Carboxyhemoglobin(redirected from CoH)
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HbCO, a compound formed by the binding of carbon monoxide (CO) to hemoglobin (Hb).
Carboxyhemoglobin solutions are bright red. Their absorption spectrum has maximums at wavelengths of 570 and 539 mμ. Carboxyhemoglobin breaks down to Hb and CO 10, 000 times more slowly than does oxyhemoglobin to Hb and O2. Therefore, when CO is present in inhaled air the oxygen is gradually displaced from the hemoglobin. Even at an atmospheric CO concentration of 0.1 percent, more than half the hemoglobin in the blood is converted to carboxyhemoglobin, interfering with the transfer of O2 from the lungs to the tissues and causing carbonmonoxide poisoning.