CO in the house from opening the "Window-stats"?

Time for some links to this important subject. Carbon Monoxide has an attraction to the Iron in our blood hemoglobin 200 times stronger than Oxygen. Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) and Hydrogen Sulfide act the same way when we are exposed to breathing those gasses as well.

Treatment is to get the person to fresh air ASAP. Full Oxygen is the treatment, either by a pressure mask or hyperbolic chamber.

Here's one link. Doo a google search on "CO vs hemoglobin" Make sure you Java is up to date

The Interactive Library, edinfomatics.com

Thanks for the corrections. I remembered that it was a pretty significant number.
and the worst thing is that the very high affinity CO has for hemoglobin in our blood, means that it takes days to rid our body of the poisoning effects.

So the best analogy I can think of, is you have a rope around your neck, strangling you. cutting off oxygen to your brain. too tight and the brain starts to have cells die. and if the rope gets tight enough, YOU die or suffer perminant brain damage..

But just loosening the rope, even removing it doesn't restore full oxygen to the brain,, it's like this rope leaves a severe depression in your neck, still crushing the blood vessels supplying the brain.. and only time breathing 100% Oxygen will slowly allow the blood flow to get back to normal..

The bottom line is that CO is very dangerous, and must be taken seriously.

Greg L.

There are a couple points about CO poisoning that haven't been mentioned and wasn't pointed out on the web page someone linked to for information.

Human hemoglobin has four receptors to pick up O when going through the lungs. The hemoglobin has to both pick up and discharge all four locations at the same time to work correctly. Since CO has a higher affinity to be picked up in one of these sites, even if there is a small amount of CO present, it only has to attach to one receptor site to make the hemoglobin non-functional. An additional problem is the fact that the hemoglobin cannot release a CO molecule from a receptor site once attached. That effectively negates the functionality of that hemoglobin cell until it dies in the body and is replaced through the natural processes our bodies use to make hemoglobin cells.

What this means that while yes, you have to get someone fresh air and out of the CO contaminated environment, it does not mean by doing so that person is suddenly "cured". All affected hemoglobin will not be functional until they are replaced. This can take weeks. CO poisoning is very dangerous!

dj