What CO2 Does in Your Body
Too many people have told us lately that breathing through masks is bad for us, carbon dioxide supposedly being bodily waste. Our bodies have several organs that expel waste: the urinary system; the lower intestine; and sweat glands. Lungs do not expel toxic waste, mostly just unused air, carbon dioxide and water. Carbon dioxide should not be maligned as waste; it plays a vital role in the body’s ability to get oxygen to its tissues. Hemoglobin grabs and holds oxygen tightly to carry it through the body. It can’t let go of oxygen until the blood is sufficiently acid with carbon dioxide. This is how oxygen gets to where it is most needed. Sinuses regulate how much air goes in and out with erectile tissues that inflate and narrow the airways when they detect too much smoke and dust. They filter out pollutants and germs with mucus that is swept down to the throat to be swallowed. Th...