and explosive gas that causes 1,500 accidental deaths and more than 10,000 injuries each year. CO is slightly lighter than air and mixes throughout the atmosphere. It is a by-product of incomplete combustion, produced when fuels such as natural gas, propane, heating oil, kerosene, coal, charcoal, gasoline or wood are burned with insufficient air. Effects of CO Poisoning When a person breathes in carbon monoxide, it is absorbed by hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying protein in the blood. “Carboxy hemoglobin” is then formed, replacing oxygen, preventing its release in the body and eventually causing suffocation. Mild Exposure: Flu-like symptoms including slight headache, nausea, vomiting and fatigue. Medium Exposure: Severe headache, drowsiness, confusion and a fast heart rate. Prolonged exposure to medium levels of CO can result in death. Extreme Exposure: Loss of consciousness, convulsions, heart and lung failure, possible brain
