Carbon Monoxide
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless gas produced by the incomplete combustion of carbon-containing fuels. It is a significant air pollutant and can have harmful effects on human health, particularly when inhaled in high concentrations. In geographical terms, carbon monoxide emissions are often associated with urban areas and transportation sources.
5 Key excerpts on "Carbon Monoxide"
- Ramesh C Gupta, Ramesh C. Gupta(Authors)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
...Natural geographical events such as volcanic eruptions, emission of natural gases, degradation of vegetation and animals, and forest fires all contribute to atmospheric CO. Approximately 40% of global CO comes from these natural sources. Human intervention such as fossil fuel consumption, garbage disposal, tobacco smoke, and charcoal fires contribute to the remaining 60% of global CO (Jain, 1990 ; Vreman et al., 2000). Because human activity and density differ from place to place because of socioeconomic factors, atmospheric CO varies greatly from place to place. CO emission in the United States in 2001 was 120.8 million short tons, of which 74.8 million came from on-road vehicles (McGrath, 2006). Apart from various other changes, the developing countries are characterized by increasing migration of rural population to slums and shanty towns on the outskirts of cities like São Paulo, Mexico, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Shanghai, and others; this is associated with, among other things, an increase in atmospheric CO. Fortunately, atmospheric CO has not exceeded safety levels globally or in any specific areas, including, for example, Mexico City and Los Angeles, but it can. It is reassuring that many efforts are being made by government agencies to reduce CO emissions. Endogenous Sources of CO The knowledge that CO is normally present in the body dates back to 1894, when Grehant (1894) detected a combustible gas in blood. By 1898, this combustible gas was suspected to be Carbon Monoxide (De Saint-Martin, 1898 ; Nicloux, 1898). At the time, methods did not exist to ascertain if the CO in the blood was generated inside the body or if it was derived from the air. It was not until 1949 that the evidence for endogenous production of CO was firmly established (Sjorstrand, 1949). Tenhunen et al...
eBook - ePub- Kaare Rodahl(Author)
- 1989(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
...Chapter 15 Working in a Carbon Monoxide polluted atmosphere Introduction Carbon Monoxide (CO) is produced in any kind of incomplete combustion. This happened around the primitive fireplace of the stone age hunter in his cave. It happens today in the campfire of the modern hunter in the woods, in many industrial operations, and in a burning cigarette. The noxious effect of the Carbon Monoxide is mainly due to its choking effect on vital cells which, in extreme cases, may be lethal to the organism. The real problem is that Carbon Monoxide has an affinity to hemoglobin, which is more than 200 times greater than that of oxygen. Since it is the hemoglobin which carries the oxygen to the different cells and tissues of the body, the amount of CO taken up replaces an equivalent amount of oxygen. Thus CO is taken up at the expense of oxygen, hence its choking effect. And since the blood is so keen on picking up CO, it also hangs on to it that much longer. This means that habitual smokers have a tendency to accumulate greater amounts of CO as carbon monoxyhemoglobin (COHb) at the expense of a corresponding amount of oxygen, reducing endurance correspondingly. This is the reason why top athletes in endurance events do not smoke. The smokers who inhale, are especially apt to accumulate COHb, but even passive smokers are affected. The amount of CO taken up and distributed within the body depends on several factors: It depends on the CO-content in the ambient air, which ideally is negligible but which in extreme cases may reach concentrations of several hundred ppm. The CO-up take also depends on the length of time which the individual is exposed to the ambient air CO-concentration in question (see Figure 15.1). Finally, the CO-uptake depends on the amount of CO-containing air which is brought down into the subject’s lungs (pulmonary ventilation), and thus brought in contact with his blood, to be attached to the hemoglobin molecule...
eBook - ePubIndustrial and Process Furnaces
Principles, Design and Operation
- Barrie Jenkins, Peter Mullinger(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Butterworth-Heinemann(Publisher)
...Typical of these are volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), dioxins and furans. A further source of emissions comes from the mineral matter contained primarily in solid fuels but also in heavy fuel oil fractions and some waste liquids. These minerals are usually converted to metallic oxides and emitted with the flue gases as fly ash, or deposited in the furnace as residual ash. Carbon, nitrogen and sulphur each have more than one oxide but the two oxides of carbon have a special importance, since the concentration of CO present in the final flue gas is a very good indicator of combustion performance, whilst CO 2 has been identified as a primary cause of global warming. The oxides of nitrogen are precursors in the formation of atmospheric smog and together with the oxides of sulphur give rise to acid rain. 10.1 Formation of Carbon Monoxide Carbon Monoxide (CO) is highly toxic and is the result of incomplete combustion. There is always some residual CO in furnace flue gases because mixing processes are not perfect and the reaction between CO and oxygen to produce CO 2 is reversible. CO is usually formed as the first step in the oxidation of carbon char, and as one of the primary products of fuel pyrolysis during rapid heating of solid and liquid fuels. It is normally subsequently oxidised to CO 2 in a gaseous reaction with atmospheric oxygen. The primary oxidation reaction is The reaction rate for the oxidation of CO by O 2 is slow, particularly in ‘dry’ conditions since water vapour catalyses the oxidation reaction. This can result in residual CO in well-mixed flames if the end of the flame is rapidly quenched. In good combustion systems, CO should be limited to a few parts/million (ppm), normally in the range of 20–50 ppm...
