Question

Explain how carbon monoxide acts as a poison and how an affected person should be treated.

Answer 1

• In our bodies, blood delivers oxygen. The oxygen in the air interacts with the haemoglobin in our blood to generate oxyhaemoglobin when we breathe.
• Oxyhaemoglobin circulates through blood arteries, releasing oxygen to cells for breathing. CO, on the other hand, displaces oxygen from oxyhaemoglobin, resulting in carboxyhaemoglobin.
• CO has a 325-fold higher affinity for haemoglobin than oxygen does. As a result, the displacement is simple.
• The synthesis of carboxyhaemoglobin prevents oxygen from reaching cells, resulting in negative consequences.
• The degree to which the symptoms are severe is determined by the amount of CO in the blood. Inhaling air with a high CO concentration can be deadly.
• A person could In a CO-rich atmosphere, a human can die of suffocation.
• As a result, sleeping in a closed room heated by a coal fire is not recommended.

CO poisoning treatment

• When exposed to an abundance of oxygen, carboxyhaemoglobin slowly loses CO and oxyhaemoglobin is generated a new.
• As a result, a CO poisoned person should be kept on oxygen until he or she recovers.