No it's not another blog about carbon dioxide and the environment. Today I want to talk about CO - carbon monoxide.
Most people realize it is not a good idea to turn the car on in the garage with the door closed. Some people realize that having a detector near the furnace room is smart. What few people realize is how bad a toxin carbon monoxide actually is.
For instance, did you know that prolonged low grade exposure to CO can lead to dementia? There is a story going around about someone who stayed inside the BIOSPHERE 2 dome in Arizona for two years after it was declared a failure. There were known to be high carbon monoxide levels in the biosphere 2. The individual in question developed parkinson like symptoms after two years.
It apparently causes a lot of its toxic effects through release of nitric oxide which causes vasodilatation among other things (this is what causes the hypotension and headaches).
The long and the short of it is to think of CO poisoning when ever someone presents with a headache. Especially on a cold day when people are heating there homes and have all the house sealed up.
