Originally posted by kensteele:
<STRONG>All of your questions can be answered in detail with some research on the Internet. I just briefly searched and there appeared to be many, many articles and a lot of reading.

Sounds to me like his vehicle might have been malfunctioning and putting out excessive CO. You probably shouldn't have a problem by running the engine no longer than a minute or two. In any case, CO is the silent killer and no one cares or worries about it until it's too late. It is so, so easy to prevent. You are right. Get a CO Detector; it could save your life. Sorry to hear about your neighbor. </STRONG>

Carbon monoxide enters the bloodstream through the lungs and forms carboxyhemoglobin, a compound that inhibits the blood's capacity to carry oxygen to organs and tissues. Persons with heart disease are especially sensitive to carbon monoxide poisoning and may experience chest pain if they breathe the gas while exercising. Infants, elderly persons, and individuals with respiratory diseases are also particularly sensitive. Carbon monoxide can affect healthy individuals, imparing exercise capacity, visual perception, manual dexterity, learning functions, and ability to perform complex tasks.

Carbon monoxide results from incomplete combustion of fuel and is emitted directly from vehicle tailpipes. Incomplete combustion is most likely to occur at low air-to-fuel ratios in the engine. These conditions are common during vehicle starting when air supply is restricted ("choked"), when cars are not tuned properly, and at altitude, where "thin" air effectively reduces the amount of oxygen available for combustion (except in cars that are designed or adjusted to compensate for altitude).