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Question
Give the mechanism of the action of carbon monoxide.
Solution
It 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 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
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