Mathematical models of the uptake of carbon monoxide on hemoglobin at low carbon monoxide levels.

Coburn's differential equation for the uptake of carbon monoxide by hemoglobin and two particular types of solution of this equation were considered and the solutions verified for a group of healthy adults consisting of 73 nonsmoking pedestrians or car passengers exposed to low levels of carbon monoxide as experienced in the city of Lyon. The CO levels at the breathing level and the walking speed of the subjects was continually measured, and the carboxyhemoglobin levels determined at the beginning and the end of each test journey. The values of all the other relevant parameters were also determined. The half-life of carboxyhemoglobin was studied as a function of the degree of activity, the age, the sex and the height of the subjects. Finally a mathematical model was set up to represent a periodic uptake of CO which made it possible to estimate the variations in the carboxyhemoglobin level for any subject during a period of a day or a week without any need to know the initial level.