Carbon-Monoxide Poisoning

What Is It?

Carbon-monoxide poisoning is a potentially fatal illness caused by breathing carbon-monoxide gas. Carbon monoxide, or CO, is a tasteless, colorless and odorless gas produced by the incomplete burning of any fuel that contains carbon, including wood, coal and gasoline. Once it is inhaled, CO gas passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, where it attaches to the hemoglobin molecules that normally carry oxygen. As CO exposure continues, CO hijacks more and more hemoglobin molecules, and the blood gradually loses its ability to carry enough oxygen to the body. Individual cells eventually suffocate and die, especially in vital organs such as the brain and heart. Carbon monoxide also can act directly as a poison, interfering with the cells' internal chemical reactions.

Because CO poisoning is related to the burning of carbon fuels, it can happen whenever you operate any one of numerous appliances and vehicles, including grills, furnaces, space heaters, stoves, water heaters, clothes dryers, automobiles, boats and gas-burning industrial machinery. The risk of CO poisoning is especially high when fuel-burning equipment is operating in an enclosed place and ventilation is poor. Carbon-monoxide poisoning also can occur in victims of smoke inhalation. More than one-third of CO-related deaths occur when the victim is asleep.

Symptoms

Symptoms of CO poisoning vary depending on the concentration of CO gas in the environment, the length of exposure and the health of the person who is exposed. If you are suddenly exposed to very high levels of CO gas in a poorly ventilated room, you can develop:

• Headache
• Shortness of breath
• Personality changes
• Unusually emotional behavior or extreme swings in emotions
• Fatigue
• Malaise (a generally sick feeling)
• Dizziness
• Clumsiness or difficulty walking
• Vision problems
• Confusion and impaired judgment
• Nausea and vomiting
• Rapid breathing
• Chest pain
• A rapid or irregular heartbeat

Without immediate treatment, you can lose consciousness, experience convulsions, slip into a coma and die. Death can result from only a few minutes of exposure to higher concentrations of CO gas, or from an hour of exposure to lower levels of CO.

If you are exposed to very low levels of CO gas over a longer period, weeks or months, your symptoms can mimic a flulike illness, with headache, fatigue, malaise (a general sick feeling) and sometimes nausea and vomiting. People with long-term exposure to low levels of CO also can have numbness, unexplained vision problems, sleep disturbances and impaired memory and concentration.