Studies were made on the acid-base balance, blood
gases, and
carbon monoxide (CO),
cyanide, and
sulfur dioxide concentrations in the blood of albino rabbits that died from
automobile exhaust gas poisoning (group I) or fires in cars (complete combustion, group II; incomplete combustion, group III). In group I, the temperature and CO concentration increased gradually to 35 degrees C and 5.2% in 70 min. The animals died after 9 min, when the values were 20 degrees C and 5.2%, respectively. In group II the animals died after 9 min, when the values were 55 degrees C and 1.95%, respectively. In group III, the temperature was very high (870 degrees C), but the CO concentration was not (0.6-1.3%) after 4 min. The animals died after 5 min. In all experimental groups, marked
acidosis and
hypoxemia were seen, but the CO2 tension (PCO2) was high, in contrast to previous studies on pure CO
poisoning. In group I, the level of
carboxyhemoglobin (CO-Hb) was significantly higher (91.2 +/- 3.4% in arterial blood, 87.5 +/- 8.1% in venous blood; p less than 0.01) than in groups II and III. Although the O2 tensions of venous and arterial blood (PvO2, PaO2) were very low, that of arterial blood was higher, suggesting that O2 was still being utilized in the tissues at the time of death. In group II, CO-Hb was high (57.7 +/- 16.0% in arterial blood, 61.2 +/- 20.6% in venous blood) and the acid-base balance indicated marked
acidosis. In group III, the CO-Hb, PCO2 and
cyanide levels in the blood were very high.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)