Question

The level of $CO$ gas in air that causes immediate death is:
A. 10 ppm
B. 100 ppm
C. 500 ppm
D. 1000 ppm

Answer 1

Hint: Carbon Mono-oxide is a very toxic gas and being tasteless, odourless, colourless and non-irritating, it is highly difficult to detect this gas at very early stage and if you live in Delhi or near Delhi around the time of November or December, then you will be experiencing the high level of toxicity in air.

Complete step by step solution:
This gas is highly poisonous because when a person respires this gas, then carbon monoxide has more affinity to attach to haemoglobin than oxygen where it forms carboxy-haemoglobin, now this carboxy-haemoglobin circulate in the body goes to tissues and takes up oxygen while giving out carbon monoxide. However, if the amount of carbon monoxide is more in the air then, it combines rapidly with the blood corpuscles which leads to the deficiency of oxygen in the body and it could lead to coma and death.

Therefore, the level after which the carbon monoxide can become death causing is 1000 ppm which is the option D.

Note: This figure of 1000 ppm must be remembered by the students and here, ppm stands for parts per million which is a reference to measure something small out of a million just like per cent means, a part in hundred.