Psychology Today | 08.09.2026 22:00
There is something I find fascinating about carbon monoxide. The gas is molecularly simple (one carbon and one oxygen), colorless, and odorless. Yet once it enters the blood, it takes on a "life" of its own by binding to hemoglobin with more than 200 times the affinity of oxygen. And interestingly, carbon monoxide poisoning is generally associated with a cherry-red or pink appearance, which is an almost perverse contradiction where this toxicity can carry a color we associate with health and vitality.
