Why Carbon monoxide is more harmful than carbon dioxide?

CO2 or carbon dioxide and CO as in carbon monoxide are the gases that are emitted during the combustion process of various fuels. Carbon monoxide is very poisonous, whereas carbon dioxide is not at all toxic in nature. The reason why carbon monoxide is poisonous is because it has the capacity of forming a complex with blood as in haemoglobin. Haemoglobin contaminated with carbon monoxide results in building carboxyhaemoglobin, which is known to decrease the oxygen-carrying ability of the blood. This is a result of three to four per cent of carboxyhaemoglobin in the bloodstream. This decrease in oxygen level in blood vessels, resulting in headaches, poor eyesight, nervousness and many heart-related problems (Cardiovascular diseases). A higher concentration of carbon monoxide is known to even lead to death. It is also to be known that carbon monoxide is not available in nature, it is created by, for example, incomplete consumption of coal, natural gas or oil. Lower levels of oxygen or even at lower temperatures is known to emit carbon monoxide in the mixture Hope this helps read less

Carbon monoxide (CO) is considered to be more toxic or hazardous than Carbon Dioxide (CO2) due to the fact that CO reacts with the hemoglobin in our blood streams and produces a stable compound that actually prevents oxygen from entering the body. However, CO2 is more tolerable in a human body because we are able to exhale it. And it doesn't have the same chemical properties that CO has. CO2 doesn't react with the hemoglobin in our blood streams. To be more specific there is a reaction between CO and the hemoglobin in our body that occurs while on the other hand the CO2 doesn't. Basicly, the hemoglobin is an oxygen binding protein, and CO is more ready to share it's oxygen atom with the hemoglobin than the CO2. read less