2016 · Q5
Which one of the following air pollutants combines with the haemoglobin of human blood and reduces its oxygen-carrying capacity, leading to suffocation and may cause even death?
General KnowledgeChemistry
- AChlorofluorocarbon
- BFly ash
- CCarbon monoxide
- DSulphur dioxide
Explanation
Carbon monoxide binds to haemoglobin about 200–250 times more avidly than oxygen, forming carboxyhaemoglobin, which cannot carry oxygen — causing suffocation and death at high exposure. Chlorofluorocarbons damage the ozone layer, fly ash is a particulate pollutant, and sulphur dioxide is a respiratory irritant, but none blocks oxygen transport in blood the way CO does.