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There are a number of mechanisms for carbon dioxide transport in the blood, and which ones are used and to what extent depends on the level of CO2 in the blood.

In normal conditions CO2 is picked up via the spent hemoglobin (which has discharged 1 or 2 of its four oxygen carrying sites) and carried back to the lungs for gas exchange as carbaminohemoglobin. As an aside, the pick up of CO2 by hemoglobin renders the hemoglobin less able to carry Oxygen, and has the affect of forcing additional remaining oxygen molecules off the hemoglobin and into the blood stream, making even higher amounts of oxygen available at the tissue level.

Unlike Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide dissolves readily in blood. Should there be more CO2 in the blood than can be carried by the hemoglobin, the balance will for the most part be dissolved directly into the blood via the equation below, facilitated by an enzyme known as Carbonic Anhydrase:

This equation defines the role of carbonic acid as a buffer in the blood, keeping pH relatively constant in spite of continually changing acidic products levels in the blood (higher CO2 near the muscles, lower CO2 near the lungs). Note that excess bicarbonate (HCO3) and hydrogen ion (H+) concentrations are excreted by the kidneys, although in healthy circumstances these are recombined when CO2 is excreted during gas exchange in the lungs.

This is a "short" version of a very complex and dynamic topic. There are many other buffers in the blood that provide back up assurance that pH does not become overly influenced by increases and decreases in CO2 as part of the normal respiratory cycle.

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12y ago
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14y ago

monkeys carry it in mini tow trucks out of the body, by burping.

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14y ago

When carbon dioxide leaves a tissue cell it diffuses through the interstial fluid across a capillary wall and into the blood plasma.

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Q: How is CO2 carried in blood?
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Related questions

Where is CO2 carried from and to?

It is diffused from the blood into the alveolar cavaity.


What are the functions of blood in respiration?

Blood in the body carried respiratory gases (i.e. O2 and CO2) around the body to cells where it's needed for cellular respiration.


How do body cell wastes get to the lungs?

Carbon dioxide is dissolved in the blood and carried to the lungs, where it diffuses into the inhaled air, which has a lower concentration of CO2.


Blood is carried in this?

blood is carried in the blood vessels.


What is oxygens function in the body?

Oxygen is one of the most vital components of the blood. Oxygen bonds with iron in the haemoglobin, that is how it is carried to the cells for exchange with CO2.


What are waste products of the kidney?

The usual biological ones : CO2, water, urea, and traces of other stuff. They're carried off by the local blood flow, then cleared from the blood by the lungs & the kidneys.


What is the function on haemoglobin?

It helps in transport of O2 and CO2 It gives the red colour to the blood Haemoglobin will combine also with carbon monoxide to form carboxyhaemoglobin, which has the effect of reducing the amount of oxygen that can be carried in the blood.


What happens when you have dirty blood?

it is blood that has co2


Where does blood pick up carbon dioxide from?

Most of the carbon dioxide in your body is in the form of bicarbonate. This is made by your kidneys. Bicarbonate is used to keep the acids and bases in your blood in balance. It is carried in the liquid part of the blood called the serum.CO2 can be found as bicarbonate, carbonic acid, and dissolved CO2. The blood picks up CO2 from each and every cell in your body by way of a very tiny capillary.


Does hyperventilation raise or lower blood sugar blood CO2 concentration?

does nothing to blood sugar, and lowers co2 to almost nothing.


What is carried in red blood cells?

oxygen is carried in red blood cells


How would the movement of CO2 be affected if the concentration of CO2 in the lungs was equal or higher than the concentration in the blood?

If the concentration of CO2 in the lungs was higher or equal the concentration in the blood, there will be no diffusion of CO2 in the air of the lungs. The person will suffocate in this situation.