Question

Describe the major air pollutants. How does carbon monoxide pollute our environment?

Answer 1

Major air pollutants: Carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, lead, ozone, oxides of nitrogen, sulphur dioxide, suspended particulate matter

Carbon monoxide is a highly poisonous gas.

When inhaled, it passes through the lungs directly into the bloodstream. There it combines with haemoglobin, the substance which carries oxygen to body tissues. Because haemoglobin binds with carbon monoxide more than 200 times more strongly than oxygen, even low concentrations of carbon monoxide in the air have magnified effects on the body.

It reduces the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood by an amount equivalent to the amount of haemoglobin converted to carboxyhaemoglobin.

Haemoglobin + CO → Carboxyhaemoglobin

Because the heart and brain are two organs most sensitive to oxygen depletion, they show the most serious effects of carbon monoxide exposure.

In high concentration, carbon monoxide may kill by paralysing normal brain action.