Final answer:
100 percent oxygen is used to treat carbon monoxide poisoning as it effectively displaces CO from hemoglobin, enabling normal oxygen transport in the blood. Carbon dioxide would not help as it does not supply oxygen and could lead to respiratory acidosis.
Step-by-step explanation:
The administration of 100 percent oxygen is crucial in treating carbon monoxide poisoning because oxygen displaces carbon monoxide from hemoglobin, allowing red blood cells to resume carrying oxygen to body tissues. Carbon dioxide would not be effective in this case; instead, it would exacerbate the problem by not providing the necessary oxygen and would potentially cause hypercapnia due to increased CO2 levels in the blood.
When a patient inhales 100% oxygen, the high concentration of oxygen in the bloodstream significantly increases the rate at which carbon monoxide is removed from hemoglobin, thus forming oxyhemoglobin and enhancing oxygen delivery to the tissues. This shift in equilibrium accelerates the dissociation of carbon monoxide, reducing its half-life in the blood from 320 minutes to approximately 80 minutes.