EcoRenovator - View Single Post - 25% of propane related deaths caused by Carbon Monoxide

stevehull · 01-13-15, 05:37 AM

Ecomodded, excellent post! Carbon monoxide (CO) is colorless, odorless and you have absolutely no perception of it when breathing it.

What CO does is that it binds to hemoglobin, the oxygen carrying blood molecule in EXACTLY the space that oxygen normally occupies. And CO binds with a strength of ~ 200 times that of oxygen. In other words, giving oxygen can't help in severe cases.

The only cure is a rapid use of a hyperbaric chamber that can impose high oxygen at several atmosphere pressure.

But if nerves in the brain have lost oxygen, they only have a short time to be supplied - or they die.

Many people complain of an odd headache with low levels of CO. Not like any headache they have ever had.

A VERY small volume of CO is lethal. In the case of a car volume, an amount of CO volume about the size of a grapefruit in that car volume would turn out to be lethal in only a few minutes (without outside air coming in).

I echo the suggestion to always have a CO monitor in your home. Even with what we think of as complete combustion (blue flame on gas cook-top), there is always CO being given off as combustion is not 100% efficient.

Sadly, if the plants are dying that you are observing from heaven as you are dead also. One very clear characteristic is that CO patients come in with rosy cheeks and "look" healthy. This is because hemoglobin turns red (from blue) when the oxygen site is occupied. In the case of CO intoxication, the hemoglobin site is not occupied by oxygen, but by CO. But the blood turns red just like if oxygen was present. A meter that normally tests for oxygen (finger oximeter) also reads normal with CO intoxication as that device just senses the color of hemoglobin.

The end cause of death with CO is always central neural hypoxia - low levels of oxygen to the brain.

Steve

01-13-15, 05:37 AM	#2
stevehull Steve Hull Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: hilly, tree covered Arcadia, OK USA Posts: 826 Thanks: 241 Thanked 165 Times in 123 Posts	Ecomodded, excellent post! Carbon monoxide (CO) is colorless, odorless and you have absolutely no perception of it when breathing it. What CO does is that it binds to hemoglobin, the oxygen carrying blood molecule in EXACTLY the space that oxygen normally occupies. And CO binds with a strength of ~ 200 times that of oxygen. In other words, giving oxygen can't help in severe cases. The only cure is a rapid use of a hyperbaric chamber that can impose high oxygen at several atmosphere pressure. But if nerves in the brain have lost oxygen, they only have a short time to be supplied - or they die. Many people complain of an odd headache with low levels of CO. Not like any headache they have ever had. A VERY small volume of CO is lethal. In the case of a car volume, an amount of CO volume about the size of a grapefruit in that car volume would turn out to be lethal in only a few minutes (without outside air coming in). I echo the suggestion to always have a CO monitor in your home. Even with what we think of as complete combustion (blue flame on gas cook-top), there is always CO being given off as combustion is not 100% efficient. Sadly, if the plants are dying that you are observing from heaven as you are dead also. One very clear characteristic is that CO patients come in with rosy cheeks and "look" healthy. This is because hemoglobin turns red (from blue) when the oxygen site is occupied. In the case of CO intoxication, the hemoglobin site is not occupied by oxygen, but by CO. But the blood turns red just like if oxygen was present. A meter that normally tests for oxygen (finger oximeter) also reads normal with CO intoxication as that device just senses the color of hemoglobin. The end cause of death with CO is always central neural hypoxia - low levels of oxygen to the brain. Steve __________________ consulting on geothermal heating/cooling & rational energy use since 1990 Last edited by stevehull; 01-15-15 at 07:17 AM..