Hemoglobin that has carbon monoxide instead of the normal oxygen bound to it. Carbon monoxide has a much great affinity than oxygen for hemoglobin. Carboxyhemoglobin is formed in carbon monoxide poisoning. The source of the carbon monoxide may be exhaust (such as from a car, truck, boat or generator), smoke from a fire, or tobacco smoke. The level of carboxyhemoglobin is a measure of the degree of carbon monoxide exposure.
The presence of carboxyhemoglobin in the blood is called
carboxyhemoglobinemia. Carboxyhemoglobin is also known as carbonmonoxyhemoglobin and carbon monoxide hemoglobin.
This is a case of carbon monoxide poisoning. While all humans have a small amount of carbon monoxide which is a part of their physiological makeup it is only present in small amounts. Increases in carbon monoxide in the blood stream of humans can eventually lead to death due to the fact that it forms carboxyhemoglobin which ultimately leads to hypoxia of the victim. The 1980 fire at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, NV killed 85 people. The majority of these people died from smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning. The interesting part is that the majority of the victims were not even located in the MGM Grand but were in an adjacent hotel (The dangers). These deaths were as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning and the eventual formation of carboxyhemoglobin in their bloodstreams due to the ingestion of large amounts of carbon monoxide.
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