Carbon monoxide connects with red blood cells, robbing your body of the oxygen it needs to thrive. It mixes with these cells over 200 times more easily than oxygen, leading to a condition known as carboxyhemoglobin saturation.
Carbon monoxide, instead of oxygen, then gets taken to the essential organs via the bloodstream. To put it simply, carbon monoxide deprives your body of oxygen. Organs require oxygen; when they don’t have it, they begin to suffocate.
Your body takes a long time to get rid of carbon monoxide; however, it can be taken in much more quickly.