eBook - ePubAir Pollution
Measurement, Modelling and Mitigation, Fourth Edition
- Abhishek Tiwary, Ian Williams(Authors)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
...In the US, for example, detailed inventories have shown that isoprene emissions exceed anthropogenic hydrocarbon emissions. Hence, O 3 production will not be controlled by reductions in anthropogenic HC emissions alone but will need greater control of NO x emissions. Once released, the VOCs are involved in a great multiplicity of oxidation reaction pathways, although there is much uncertainty about the details of these at present. In addition, hundreds of photoreactive organic species are present in the polluted atmosphere, each with a different reaction rate coefficient contributing to formation of secondary gaseous and particulate pollutants (described in Sections 2.3 and 3.5.2). As a consequence, the atmospheric chemistry of the troposphere is very complex – a fully explicit chemical mechanism for the tropospheric chemistry could contain millions of reactions! 2.2.6 Carbon Monoxide Complete combustion of any fuel containing carbon would lead to the production of carbon dioxide. There is always an associated production of Carbon Monoxide (Table 2.15), which is a toxic gas that affects the transport of oxygen in the bloodstream. In the atmosphere at large, the concentrations are negligible. Under the restricted ventilation conditions sometimes found in towns, concentrations can be a significant health hazard...
eBook - ePubEnvironmental Toxicants
Human Exposures and Their Health Effects
- Morton Lippmann, George D. Leikauf, Morton Lippmann, George D. Leikauf(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
...A community study. Br. J. Prev. Soc. Med. 27:114–120. Remick RA, Miles JE (1977) Carbon Monoxide poisoning: neurologic and psychiatric sequelae. Can. Med. Assoc. J. 117:654, 657. Renner MG (1988) Car sick. World Watch 1:36–43. Ritz B, Yu F (1999) The effect of ambient Carbon Monoxide on low birth weight among children born in southern California between 1989 and 1993. Environ. Health Perspect. 107:17–25. Ritz B, Yu F, Fruin S, Chapa G, Shaw GM, Harris JA (2002) Ambient air pollution and risk of birth defects in southern California. Am. J. Epidemiol. 155:17–25. Rose JJ, Wang L, Xu Q, McTiernan CF, Shiva S, Tejero J, et al. (2017) Carbon Monoxide poisoning: pathogenesis, management, and future directions of therapy. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 195:596–606. Roughton FJ (1970) The equilibrium of Carbon Monoxide with human hemoglobin in whole blood. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 174:177–188. Sadovnikoff N, Varon J, Sternbach GL (1992) Carbon Monoxide poisoning. An occult epidemic. Postgrad. Med. 92:86–88, 92–86. Sady SP, Carpenter MW (1989) Aerobic exercise during pregnancy. Special considerations. Sports Med. 7:357–375. Salam MT, Millstein J, Li YF, Lurmann FW, Margolis HG, Gilliland FD (2005) Birth outcomes and prenatal exposure to ozone, Carbon Monoxide, and particulate matter: results from the children's health study. Environ. Health Perspect. 113:1638–1644. Samet JM, Marbury MC, Spengler JD (1987) Health effects and sources of indoor air pollution. Part I. Am. Rev. Respir. Dis. 136:1486–1508. Sannolo N, Farina V, Fiorillo A (1992) Abnormal endogenous Carbon Monoxide production in children with ineffective erythropoiesis. Ann. Clin. Biochem. 29(Pt 4):397–399. Scharf SM, Thames MD, Sargent RK (1974) Transmural myocardial infarction after exposure to Carbon Monoxide in coronary‐artery disease. Report of a case. N. Engl. J. Med. 291:85–86. Scheinkestel CD, Bailey M, Myles PS, Jones K, Cooper DJ, Millar IL, et al...
