Received this chain mail from Dashken. Check it out : The first part is true. Dry ice is made from CO2 (carbon dioxide). However, it's utter nonsense after that. The writer obviously confused (perhaps intentionally) carbon dioxide with carbon monoxide (CO). Carbon monoxide competes with oxygen for the same binding site on our red blood cell's hemoglobin. In fact, hemoglobin "prefers" carbon monoxide to oxygen (by about 250x), which is why it is easy to get poisoned by carbon monoxide. A relatively small amount is enough to greatly reduce the amount of oxygen carried by your red blood cells. However, the carbon dioxide released by dry ice is no different from the carbon dioxide we exhale. It is no more dangerous than our stale breath... and people have yet to die from breathing in the carbon dioxide their lovers exhaled as they kiss. Therefore, you need not worry about dry ice killing you in your car or your home.
