Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff from house stuff Works dot com where
Speaker 1: smart happens. Hi, I'm Marshall Brain with today's question, why
Speaker 1: is carbon monoxide so poisonous? Every poison has a particular
Speaker 1: trait that causes it to be poisonous. In the case
Speaker 1: of carbon monoxide, the trait has to do with hemoglobin
Speaker 1: in your blood. Hemoglobin is made up of proteins that
Speaker 1: bind iron atoms. The structure of hemoglobin causes oxygen to
Speaker 1: bind the iron atom very loosely. When blood passes through
Speaker 1: the lungs, the iron atoms and hebi globe pick up
Speaker 1: oxygen atoms. When the blood flows into areas of the
Speaker 1: body that are lacking in oxygen, the iron atoms release
Speaker 1: their oxygen. Carbon monoxide, on the other hand, binds very
Speaker 1: strongly to the iron and hemoglobin. Once carbon monoxide attaches
Speaker 1: it's very difficult to release it. So if you breathe
Speaker 1: in carbon monoxide, it sticks to your hemoglobe and it
Speaker 1: takes up all the oxygen binding sites. Eventually, your blood
Speaker 1: loses all of its ability to transport oxygen and you suffocate.
Speaker 1: Because carbon monoxide binds the hemoglobe and so strongly, you
Speaker 1: can be poisoned by carbon monoxide, even at very low
Speaker 1: concentrations if you're exposed for a long period of time.
Speaker 1: Concentrations as low as twenty to thirty parts per million
Speaker 1: can be harmful if you're exposed for several hours. Exposure
Speaker 1: at two thousand parts per million for one hour will
Speaker 1: cause unconsciousness. Many common devices produce carbon monoxide, including cars,
Speaker 1: gas appliances, woodstoves, and cigarettes. For moralns, and thousands of
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