| The Tobacco Reference Guide
|
| by David Moyer, MD. |
| Chapter 13 Physical fitness and carbon monoxide |
| tobacco reference guideg (artefact pour |
| Physical fitness and carbon monoxide: Carbon Monoxide |
| globalink (artefact pour saut de ligne) |
| "Mainstream cigarette smoke has carbon monoxide present at concentrations similar |
| to that found in automobile exhaust. It is the dilution of the smoke with room air and the |
| intermittent nature of smoke inhalation that prevents cigarette smoke from being |
| immediately lethal." |
| Clinics in Chest Medicine, December 1991, p. 633 (David Burns, M.D.) |
| tobacco reference guideg (artefact pour saut |
| The average smoker has exhaled carbon monoxide of 33 parts per million, which |
| equates to a 5.5% percentage of carboxyhemoglobin. A heavy smoker of has a |
| carboxyhemoglobin level of 8% and exhaled CO of 48 ppm. |
| Smokerlyzer brochure, Bedfort Scientific, UK and Journal of Family Practice, |
| June 1992, p. 690 |
| tobacco reference guideg (artefact pour saut |
| Red blood cells have a 210 to 250 times greater affinity for carbon monoxide (CO) |
| than for oxygen, and fetal hemoglobin binds to CO with an even greater affinity. |
| Exhaled CO correlates with carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) blood levels, and a one pack |
| per day smoker has a reading of 25 to 35 parts per million. A 59ppm CO level equals |
| a 10% COHb, or a 10% loss of oxygen-carrying capacity, which may reduce mental |
| awareness and slow reaction time. |
| American Society of Addiction Medicine, Atlanta, November 12, 1993 (L. Nett) and |
| Reader's Digest, March 1995, p. 129 |
| tobacco reference guideg (artefact pour saut |
| When people smoke normally, their carbon monoxide levels are lowest in the morning |
| and level off at their highest values by midday. The typical one-pack-per-day smoker |
| achieves levels in expired air averaging between 25 and 35 parts per million. |
| However, even these "average" smokers may hit short-term levels of greater than 100 |
| parts per million. Firefighters are now routinely checked with portable CO analyzing |
| machines while combating fires. If their levels exceed 150 parts per million they may |
| be relieved and given oxygen, since even these generally healthy people run a risk of |
| heart attacks. |
| Quote from Nicotine, p. 34 |
| tobacco reference guideg (artefact pour saut |
| Page 4 of 5 |
| globalink (artefact pour saut de ligne) |
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