There's more to it than that. CO2 has some regulatory control over your breathing (e.g. breathing in a paper bag to stop hyperventilation). It also impacts the pH of your blood which can really screw up your day.
There may be more, but those are two things I remember from biology class. Too much of anything can be toxic. Even di-hydrogen monoxide. George On Sat, Jul 28, 2012 at 2:14 PM, Mark Minton <mmin...@caver.net> wrote: > The problem with carbon dioxide is not that it is toxic per se, > but that in high enough concentration in the atmosphere it prevents the > lungs from off-gassing CO2 from your body to make room for more oxygen. > You essentially suffocate because you run out of oxygen, not because the > carbon dioxide kills you directly. Of course in the end, what difference > does it make? ;-) > > Mark > > At 11:04 AM 7/28/2012, Bill Walden wrote: > >> Rafal, >> >> To much carbon dioxide will kill. A friend and I were surveying a cave >> that floods drastically years ago. As we surveyed I began to develop a >> headache and to feel nauseous. Finally my carbide light began to misbehave, >> so for some reason, I climbed up higher to change carbide. The lamp flame >> steadied some. I looked down at my survey partner I noticed that he was >> just fumbling with his lamp. At this point I realized what was wrong - high >> carbon dioxide content. I yelled at him to climb up to my level. He did. >> After he changed carbide, we left. Once out of the cave the headache and >> nausea went away. I never did complete the survey and never did go back to >> that cave. >> >> The CO2 was probably from the huge piles of rotting leaves throughout the >> cave. >> >> CO2 levels: >> >> OSHA safe level - 0.5% >> Max. short term exposure limit (OSHA) - 1.5% >> Start to get a headache - 2% >> Breathing twice normal rate - 3% >> >> Bill Walden >> NSS 11573 >> >> On 07/27/2012 10:32 PM, rafal kedzierski wrote: >> >>> Carbon dioxide? It's not that bad for you, it's in carbonated drinks, >>> air we exhale, it's even occasionally found in caves. In fact as long as >>> you electron transport chain gives electrons to acceptor like oxygen as you >>> make carbon dioxide, you can kick it and call yourself alive. >>> >>> Rafal Kedzierski >>> >>> Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2012 21:24:03 -0500 >>> From: skese...@gmail.com >>> To: power_lou...@hotmail.com >>> CC: nmca...@comcast.net; gschin...@edwardsaquifer.org; >>> bmixon...@austin.rr.com; texascavers@texascavers.com >>> Subject: [Texascavers] fumes in CC visitor center >>> >>> I don't know what happened CC but I've worked construction all my adult >>> life ,I couldn't count the times our work envirment became compromised >>> because of toxic fumes, just like high co2 levels you're no wimp for >>> haulin A out of there and even getting checked out.My pop was chem engineer >>> for Dow , he told me in his latter years that stuff is bad for you. >>> >> >> Please reply to mmin...@caver.net >> Permanent email address is mmin...@illinoisalumni.org >> > > > ------------------------------**------------------------------**--------- > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > To unsubscribe, e-mail: > texascavers-unsubscribe@**texascavers.com<texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com> > For additional commands, e-mail: > texascavers-help@texascavers.**com<texascavers-h...@texascavers.com> > >
