Final answer:
Administering 100 percent oxygen during carbon monoxide poisoning displaces CO from hemoglobin, allowing oxygen to bind and restoring oxygen transport in the body. Carbon dioxide does not aid in this process and cannot serve as a replacement in treatment.
Step-by-step explanation:
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Treatment
Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning occurs when CO binds with hemoglobin in red blood cells, preventing oxygen from binding and being transported throughout the body. The administration of 100 percent oxygen is a critical treatment in such cases because pure oxygen increases the rate at which carbon monoxide is displaced from hemoglobin, allowing normal oxygen transport to resume swiftly. Given its preferential bonding with hemoglobin over oxygen, carbon monoxide seriously compromises the oxygen supply to tissues. Treating with carbon dioxide would not be effective, as it does not aid in displacing the carbon monoxide from hemoglobin and can itself displace oxygen in the blood.
The addition of excess oxygen shifts the equilibrium to favor the formation of oxyhemoglobin, converted back from carboxyhemoglobin, reducing the half-life of carbon monoxide from 320 minutes to 80 minutes when breathing oxygen-enriched air. This is why administering oxygen therapy is so effective and why carbon dioxide is not used in the treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning—CO2 cannot replace CO on hemoglobin and does not resolve the critical lack of oxygen in the system.