ABSTRACT
Carbon monoxide (CO), a gas produced by the incomplete combustion of carbon-based fuels including oil, gasoline, wood, charcoal, and coal, is the most ubiquitous pollutant in the lower atmosphere (Jaffee, 1970). Although CO was present in large quantities in the earth’s primitive atmosphere (Hart, 1979) and produced and consumed by microorganisms long before early humans discovered fi re, it was the use of fi re and the concomitant production of CO in confi ned areas that made CO an environmental hazard. Although they could not, of course, identify CO, the ancient Greeks and Romans were aware of the toxic phenomenon associated with fi re and lack of ventilation and used CO to both execute criminals and commit suicide.
